The car is an s4 gxl with 260k miles, and it has had a bad wheel bearing (or so I thought) until I replaced it yesterday.

Prior to replacing the rear passenger side wheel bearing, there was a loud and heavy WHIRRING noise coming from that area (I'm nearly positive) every single time I would pull the steering wheel to the right side. So basically anytime weight was shifted as the steering wheel was pulled to the right, a loud whirring noise began and got louder with increasing speed.

I replaced the wheel bearing, went to a drift event +200 miles roundtrip today, and the noise remains. It may even be louder.

Anyone have any ideas? This worries me.

 

bump

 

Make sure your dust shield isn't rubbing

 

Does it happen when you are turning fast or slow? Say do figuar 8s in a parking lot at around 5mph does it still happen? It could be the diff unit it self. You drain the diff fluid to see if there is metal in the diff. If not spin the hubs (left and right) to see if the bearing is rough. If it makes a louder noise when you are doing the figuar 8 at a slow speed it is most likly the diff thats toasted.

 

+1 on Diff Fluid checkage

 

The noise has been there since I bought the car, changed the fluid, replaced rear right wheel bearing, and I'm just stumped. It is not the dust shields.

I start hearing the noise from around 20 to 35 mph and the noise increases as my speed does. The noise is heard when I turn the car in to the right which causes the weight to be thrown to the rear drivers side. When I turn left and more weight is applied to the pass. side, the noise goes away. Could camber or toe cause this? I wouldn't think so, but it can't hurt to discuss.

No diff leak.
Not the dust shield.

 

could be power steering, check your tire for ware, check your other wheels another bearing may be bad. check breaks maybe turning could cause wore pads to rub and cause squel

 

The p.s. fluid and belts were properly adjusted yesterday.
Front tires are new and balanced. The rears are often being changed b/c of drifting - the sound never changes.
Brakes: pads just replaced... made no difference in noise.

I'm so confused. Could it be the other rear wheel bearing? The noise comes when the car is turned in right and weight is shifted to the driver/left side.

 

I'd lean towards the differential...

James

 

I had changed the fluid and filled it properly. What might the problem with the diff be?

 

you're sure it's not the tranny though?

is your diff working properly? jack up the rear end, spin one wheel, and see if the other wheel spins in the same direciton

 

I don't see how the tranny would cause a noise since the noise only comes about whe n the cars weight is shifted onto the left drivers side when turning right.

Yes, the lsd is working fine. I checked it 2 nights ago, and definitely checked out while at a drift event yesterday. I know the stock lsd noise, that whining noise.

I'm stumped!

 

Tires. Rotate front/back and see if there is any difference. Try the easy thing first. Also, the dust shield may seem okay to you while you inspect it with the car at rest. Make sure the tabs where it mounts are not cracked. If one is cracked it will seem okay to you but it will start to rattle at speed. I had this very problem on my 87 T2, inspected the shield, thought it was okay, and then later discovered it was busted and rattle prone. Good luck

 

Probly a dumb answer to this and I am not entirally sure but my rx7 made a loud whirring noise at about 30-35 and up and it turned out to be my brakes. My calipur was wearing the inside worse than the outside due to a problem with the rotor. I had the rotor turned and changed out the calipur just in case, the whirring noise is gone now.

I don't know if that's it but I hope it helps anyway. Ya know sometimes the easiest thing is what you overlook :-\ lol

 

regardless of how often you check or change fluid or tighten belts doesn't change the fact that parts wear out...

It is nearly impossible to E-diagnose such a problem

When someone says that there is a whirring noise, most people will reply "bad diff/3rd member"

common causes of a worn out diff...

High mileage (anything over 150k can be considered high mileage)
Beating on it ( burn outs... banging 2nd and 3rd gear, hard down shifts...etc)
never changing the fluid
low fluid because of leaking seal or gasket

other things it could be

bad u joint
bent drive-shaft
bad half-shaft
transmission bearing going out
drive-shaft rubbing on a heat shield or exhaust
mis-aligned brake caliper
mis-aligned drive-shaft
bad water pump
bad alternator
bad wheel bearing
really bad wheel alignment
fuel pump making noise
smog pump going bad
power steering pump going bad
fan clutch going bad
motor is on it's way out
bad turbo(obviously if it was a turbo)


as you can see that is a large list of possibilities, seems like the best thing to do would be to take to a mechanic to get a diagnosis

 

**** I don't know when I'll figure this out...

I'm first going to double check the brake dust shields for cracking, get rotors turned, then I don't know.

 

it might be a fuel problem....like something in the fuel pump...or the part where the gas gets filled....maybe something inside snapped did you check where your spare tire goes to see if theres anything having a wild ride in there?

oh i dont mean to hijack this one but im having sort of the same problem but instead of a whirring noise theres this sort of clicking noise on the back right side...i think its the gas filler shielding slaping together with its lock because it only does it when im driving and i hit a bump...and i cant get it to do it when the car is parked(meaning park and push up and down on the back rear really fast)
again sorry for the semi-hijack, i wont do it again

 

its definitely not a fuel problem.. i don't see how.

its a loud wompppppppp and whirrrrrrrring noise. ah this is frustrating.

 

i rode with him to the event and it sounded like more of a bad rubbing noise, like the car would vibrate a bit when it happens

 

I thought it sounded like a mix between a rubbing and a whirring/wommmmpign noise + small vibration.

Anyone had the same problem?

 

either way... the noise didnt sound too healthy

 

The only reason i would suggest inspecting the rear end is because a friend of mind had a gsl-se that made a very simliar noise. Except he saw pieces gears coming out with the oil. Maybe the person you brough the car from has already change the gear oil so you didn't get to seen the broken pieces. You can take the filler plug off and look at the gears to check for damage. FYI the ring gear + pinion on the gsl's rear end was toasted. I don't think damage to the spider gears would cause a consisten sound.

 

Would the diff (or broken diff for the matter) cause a sound when the cars weight is barely shifted. When driving perfectly straight, and the car is balanced (at stock level) it makes no noise. When the car pulls to the left, no noise. BUT, when the car is turned to the right whether its a huge turn in or the slightest action whatsoever, it makes the noise.

This noise is killer.

My diff *seems* to be locking up and functioning properly.. wtf.