"High-pitched howling" noise while turning?

[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...

[E-ZooZoo One]

Good luck to me...

AMEN!

[VehiGAZ]

They found the problem!

After much diagnostic exploration, they finally opened up the rear differential and found the culprit - the right-side differential side bearings were worn. They will either replace the whole drive assembly or rebuild the differential - it's the warranty company's call, though. I'm just waiting for their rep to inspect it and find out how long parts & such will take to get and install.

Glad this one is getting solved - it's gotten a little embarassing to have to explain to friends "yeah, they don't know what it is yet, but I hope to get it fixed in a couple of weeks" every time it happens.

[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!!

[VehiGAZ]

Yup, you called it, jgalt! It took them a while to eliminate all of the easier checks before they realized they were going to have to open up the diffy.

I am quite pleased - my warranty has paid for itself nicely. There did push back a little, though - originally, they were going to pay for the replacement of a valve that was causing the modulating idle, which cost about $190. But since the warranty inspector had to verify the differential repair, he also looked at a valve and decided it wasn't broken, but just clogged with carbon deposits, and so he decided not to cover it, since it's a "maintenance" issue, not a "repair" issue. Nice how he changed the company's mind on that one, huh? Well, considering my $2000 warranty is paying out about $2775 for everything else on this job, I decided to let the valve issue go. All told, I'm paying for the valve, a $100 deductible, an oil change, and the tax on all of it, which is going to cost me about $630. Any other claims I make on this extend-o-warranty are going to be ALL JELLY - up to seven deductibles included!

[VehiGAZ]

Well, it's a week later and I'm STILL waiting for some diffferential parts to get to the dealer so they can put her back together. I want my VX back!!

While they have been cooler than the other side of the pillow in letting me hold onto their loaner while I wait, this is nuts!! They've had it for two full weeks now, and there is no word on when the parts might be showing up form Isuzu, either.

This situation has got me questioning the sense of relying on the VX as my one and only vehicle. If the poor availability of parts is getting worse, then I can probably expect more of these 2+ week repairs. It's fine and dandy when the dealership is willing to hook me up with a loaner, but not so fine when they can't or won't and I need to pay for a replacement ride out of my own pocket.

I think I need another vehicle...