Frustrated!!! ARRGGH! Horrible grinding / growling noise.

[ksteak]

Hey guys. 2003 Yukon Denali XL - 118k miles. About a year ago, I started hearing a growling/grinding noise in the front when the wheels were turning. It got progressively worse as time went by. I took it to the shop, thinking it might be a hub. Shop said no, it's my differential going bad. Pulled the differential and had it rebuilt ($600 -- new bearings, gears, seals, etc..). Just put it back in and it's no friggin different. AAARRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!! Frickin A.

Wondering what else it could be. The sound is insanely loud and you can even feel it in the floor. It's definitely in the front.

Could it possibly be the CV axle shafts?? There's nothing else moving up front to make that kind of noise (other than the hubs - which my retard mechanic said were fine). Wheel bearing maybe, despite what my mechanic says?? The sound is definitely up front... so I doubt it's the transfer case.

Any ideas? If not, Yukon for sale... CHEAP!

 

[waxworkz]

i just did my hub yesterday. lift wheel off the ground and check for play in the hub. real easy to tell, the disc assembly will move and nothing else will.

 

[M3PO]

Shop said no, it's my differential going bad. Pulled the differential and had it rebuilt ($600 -- new bearings, gears, seals, etc..). Just put it back in and it's no friggin different.

I am not trying to be a smart ass, rather ask a legitimate question: the shop said it was the differential, you paid them to rebuild it, and its still making noise? Why not take it back and give them a chance to make it right since they either misdiagnosed or did not fix right?

 

[edgaranah1]

I am not trying to be a smart ass, rather ask a illegitimate question: the shop said it was the differential, you paid them to rebuild it, and its still making noise? Why not take it back and give them a chance to make it right since they either misdiagnosed or did not fix right?

yeah. I would be screaming at the ******** mechanic.


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[ksteak]

I am not trying to be a smart ass, rather ask a illegitimate question: the shop said it was the differential, you paid them to rebuild it, and its still making noise? Why not take it back and give them a chance to make it right since they either misdiagnosed or did not fix right?

Nope, perfectly valid point. Unfortunately, to save money, I decided to forego the $1500+ bill at the garage and remove the diff myself and take it to a local gear shop to have it rebuilt. So the gear shop guy never drove the car... and the people who drove the car had nothing to do with the fix. So I saved money, but can't really blame anyone. Shoulda' had the gear shop guy drive the car, but that's hindsight now.

Will check the hubs again, but I think they're ok.

Is it possible for the CV axles to make noise when they start going bad?

 

[Splatmaster527]

It sure sounds like hubs... Definitely check those
Is you ABS light on or ever come on by chance??
As far a CV Shafts they could make noise when they go bad but shouldnt be bad at this young age
Do you have your keys cranked at all??

 

[M3PO]

Nope, perfectly valid point. Unfortunately, to save money, I decided to forego the $1500+ bill at the garage and remove the diff myself and take it to a local gear shop to have it rebuilt. So the gear shop guy never drove the car... and the people who drove the car had nothing to do with the fix. So I saved money, but can't really blame anyone. Shoulda' had the gear shop guy drive the car, but that's hindsight now.

Will check the hubs again, but I think they're ok.

Is it possible for the CV axles to make noise when they start going bad?

Ahh that sucks, it happens, try to save money but it ends up costing you more. Oh well, at least the front diff is fresh.
It could be the CVs. One more question, you said "when the wheels are turning". Some might be able to better help if you clarify the noise is constant when driving or only when turning (right or left)?
Either way it is tough to diagnose sounds, let alone over the net. You might have to take it to a different tech.

 

[ksteak]

Ahh that sucks, it happens, try to save money but it ends up costing you more. Oh well, at least the front diff is fresh.
It could be the CVs. One more question, you said "when the wheels are turning". Some might be able to better help if you clarify the noise is constant when driving or only when turning (right or left)?
Either way it is tough to diagnose sounds, let alone over the net. You might have to take it to a different tech.

Agreed. Hard to know. The noise is constant... no relation to turning. It's there under throttle or just when rolling.

It's surprisingly loud... and I can even feel it in the floor.... which makes me wonder if those little CV joints can make that much noise! LOL! Am hoping to get over and check the hubs tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

[ktmhans]

So i went down the same road as you. But mine went quiet and peerfect for a little while. Im going to start a new thread on my issue. Maybe itll help you too.

 

[04SS99Denali]

my silverado SS has made a growl going around tight turns at like 5 mph since i bought it 4.5 years ago.. since then ive done proabbly 60 1/4 mile passes on it a few AWD burnouts 2 AWD donuts and alot of going sideways. its still holding together lolll. my point is its somewhat normal for it to make some noise you need to worry when you start seeing metal shavings in the oil

 

[ScottyBoy]

Check the hubs and brakes.

 

[MMitchum]

Does it make the noise only when gas is applied - or just whenever the wheels are turning? I ask because I have an 06 Yukon Denali that makes a whirring/grinding noise from the left front wheel well but only when I apply gas - really audible around 35-45mph. I've been told to check the transfer case bearings.

 

[BananaHANDS]

It could be the CV joint if you have a boot torn up, but in my experience they generally make more of a popping noise. hopefully somebody would have seen a torn CV boot by now though.

 

[taylorjm]

My bet is on a wheel bearing. I would think that if your brakes were hanging up you would have other symptoms. Jack up the front, grab the tire at 9 and 3 and see if you have any play. I think if you have play at 12 and 6 it's ball joints, but I'm going from memory, which isn't all that good anymore!

On a side note, how hard was it to remove your front differential? I have a feeling mine is going to need a rebuild sometime soon, and I would much rather take it in and save some money like you did. Also, I think you got an awesome deal for a rebuild! So don't complain too much about it!

 

[ksteak]

My bet is on a wheel bearing. I would think that if your brakes were hanging up you would have other symptoms. Jack up the front, grab the tire at 9 and 3 and see if you have any play. I think if you have play at 12 and 6 it's ball joints, but I'm going from memory, which isn't all that good anymore!

On a side note, how hard was it to remove your front differential? I have a feeling mine is going to need a rebuild sometime soon, and I would much rather take it in and save some money like you did. Also, I think you got an awesome deal for a rebuild! So don't complain too much about it!

^WIN! It *was* the hub after all. Thing shook around like crazy. Changed the hub last night and it runs like new again! Annoyed that my mechanic misdiagnosed the issue... but more annoyed that I could have done 15 minutes of research and saved myself a bunch of money. Lesson learned -- always check the forums first!!!!!

The differential was actually very easy to get out. Granted, I had an air-gun and a trans-jack... those helped immensely. You just remove 6 bolts out of each side's axle shaft and use bungees to hold them up out of your way, disconnect the driveshaft (easy) and then it's 4 bolts that hold the diff on. Passenger side are super easy to get to... 1 on the driver's side is up in there a little ways, but we got it out without much trouble (we had some socket connectors that can bend... that helped). Finally, you have to remove two nuts from the steering shaft and move it forward to get clearance to get the diff out. The diff is mildly heavy, so either use a jack / transjack... or a strong friend! Overall, I was surprised how easy it was to get out.

Putting it in was easy too.... the hardest part was getting it aligned b/c it's heavy... but again, the trans-jack helped.

Good luck! Thanks, everyone, for your help!

 

[My01yuk]

I may have the same problem, I'm hearing not a grinding but probably what you could call a growl. It seems to be when turning right or just after turing right. Anyone know how much something like this would cost if i were to pay someone to do it?

 

[KrautBurner]

Hey guys. 2003 Yukon Denali XL - 118k miles. About a year ago, I started hearing a growling/grinding noise in the front when the wheels were turning. It got progressively worse as time went by.

Is it possible for the CV axles to make noise when they start going bad?

As far a CV Shafts they could make noise when they go bad but shouldnt be bad at this young age

"young age"
the truck is almost 10 years old and has over 100K miles

I'd guess it's a CV joint.
jack it up, grab the axle shaft (one at a time)
try to move it around, see if there is any play.

It could be the CV joint if you have a boot torn up, but in my experience they generally make more of a popping noise. hopefully somebody would have seen a torn CV boot by now though.

the boot dosn't have to be torn for the joint to go bad.


Edit:
I see it wasn't the CV joint, but it seems like it would have been worth checking.

my father in law just drove my wife's tahoe, mentioned it was making some noise
will have to check mine out tonight when i get off work