I changed out my axle and knuckle yesterday, then took it out for a test drive. The rotors were getting tore up, so I figured that the caliper bolts weren't tight enough. When I got home I checked the bolts and they were slightly loose, but the axle nut was alot looser.

I tightened everything up and now, I get a high pitched whine sound while driving. I brought it back home after that test drive and checked the wheel for any play. The wheel was tight, no play left to right or top to bottom. So, that kind of throws out the wheel bearing being a candidate.

The outer tie rod was replaced as well, because I had damaged the bolt while getting the outer tie rod off. The only thing that I noticed was the two of the wheel studs were not flush with the hub, so I had to tighten them a little more turns than the rest. My question is, could it still be the wheel bearings? Because, it would not make that sound.

I was told that if they were to be going bad that you would hear a low grinding hum instead of a high pitch whine that I am getting. Mine is more like a supercharge whine. I thought that I had this issue before and just loosened the axle nut and the sound stopped. So, I loosened the axle nut a quarter turn before I went to work, but still had to sound. Should I loosen it a little more?

 

It might be the Input Shaft Bearing in the trans going out or maybe low on trans fluid?

 

I don't think so. No tranny fluid leaked out when I changed the axle out. When I jacked up the left wheel, the noise was definitely coming from that wheel. I may try taking the wheel off and see if the noise is still there. That would alleviate the theory that the wheel is not seating on the hub correctly.

 

Update:

Loosened axle nut another 1/8 turn, whine is still present.

 

Update:
Took the wheel off at lunch, noise was not present. Started tightening the lug nuts and the noise came back once my wheel was secure. Does that mean that the hub ring may be grinding against the wheel at a certain harmonic vibration?

 

Update:

Thought the tranny was low on fluid, but as soon as I started to unscrew the fill plug fluid started to come out. Took the brake assembly apart and the whine was still there if I turned the rotor. So, I took off the axle nut with the impact wrench instead of the breaker bar this time and the axle went a few centimeters past the rotor. So, I hand tightened the axle nut back on and hit it with the impact and stopped after the first few clips. Took it out for a test drive and no more whine, so, hopefully it is fixed.

 

Update:

The whine stayed away until about 80mph. Then slowly crept back up around normal 45mph speed limit zones. It's not as present as it was before, but still there. I am gonna take the axle out of the wheel hub and just file down anywhere I see rust spots in a hope that maybe that's what's causing the sound.

 

Does anyone know if it could be just rust deposits between the hub and axle? And, that maybe I should just seperate the assembly and then sand or file down any rust spots? It's not a constant whine, my wife asked me if I needed WD40 but I had already tried that.

 

i would think a "wine" would result from a rotating object rubbing/contacting a stationary object (i.e. a rotor rubbing on a dust plate)... you know what im saying? rust between the hub and the axle would be rotating with the hub and the axle at the same speed as the hub an the axle... so i wouldnt think it would cause a "wine"... does it wine if you take the hub off and just turn the axle while its in the tranny? cause then i would think it was the tranny... sure the fluid leven is good?

 

What were all those bolts loose from in the first place? (as you stated in the beginning)

Did you check to see how much pad you have left on the inner side of the rotor? It could be the little metal 'fingers' that tell you it's time to change pads as they rub on the backside of the rotor. They start out high pitch and go to a grind the longer you wait.
Or it could be like Skidmark stated. When you were doing 'work' on the tie-rod you inadvertantly bent the dust shield toward the rotor and it's rubbing. Pull the wheel off and pry back with a long screwdriver. There isn't much more that it could be.

E

 

i wasnt acctually saying that it was the dust sheild... i figured if it was that he woulda figured it out by now. haha. i would imagine its probably tranny internals. my tranny gears have been wining for like a year now, i am just waiting for my tranny to go out before i pull it. haha. i would check tranny fluid again.

 

yea check ur tranny fluid again wen its cold not hot maybe time to change it stick your finger in check plug make sure theres not alot of metal shavings if there is 1 or more of your bearings is going bad found this out wen i pulled my tranny on my old eg that will case a whiny noise if ur fluid is dark brown or black change it

 

I haven't taken the hub off and checked to see if the axle made that noise without the hub attached. I've only taken off the break pads and lifted the caliper up and turned the rotor by hand. I had both wheels up and the whine was still only coming from the left wheel. So, it couldn't be the break pads as 77amc mentioned. I've even bent the dust shield back at any location that looks like it was close to contacting the rotor.

So with it still only making that whining noise from the left wheel would it still be the tranny? I did have the front end lifted when I check the tranny fluid. I will see if I can get to the fill bolt while the car is level and see if the fluid is still gonna pour out when I go to check the fluid level.

 

The wheel bearing had went bad on my left front wheel a long time ago. My mechanic had put a std knuckle on the car because he did not have a dx or si knuckle. This required him to have to change out the axle to a std axle as well. He put the dx brake assembly back onto the knuckle so, I wouldn't have to get different pads.

For years I have been suffering from vibrations from that left front end and warped rotors. I guess the faster rotating assembly with the smaller spline axle assembly on that side.

So, since I've always had my old axle that was on that side. I went to pull-a-part and got a dx knuckle assembly. When I checked out the assembly. I noticed that on two of the lug nut bolts you could see the vertical lines on the backside of the hub. So, I figured that I would only need to put a lug nut on them and tighten them up to set them back with the rest of the other lug bolts. However, my lug nuts won't tighten all the way to the back plate. So, I have to give those two particular bolts a few extra turns then the rest of the other lug bolts when I am tightening down the lug nuts.

 

Update:

Checked the tranny fluid level while on flat concrete, was a little low. Filled the tranny with fluid until it was pouring out. Took the car out for a test drive and the whine was still present. I'm going to swap back on the old knucle and axle back on. If it stops the whine then I'll know it's the bearings, if it's still present, I'll have to take exospeed up on his zc/si hybrid deals.

 

It was the tore up rotor.