whirring not quite grinding sound

[koreywill]

2000 Corolla. 197K miles. Electronic speedometer. Automatic tranny. Just started making a whirring, but not quite a grinding sound. Seems to be coming from the middle front of car. Jacked car up. Both front wheels exhibit no freeplay. Checked with stethoscope for grinding in wheel bearings but found none. Sound starts at 32 mph and rises in pitch as car goes faster. No change to sound if turning left or right. Coasting down hill with engine off the sound is still there. Sound is more audible on inside of car that outside. While car was jacked up and wheels turning at 40mph could not hear sound outside the car at all. Transmission fluid is red and smells good and is up to proper level.
Suggestions anyone?
Thanks!
koreywill

[MARK70]

is that 3 or 4 speed?

[koreywill]

4 speed automatic

[johnoh]

Originally Posted by koreywill

Coasting down hill with engine off the sound is still there.

Sounds like wheel bearings even though you said you checked them.

[koreywill]

I've just been informed that it's probably the pinion bearing in the transmission that is going bad. R&R = $500 by a competent transmission specialist. Anyone else had this problem and had it repaired?
Thanks for all responses.

[MARK70]

well,
I have 3 speed and have saperate differantial box , is using ATF but to add it have to untide screw on the side of differantial box .I'm not sure if 4 speed is same .Please confirm it.If same you have no fluid in differential box.
Well if different than switch wheels front to rear both side -test drive eliminate tires problem
In my option your car is almost done 200 000 that impresive milage.

[captaincorolla]

I'd guarantee it's your bearings. I just went through that. So frustrating, because the mechanic couldn't diagnose it for a long time.

[rgurleyjr]

I have an identical noise as yours. From about 30-70 and higher, I have a howling type that gets louder the faster I go. I can hear it the best on freshly paved roads. I just replaced tires, tie rods, and struts and now it's much louder. I'm 99% it's my bearings, not sure which one because the noise comes from the front, not really one specific side.

[GaryGoatse]

If the sound is still there going down hill with the engine off then it is nothing related to the engine and could be something loose under the car that is vibrating. It has to be something on the body or related to the wheels turning(possibly transmission). I would recommend figuring it out yourself because you will spend a lot of money for a technician to do everything you just described doing. Good luck with that

[koreywill]

johnoh and captaincorolla: You were both dead on. Got the tranny worked on (3 bearings replaced - 2 of which had overheated -you could see that they had turned blue from heat - and replaced the ring and pinion gear - obvious wear to the naked eye) but the sound was still there. Replaced the right front bearing and the sound was gone. A lot of mechanics made a lot of assumptions that cost me a lot of $$$$$. Next time I'll pay more attention to you guys and start with the lower cost item first. Thanks for all the input.

koreywill

[azncapcom]

I just recently got the same whirring sound... but i think its from me swapping into summer tires that aren't balanced... cuz it was fine before that, i will probably swap back first to test it... Anyways how much was it to replace your front bearings?

[koreywill]

Sorry for the slow response: The tranny guy offered to replace the wheel bearing ant no cost for labor if I brought in the part. (Of course, he'd already gotten a lot of my money for the transmission work.) I thought it was a nice gesture on his part, though, so I bought the hub assembly kit at NAPA for $81.49 and he did install it in about an hour. Voila! Noise is gone.