I'm trying to isolate the cause of drive train noise in my son's 1991 Prizm (Toyota Corolla). The best I can characterize the noise is a whine, with a rumble component that turns to a loose clatter on deceleration. I can hear noise from the driver's side CV as I turn the wheel by hand. What steps (besides serial parts replacement) can I use to determine if the noise is being generated by the CV, the wheel bearing or (minor chords here) the transaxle?
Thanks,
Kevin Gallimore
Im not a vehicle mechanic..far from it..sigh..but it sounds like you are due for a CV joint. Id replace the wheel bearing at the same time. Cheap enough.
Gunner
'If you own a gun and have a swimming pool in the yard, the swimming pool is almost 100 times more likely to kill a child than the gun is.'" Steven Levitt, UOC prof.
A rumble will also come from the output bushing area of the transmission where the half-shafts exit the tranny. This sometimes sounds like a rump, rump, rump at certain speeds. My Lincoln only did it at 28 MPH. Also be aware that a slight swerve under speed will help pinpoint drivetrain noises. On a front wheel drive, the front wheel bearings may make more noise as they UNLOAD, opposite from a rear wheel drive 's front wheels, where they make more rumble when loaded in a swerve. I learned this one the expensive way, and my tranny specialist friend confirmed this later.
RJ
I have given up diagnosing over the web. One persons rumble is anothers clatter.
As has been posted, CVs make a clackety sound while under power in a turn. CV joints don't usually go bad unless the boot rips and the lubes gone and the joint contaminated.
The whine/ rumble/ clatter would indicate to me the output shaft in the transaxle is wandering around. I've been wrong on this stuff before.
Does the whine change as per gear?
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