Hey guys I've got an issue i need help diagnosing.

So Yesterday when i was driving home i started hearing a weird squeal. It started off faint and only happened when i was slowing down. After driving a bit more, it started getting louder and happened at all speeds...

Now the sound is loud and constant when im at idle and seems to calm down at higher speeds. It doesnt completely go away but after about 30 mph i can barely hear it.

Ive already looked under the car and in the engine bay for anything obvious. Im familiar with the serpentine belt squeal and im pretty confident it is NOT that (replaced about 30k miles ago). I havent noticed any decrease in performance either.

Anyone have any clue to what this is or can point me in the right direction?

Thanks

 

The dreaded transfer case death whine.

 

Sounds to me like your xfer case is toast. The only thing that's weird is it stops after going 30mph, mine did it constantly. Your best bet is to take it to a shop or dealership and have them try and figure out where the noise is coming from. If you take it to the dealership and it is determined that your xfer case needs replaced they will try to get you to buy a new one for 5k. I got mine rebuilt by shep and ran me about 1.7k with labor. The really crappy part is it took two months, but I would of waited two years to get that god awful noise to go away.

 

Can you tell where exactly from under the car do you hear the noise? rear, front, towards one side more?

 

The transfer case whine would come from directly under the middle of the front of the car close to the firewall. But when they start going out it sounds like the noise is coming from everywhere. Good luck, and they do actually sell already rebuilt cases for around 1800 with no wait time too btw.

 

Yeah that is exactly where it sounded like it was coming from. The first thing I checked was underneath the engine bay because thats where the squeaking was coming from. Who is they btw? If this is the issue ill need one ASAP since this is my daily.

Also can anyone tell me what caused this issue. Is it just normal wear and tear. The tranny was rebuilt about 2 years ago. not sure if its related or not. the car has 96K on it.

Is the car un-driveable if the transfer case is going out? That whine is annoying as hell, but i will deal with it until the new one comes in if i can as long as driving it is not going to jack anything else up

 

From my understanding you should not be driving it around that way for an extended prior of time but that is when the noise gets really loud. If its a faint squeal right now then you still have time before it has to be done. As far as who "they" are I did a quick eBay search for the hell of it for you and found a rebuilt tcase for $1850 and it was rebuilt with the upgraded gears and what not in it. The seller is called kormex transmissions. Not sure about them but a little research could confirm whether they are a reliable builder or not. But $1850 with free shiiping and all the upgraded internals is a great deal.

 

OK thanks for that rainwater. I looked up a couple youtube videos of the transfer case whine and my car doesnt sound like that at all. Im gonna get a sound clip really quick and upload it to see if anyone can pinpoint this

 

Here is a video of the sound. It just started happening last night

Dont mind the dirtyness of the car...if anyone here drives in snow you know what all that is lol.

 

Its definitely not the tcase. That sounds really messed up. I've been trying to figure it out, listened a bunch of times. It's so hard to diagnose over the net watching a video. I've had 3 Evo's and worked a hundreds of cars and never heard anything like that in my whole life. Not trying to scare ya, it could be something really dumb and easy, who knows. Take it into a Evo shop though and have them take a look at it ASAP though just to be safe. Good luck man.
EDIT - I sent this video to my buddy, he is a certified mechanic. He said it sounds like its coming from the head, like maybe you threw a rocker arm or a lifter gave out on you, or one of the cams snapped, its happened before on other Evo's but with aftermarket cams. Still pretty hard to tell over the net. Timing belt jumped timing? Another idea.

 

If you're mechanically inclined pull the valve cover, take a look, the answer will more then likely be staring you right in the face with the valve cover off.

 

Thanks for helping me out with this man. I really appreciate it. As for the timing, I would assume there would be some noticeable power loss right?

I'm gonna pull the valve cover tomorrow and take a look

 

PS pump going south? A WAG.

 

You can take the cam gear cover off to verify timing on the cams with tdc and also look down the side of the engine from there and see if the crank mark is lining up too. The more I listen to it I really think its in the head. I am having power steering pump issues right now and it doesn't sound like that at all. Please keep me updated I really want to know what this turns out being. FYI jumped timing belt is actually safe to 6 degrees out, once you hit 7 degrees off is when the valves and pistons become "better acquainted".

 

Ya I agree I think it sounds like its coming from the head. What are your oil pressures at, do you have a gauge to monitor it? It just sounds a lot like valvtrain noise to me. I would pull the valve cover off, its really not that hard, and see if anything obvious is going on. Make sure your timing is ok, then if you can, grab a ratchet and socket and manually turn the engine to verify that your valvetrain is spinning freely. Hopefully its not something serous like a bent/broken rod.