mike stager
Dodge Dakota
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1/29/2008
23:04:25
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 Subject: bad bearing or tranny...
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Message:
This isn't Dakota related, but I'm hoping some experience on this board may help me narrow down what I'm looking at.
My wife has a 1997 grand am and I took it to town the other day and heard a noise I've never heard from a car before. It sounded like a single ball bearing being rattled in a tin cup. a VERY sharp metallic sound, not dull like a bad bearing with a flat spot worn in it. The noise was fairly random and didn't change with speed much, nor turning, so I can rule out an outer CV joint.
However, in reverse, it seemed to drag on that side and did not make the sharp noise.
I took the tire off the passenger side as that's where the sound seemed to come from. The drivers side ( with wheel on ) turned, the passenger side did not. Pulled the other wheel off and the same thing..no movement on the passenger side. I put the tire back on the drivers side and lowered it down to transfer power to the passenger side to get it moving so I could listen.
It turned, no noise. After a short bit it made a bit of a squeak, but that could have been brake pads. So, I ran it through the paces. @ 60mph, I got a terrible rumble in the drive train. It wasn't noticeable at 30mph. I pulled the axle nut off and was going to pull the hub assembly off since it was warm, but it didn't seem to have any play. If I rocked the axle forward and backwards in rotation, I could detect some play in the tranny, but nothing LOOSE, just a little audible play.
What's the most likely culprit? I plan on pulling the axle out completely and inspecting that and the hub bearings, but those seem solid in the car. I fear the tranny simply due to an engagement noise we've had when first putting the car into gear after an engine replacement. Also, it's shuddered going into 2nd gear and when the torque converter locks up. The wife noticed that on a round trip from MN to Nebraska.
If it's the tranny, anyone got a spare garage stall to work in ? :D It's -14F and -50F windchills.
With the car on jackstands, I put it into gear
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