By tree, I meant, am I barking up the wrong tree
Anyways, recently, my car started making a noise. Mainly on decelleration, below 30 MPH. I actually probably didn't notice it for a while, cuase the radio at low volume was still louder. It sounded like something kinda ticking, but not like a motor ticking, believe me I know what that could be and checked anyways! hehe, the ticks would decrease with in frequency, as my speed dropped and would stop between 10-5 MPH. My first suspicion was actually the rear end, because it sounds like a quieter version of stripping the pinion gear. I still have not checked, but in the 2 rears I blew, the both would have completly by now. Also the fact that I bought the car with ad gears originally, and then installed the second set with a mechanic friend (who I do still trust, instead, I do not trust 4.10's hehe) This last set is 3.73 installed professionally, and I haven't abused them severely Still the gears sit in the back corner of my mind...My Transmission was also rebuilt recently, and has shown no signs of failing. There has been no performance loss recently, so I doubt something in the motor is failing. (Plus motor noises should be RPM based, not speed based, or maybe RPM and speed based for load based problems) So instead I suspected my wheel bearings are just getting a little old. So I continued driving it. I only drive maybe 10 miles total a day, and thats on a busy day, often I go just 4 miles a day. The noise has steadily grown worse now. It bagan getting worse by making the noise just on maintaining speed, and I think on accell (but the exhaust is loud, and I can't hear sh*t on accell hehe). Now the noise is growing more pronounced, and I really feel it needs to be taken care of, well NOW But being a poor college student, I can't afford to be barking up the wrong tree. Also being a poor college student, I have no palce to work on my car myself, meaning I am at the mercy of some mechanic...and his fees, meaning I *really* can't afford to be barking up the wrong tree.
Let me know
Corry

 

Corry,

Do you have a feel for where the noise is most prominent? Front? Rear? Under the car? Left or right side? Any hints would be helpful.

Other than gears and transmission, road speed related noise can be from wheel bearings, brakes, driveshaft and universals, and even the speedometer drive and VSS. One method of diagnosing the sound might be to raise the car and rest it safely on jack stands, start it and put it in gear, then walk around it and try to determine the source.

If you have anything more descriptive to add, it might be helpful.

 

just an idea... definatley post back on vader's recommendation... check the u-joints... that would be the first thing I would look at on the info given...

zroc

 

just a guess but an exhaust leak sounds like a tick too. hard to say without hearing it, i think vader hit on most if not all of the things to look for. good luck

 

You know what, I do believe I quite possibly have the same problem as you. You described it right down to a tee for me as well. Be sure to post back what fixed it, I'm leaning toward it being the Ujoint, I think wheel bearings make more of a roaring noise, not this tick-like noise... You have drum rear brakes or discs? I've got Drums and they're also on my suspect list although modulating the brakes doesn't really seem to affect it other than changing the speed the car is rolling. I'm doing the ujoint first.

I'll post back as well if/when I fix the prob...

 

Well unfortunatly, I have no place to jack the car up to get a feel for where the noise is coming from, nor do I have the jacks/stands. I lost all ability to work on my car when I left home in Philadelphia PA to go to college in Denton, TX. I had forgotten about U-Joints....the car has been kinda clunking into gear, so I had suspected them for some time....but kinda forgot about them. oops I doubt I have an exhaust leak, I see no smoke (in the cold mornings) coming from odd places, I hear no exhaust noise from anywhere I shouldn't, and the exhaust is only maybe a year old SLP all the way back (except for the cat, which needs replacing anyways) Other than taking it to a shop and saying check the u-joints, and wheel bearings and "Tell me whats wrong" which I unfortunatly do not trust since I do not know any mechanics in the area, and without jacking the car up, is there any other test I might be able to run to determine what the problem is? Anyone in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton area willing to help a fellow thirdgenner out?

On a side note, what will the consequenses be of running with bad u-joints? I know the consequences of bad wheel bearings, and I don't like 'em one bit

 

Well, anyone?!

 

hmmm, I may see if I can get my laptop working, and put a mic in at the front, and then move it to the back, while running, see where the noise is louder.

 

Tires can make an interesting noise... I'd suspect you have a separated one.

 

RB,

DUH! I should have caught that one, too! Especially after I just replaced a tire on the wife's Astro because of a tread cut/tear that made a "ticking" sound that could be heard with the window open. Man, am I a dope or what?

Corry,

A somewhat resourceful person would take their car to a 30-minute oil change shop when it was due for service (like every 3,000 miles). Try to find a shop that uses a drive on lift instead of a pit and is a little less **** about the restriction rules, and will allow you to look under the car while it's on the rack. From there, you could get a pretty good look at the driveshaft, u-joint, input pinion, exhaust, etc., adn it should only set you back about twenty bucks for the oil, filter, and lube.

Just a thought.

 

Unfortunatly I have had no experience with bad U-Joints, so I wouldn't jknow a bad set from a good set I will look for an oil change shop around though to see if I can find one with lax rules like that...As for tire speration, I realize my rear tires are low on tread, but they arent seperated (yet) They just got downpast the wear indicators....but this noise is loud now, and only getting louder, more pronounced, and covering a wider and wider speed range...
I thought of a better description for the noise though, it kinda sounds like a muted rumble strip at regular intervals, the frequency decreases with speed. Either way, I will see about getting a good recording of the sound this weekend, and driving it minimally in the mean time.