[timsch]

So, I've got a 2008 LE that has what seems to be vibrations in the driveline. I've rotated the wheels a couple of times and had the tires checked and rechecked @ Discountauto for good balance. STlLL the problem remains, particularly at highway speeds.

I don't know if the axle has balancing weights that might have come off, so I jacked the front off of the ground and supported it with stands. I intended to put it in drive and rev the engine to operating RPM. However, there seems to be a controller that will not allow the front wheels to be sped up with the rear wheels not moving. It simply will not rev up, and there is a flashing light on the dash showing a car with wavy streaks behind it.

Can someone verify whether this is the case, and if there is any workaround? I do have other safety restraints in place to keep the vehicle from lurching forward if worse comes to worse.

 

[lipster]

Turn off your traction control and try it again.
Instructions are in your owner's manual.

 

[timsch]

That did it. Thanks.

 

[fibber2]

Did you find anything?

 

[timsch]

I didn't find anything worth noting, other than I would not recommend anyone do that. I started having concerns that it might be bad to run the axles at the extreme angle with the wheels extended down for an extended period of time. I saw that there was some thick fluid slinging from the drivers side inner boot, so I quit then. There didn't appear to be any permanent damage, but I'd say it is possible.

I'm starting to think that the noise/vibration is possibly a bad CV joint. I've only known them to go bad with a nasty clicking sound when turning the wheels sharply around a corner. I don't have that issue, but it is an oscillating, dull roaring noise that increases with a veer to the left and decreases with a veer to the right. I can't think of any other component that would be loaded or unloaded when veering. I initially thought it was a bad bearing, so I changed the passenger's side front bearing, but that was not it.

 

[fibber2]

Sure sounds like you were throwing grease from that CV joint. Boot crack, or was it getting by the band?

I've been having noise/vibration that really came into play at about 45 mph and under load. At times it seemed be be more pronounced when turning to the right. As I have the extended warranty, I eventually gave it to the dealer to figure out. At first they came back with the diagnosis of a bad rear left hub/bearing assembly, received authorization for the replacement, and did it. The noise(s) were greatly diminished, but the sound on turning persisted. Yesterday the replaced the bearings/seal/retainer in the front right. All's quiet now!

 

[timsch]

I assumed that it was grease as well. I'm pretty sure that it was just getting past the band, with the boot flexing too much in the position I was running the axles in. I cleaned up the grease well and then checked the area a couple of times afterward and saw no more grease, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that I didn't tear the boot.

I'm glad for you that they figured out the problem. I thought that the problem was a bearing with mine initially, which I replaced (passenger front), but turned out to not be the case for me. I didn't consider the rear, but the sound seems to be coming from the front. In the past with other vehicles of mine, when a bearing has gone bad I hear more of a whine than a "whoop whoop whoop" type of dull roar. This occurs for me at pretty much all speeds, with the period of the "whoop whoop" to be linearly proportional to the speed.

 

[fibber2]

I called the rear one a 'drone' or 'moan', and while I mentioned wheel bearing as a possibility, I really wasn't convinced myself that this was the cause. But the shop guy zeroed in on it immediately, so they must know that as a characteristic sound for this vehicle. I'll bet the whole rear beam axle assembly vibrates at a low frequency, spreading the sound out over a large area. For a while I was blaming the exhaust system and went looking for a bad hanger or possibly those two big dumbell weights they have just aft of the spare tire to quell resonance.