I'm looking at an evo that the current owner says sometimes whines from the transfer case. Does this mean its definitely gone and will have to be replaced? Is there any chance a switch of fluid could help at all? Thanks

 

Once the tcase whines changing fluid will do nothing.. if it whines sometimes he may mean in 1st gear which normal but if its in high gears when off throttle its Toast..

 

He said it only does it around 60 and that a shop said it wasn't the death whine, just a whiny tc. Your thoughts??

 

Youll have to drive it and determine if its very loud or bearable.. It shouldnt whine at 60mph..

Mike

 

Negative, it is the death wine sorry to say. Mine did the exact same thing, wasnt too bad at loweer speeds but at 60 it was pretty bad and after two weeks driving it like that it just demolished.

 

True, but he may be referring to regular drivetrain noise you hear while cruising on the highway. You have to pay attention to catch these noises, but around 60mph, windows up/radio off you can hear a faint whine in mine too. It's been there since I got the car.

Death Whine gets louder with speed increase, in or out of gear, on or off throttle. It's very loud- like a storm siren. There are several video/sound clips on You Tube if you'd like an example.

 

Mine also does this at 60mph but for me it is more vibration from the tires/road surface that makes any real sound for me. As far as I gather from research and videos a faint whine at 60 and nowhere else is just normal drivetrain noise.

What gave me reassurance is that I changed my tc fluid and there was no metal in the fluid or on the drain plug except for maybe a few small shavings from normal wear and tare. Change your fluid and see if there are any large pieces, if not I'd say you're fine unless the noise graduates to higher volumes and throughout the speed range.