SQUEALing through gears when cold

[KillNThrill24]

what the hell? i noticed that when cold my car makes a freakin loud squeal when the car is rolling MAINLY into 3rd and most times through 4th too. i noticed tonight that when i slow down while in third (usually about 20mph) to make a turn then hit the gas again it doesnt squeal...

i tried spraying the axle joints with some release oil just to make sure nothing was gunked up in them but it didnt help anything so i would assume driveshaft is eliminated from causes.

i couldnt exactly tell you where the squeal is coming from due to the fact that my exhaust is so freakin loud but im hoping somebody will have had the same squeal at some point and knows whats goin on!

 

[CC'S95GT]

I would look at your serpintine belt along with the idler pullies.

 

[KillNThrill24]

ill see if i can get a vid at some point i swear it sounds like its either coming from the rear or middle of the car. or its just echoing so bad thats how it sounds. not sure

 

[KillNThrill24]

just drove past my buddys house and he said its coming from the rear. well the only thing i can think of thats squeling like that, util it gets warmed up, are the gears. or possibly even a speck of dirt or crap in the brakes but im thinking not brakes because it only happens when i shift into 3rd and 4th. so maybe i need to add more friction modifier?

**EDIT** im thinking ball joints

 

[greenscobie86]

Had this happen on my dads E250 once, ended up being a bad u-joint. Is it a quick squeal with a sort of "fingernails on a chalkboard" quality?

 

[KillNThrill24]

YES thats exactly it. didnt start happening till i changed my gears so the ujoint has been wiggled around alot

 

[KillNThrill24]

except its not really quick in the sense of it keeps going till i stop the car, while its cold

 

[Tony]

i had a howling sound coming from my old rear end. but a squeal?? you have the u-joint, the wheal bearing, breaks....dont really know anything else that would give you a squeal.

 

[greenscobie86]

Try a rapid on/off approach with the gas when the car is rolling to slightly shock the drive train, if you can mimic the squealing easily by doing that I would say its a universal joint. Hard one to diagnose for sure as Tony had valid suggestions as well.

 

[CC'S95GT]

If you just had new gears installed then look at the rear end input pinion nut being to tight.

 

[KillNThrill24]

good call guys its about to start pouring here (damned storms) so i wont get it up in the air now but first chance i get ill check out everything you guys said.

i do know tho that under load the squeal is louder and more pronounced then when i let off the gas its not as loud but definitely still there. that does sound to me like you may be on the right track with the u joint. ill cover it in some more penetrating oil when i get the chance and see if that helps anything.

i hope its not the flange i just put back on... although i dont think it is since its pressed onto the pinion shaft.

 

[KillNThrill24]

If you just had new gears installed then look at the rear end input pinion nut being to tight.

its at 20inlbs which is in the range for the nut iirc its 18-25inlbs

 

[Mnstrstang]

Did u tighten the pinion nut to 20 in lbs or the pinion preload to 20 in lbs?

 

[KillNThrill24]

sorry should have clarified, the preload is 20inlbs

 

[Mnstrstang]

Right on. I'd just change the u joints instead of trying to spray them. They are cheap enough an easy enough to change.

 

[KillNThrill24]

i wouldnt be terribly surprised if the u joints are infact bad because the car has 140k on it and i know for a fact they were never changed in the past. and since ive already had the shaft half off, it wont be hard at all to get it back off the flange. ill try changing it and see what happens.

thanks guys

btw... could you imagine setting the actual torque to 20inlbs LOL the whole back end would have been destroyed by now

 

[Mnstrstang]

Lol yeah ud be in all sorts of trouble. What gears did u install?

 

[Twista]

I had the metal on metal noise also while driving from the rear.

Changed my driveshaft and it went away.

 

[KillNThrill24]

Lol yeah ud be in all sorts of trouble. What gears did u install?

i went with the 4.10's. never did any rear end work of any sort and i decided to go all out and do gears lol. took about a week since i didnt have a press and had to fab some tools but other than that not bad at all

I had the metal on metal noise also while driving from the rear.

Changed my driveshaft and it went away.

all signs are starting to point to the u joints! thanks for the input

 

[Mnstrstang]

i went with the 4.10's. never did any rear end work of any sort and i decided to go all out and do gears lol. took about a week since i didnt have a press and had to fab some tools but other than that not bad at all



all signs are starting to point to the u joints! thanks for the input

Haha nice I went 4.10 myself in my 03. The 4.10s in my car caused a vibration from my driveshaft over 4000 Rpms. So his to get an frpp aluminum driveshaft to fix it.