Yeah, I personally think it must be the diffs, probably the front diffs. Like I said, the tranny is shifting nicely so I do not think this is the issue. Tomorrow I'm gonna zoom around with POWER MODE turned on so I will see what happens with that. The roads out here do make more noise, and the wear on my brakes and tires is probably going to double compared to flat Illinois. That said it is not road noise, as I can hear this grumble when in gear and stopped at a red light.

My mech did tell me that I will probably hear some noise from the diffs after a fluid change, don't know the logic behind that however.

I did do a hell of alot of cruising on my way out here too. After the 8th hour your legs start to cramp up and the cruise becomes a very nice feature. I did not cruise when going uphill however as I noticed the cruise control tries to compensate for the incline and I do not care for the stress it puts on the engine and tranny when it handles it with the cruise control.

Someone needs to do a tutorial on changing the diff fluids (with photos) hint, hint.

Bart

PS - Also, a "A guide to finding wierd under-carriage rattles for VX owners" needs to be written up as well.


Quote Originally Posted by Joe_Black
If the noise is only under load (like uphill, cruise or acceleration) then typically that's differential related as the power transmission is at 90 degrees. If it just started after changing your diff lube then you may want to try a different grade or type of lube. Fortunately this is something you can experiment with since changing diff lube is simple, quick and inexpensive.

Usually diff noise is more of a whir/whine than a groan or roar. I did have a friend call once about something similar when she was on the road and it turned out to be the local road surface, which was significantly coarser than anything she had noticed driving on previously.