tom3

this last week, I could hear a whine from the rear, but very slight and I thought nothing of it; I thought maybe I hadn't noticed it before, or maybe the rear was getting worn or something. it would do it only under load, but it was very light.

Today as soon as I drove, it sounded like something was rattling in the exhaust and I thought I'd check it out tonight.

well, tonight everything was as usual, I heard more of a metallic rattle going in a tunnel and I thought it was the exhaust rattle.

I stopped behind a car and as soon as I took off, there was a horrible rattle. I took off very slowly though...

the rattle is very loud, it is speed dependant and I can feel it in the whole car.

I don't know yet if it's the rear end for sure but here's what I know:

- engine revs fine in neutral, no noise
- when the car moves in neutral, the noise is there
- all the gears work perfectly, actually the car drives good but for the heavy rattle / vibration
- it sounds like a broken tooth moving around or something

the whine may not have had anything to do with this, but it really looks like the rear end. The last 2 times it broke it was torn apart so it didn't do the same

any ideas what else it could be before I pull the rear cover? (I did the brakes recently, so I checked that the calipers were still properly attached, etc)

ledfootz28

same things is happening to my friends rear(94Z)i havent been in the car or heard anything but he says its whining and the tooth on a gear must be getting shaved down or sumthin.hes looking to get sum 373 now.good luck

reuter

lift the back end of the car up, remove 8 bolts, leaving the two opposite bolts closest to the wheels on. let the fluid drain into a pan. remove the cover, look and see if youve broken off any teeth. there is a magnetic pickup tray towards the bottom of the rear. looks like a little recessed area. look for metal shavings in the fluid. put the cover back on and fill it back up with fluid.

also might wanna check to make sure your driveshaft bolts are all tight.

tom3

I took the car to a shop, so they confirmed a broken tooth.

now, that brings up the question... do you think i should stick with 3.73 or go to 4.11? do I need to change carrier to go with a 4.11?

can I get the clutches changed on the differential at the same time? is it something usually done? the differential works.. well worked properly but as a precaution

what do you guys think?

jcornss

Check to see if the pinion nut is loose. However, with what you are discribing if the pinion nut did come loose, you've probably already puked it.

tom3

what part are you talking about?

jcornss

My bad! I overlooked where you had taken it to get if checked out. I was talking about the nut that holds the pinion gear, pinion bearings, shims, ect. together and preloads the pinion bearings. If you take the drive shaft out and look where it bolts to the rear end, you will see a large nut. Thats the pinion nut. I've seen a few of these come loose (including mine) and that will cause all kinds of noises and eventually broken gears.

jcornss

Oh yeah. I have 4.10's in my car with an A4 and love it! At 80 mph in OD, I'm just over 3000 rpm. It accelerates like a beast.

tom3

I took the car to aamco, they're saying 4 to 6 hours to put new gears, at $75 per hour plus the parts.

what is a reasonable amount of time? also, how much is a set of 4.11 these days?

jcornss

4-6 hrs is about right. Most good name brand gears are around $200.00. I have richmond gears in mine now and they need replacing. Think I'm going to use strange gears this time. Plus, they will hit you if they have to replace any bearings (some of these are expensive!) also for lube, shop supplies, ect.