97 Yukon Whining

[MikeDOH]

My 97 Yukon with 210k whines when I am driving. I cant really pinpoint where the sound is coming from, however, in park when I rev the engine there is no whining. It only happens when driving and only when the engine is under load which leads me to believe it is the transmission. It shifts smooth in all gears with no slippage what so ever. Plenty of power, it just whines and it is driving me crazy. As soon as I take my foot off the accelerator, the whining stops. Any ideas, or does anyone have experience with this problem?

 

[gpracer1]

Is it actually a rear diff whine?

 

[noJeepshere]

My thoughts are the rear diff as well, sounds like a classic case of that.

 

[kaoticlife]

Lol my hoe whines too! As she has 283k on her now. I hear a whine that sounds like a pulley whine but its not real loud.

sent from tapatalk2 using rabbit ears and aluminum foil.

 

[_Dylan_]

In my experience the rear diff makes a howling noise more so than a whine.

 

[MikeDOH]

I was able to pinpoint it to the rear differential. Had the wife drive while I rode in the back seat. The whine/howl was definitely coming from the rear differential area. Now my question is, is this normal? Is this something I need to worry about or do I just live with it?

 

[_Dylan_]

It is most likely the pinion bearings or the crush sleeve/pinion nut.

Some axles can go hundreds of thousands of miles with this problem, but some can leak and lock up solid.

If it's not leaking I'd just keep driving it.

Do some searching and decide for yourself...
https://www.google.com/search?q=chevy+rear+axle+howling

 

[BattelWagun]

Drove mine for three and a half years with a howling, it finally broke up over this past summer, turned out the pinion bearings had been going bad for about 35 thousand miles. Common issue, but I really no REAL damage can be done so long as its not leaking. Just leave it alone. Thats how im treating my cam knock

 

[MikeDOH]

As far as I can tell its not leaking, its more annoying than anything else. I will leave it as is for now and monitor it for any leakage. I may get under there once the weather clears up a bit and check the fluid level just to be sure. Thanks for the help!!