"High-pitched howling" noise while turning?

[VehiGAZ]

E-ZooZoo - I don't have OEM shocks - I'm riding Bilsteins, so that ain't it.

I was also thinking a wheel hub problem, but mine were repacked less than 6 months ago (not that it's impossible for the dealer to mess it up, of course).

They just told me that they are giving up trying to diagnose the problem because they can't get it to occur anymore. Well, I have to go back next week anyway to get my parts installed, so maybe I'll have more feedback for them.

Thanks!

[WyldWeasel]

I just bought mine a week or so ago and found it was sporadically making a strange groaning/grinding noise when pulling a hard left out of a parked position. I was getting a bit nervous about it, as I'd been very conscientious about changing the fluids/putting new tires on it, etc. and I was worried I was looking at something catastrophic in the drivetrain (this is my first 4WD vehicle).

After a few days and the little piles of chewed asphalt which appeared where I was parking, I realized it was the new tires pulling the asphalt up. The morons who resurfaced the street a few months ago did a horrible horrible job and the surface of the street just can't handle the TOD kicking in.

[raver_boi_88]

lmao I have the same problem in my neighborhood where they just re-surfaced the road...

[Numba1goalie]

I started a thread like this a while ago cause I was getting the same noise from my front end. No one had any answers for me other then hubs, or needing to pack my wheel bearings. I have had the bearing repacks and inspected the hubs myself and everthing looks just fine.

[VehiGAZ]

Well, despite the addition of the LSD additive, my driveline is still sporadically making the howling noise. The latest incident was on Saturday on a 180* off-ramp. Unless I hear anything definitive or even a really good lead here on the board, I'll probably just wait until it gets more frequent and give them another shot at it down the road (before my extend-o-warranty runs out, of course).

[jgalt]

As a long-time Isuzu owner (short-time with the VX) I've had numerous "noise" issues over the past years, which are very difficult to diagnose due to the way sound travels through the vehicle (sounds like its coming from the left-front, but the problem is really in the right-rear) and the multitude of variable causes.

Some of the things I'd check (in no specific order - just as they occurred to me):

Is the driveshaft straight, lubed and balanced?
Are the u-joints on the driveshaft lubed or binding?
Is the power steering fluid topped-off, low or too full?
Is the power steering belt tension sufficient?
Are any other belts loose?
Could it be the bearing in the power steering unit or alternator (hard to diagnose until it fails)?
Are any shocks leaking fluid? Any loose shock mounts?
Are any axle boots torn or axles leaking fluid?
What about the bearings in your rear axle?
Are any ball joint boots cut? How 'bout loose ball-joint mounts?
What is the condition of the rubber bushings on your upper A-arm? Any slop?
Have you lost any shims behind the upper A-arm?
Are your tires balanced? Could you have thrown a weight?
Are the wheel bearings seizing? Is there sufficient grease and is the axle nut at sufficient torque?

Lots and lots of moving parts - any of which could cause some noise issues.

Best of luck!

[VehiGAZ]

I just did some testing in our cul-de-sac, and now I think the problem is related to the TOD transfer case...

I rolled down the windows and went round-and-round to the right to get the noise to occur. When it did, I got the impression that it wasn't really coming from the back, nor was it coming from the front either. Hmm... right in the middle, then, and there's only one mechanism there that likely could be doing something like this.

I straightened her out, shifted into 4-low, and went up and down the street. It was kinda noisy, and even made a couple of screechy sounds. So I brought it back down to the cul-de-sac and went around it... WOW! What a racket!! It was making all manner of clicking and slipping and grinding noises - NOT the usual gear whine from the transfer case.

So I am going to tell the service writer to check the t-case when I bring it back for the rest of my fixes (still waiting on one part) and see if they can find something wrong with it.

Good luck to me...

[jgalt]

What about the bearings in your rear axle?

the right-side differential side bearings were worn.

I love the mystery noise game!! Pretty soon I'll be starting one of these threads myself (*knocking on wood*).

Congrats on winning this lottery!!