Rear axle problem??

[RedEB]

Hey guys,
Just an update, I sold my 1992 Red EB (she was beautiful ) and purchased a 1997 SOHC XLT and I couldn't love it more! It has had the recalls and seems to be in perfect shape, the engine is sooooo smooth...BUT there is a horrendous whine coming from the rear of the car. It is coming from the rear and is solely dependent on acceleration or deceleration, though it seems to be more effected by acceleration. WHenever I push the gas, the noise begins at about 10mph and continues throughout, even 90+ ( ) . I replaced the driveshaft bearings...no go. I checked the fluid in the rear diff and it is fine. The wheel bearings in the back seem to be OK. What strikes me as odd it that it only makes the noise whenever I accelerate or change in speed. Whenever I take my foot off of the pedal, the noise goes away and it's smooth sailing.
Bad pinion gears? OUter or inner axle bearings? ABout how much would it cost to fix?
I would love for this noise to be gone...

 

[jgilbs]

are you sure its the rear end and not your speakers? sounds like a fuel pump/electrical problem if its only while accelerating.

 

[jimbo74]

could be that or also the rear u joint..... is there clunking involved?

 

[JDraper]

If you don't have any clunking involved, I'd bet on ring/pinion issues. Might be a bad pinion bearing or the gears are misaligned. I just had to rebuild the rear in my '66 Mustang for the exact same symptoms. Turned out the pinion bearing was shot to hell....which caused the gears to be misaligned...which caused the whine. If you have nothing damaged except a bearing, it should you $100-300 to have a new pinion bearing installed and the gears re-done. There seems to be a large variance in what shops charge to re-set gears, so shop around if that turns out to be your problem.

 

[RedEB]

At first, I thought it may have been the speakers too, but the noise was clearly audible from outside. It also hasn't started clunking yet. It is purely a whine sound and it definitely is coming from the rear, which leads me to believe that it might be the pinion bearing.
I really hope the gears aren't damaged and I can squeek by with just replacing those bearings.
Thanks all and hopefully my whining will stop

 

[RedEB]

Just wanted to update you all- I replaced the axle oil and it was the wrong type of oil! :fire: It was black, and not thin like normal synthetics. The seal on the rear axle was even jerry-rigged, but I guess it held. Unfortunately, the fluid change didn't fix the problem.
I took it into the local gear shop and asked them what was going on and they said that the wrong oil that had previously been in there had completely messed up the axle bearings. They replaced them and I'm back in a silent X! after about $500 later .
Thanks all for the suggestions!
Greg