AE95 - two annoying sounds when driving

[nizzehult]

Hi everyone,

New here! Have a AE95 90' which I'm very satisfyed with. But there are two annoying sounds that I want to get rid of:

- Knocking sound when turning right, especially in low speed. Everyone says it's the outer joint(s) of the driveshaft, but they both looks and feels fine. The boots are OK. Is this normal since it's a 4WD or could it be the joints anyway?

- Rumbling sound when driving, sounds like it comes from right side at the front. Follows rotation of wheel and character of sound does not change when turning.
Most heard in speeds around 50-60 km/h. I think that the bearing in the hub is OK but I have ordered a new one just in case....
An old Toyota mechanic said when I bought this car: "good car, but look up for the bearings at the end of the gearbox".
I don't know what he means and if my sound can be related to this warning? And what to do then?

It has a 4A-FE engine. Manual transmission. Daily driver. 155k miles.

[stancati]

sounds like the front right wheel bearing, although it could be the Outer CV Joint as well, jack the front of the car up and look and feel for play in the front wheels (grab both sides of the tire (left and right) and move back and forth and again on top and bottom).

if the wheels are rigid, then the bearings should be fine, it may be the CV joint, hope that helps

[nizzehult]

Hm. I'm suspecting the wheel bearing myself, but shouldn't the sound change then while driving and turning? E.g. no sound while turning left and remarkable sound while turning right - or vice versa, and just a small sound while driving straight forward?

The outer CV joint has no bearing itself and I have inspected them after jacking up the car and they are rock solid - no play at all.

The gear box uses 5 liters (!) of oil (1.3 gallons) and changing the oil to a better quality would cost a fortune, but if I knew that it made the sound disappear I'd go for int...

[Drainx]

I think 'bearings at the end of the gearbox' are the ones connecting the transmission to the rear driveshaft and/or the center driveshaft. A friend of mine had the same problem a few weeks ago with his bmw on the center bearing where its held to the underside of the chassis.

[stancati]

Originally Posted by nizzehult

Hm. I'm suspecting the wheel bearing myself, but shouldn't the sound change then while driving and turning? E.g. no sound while turning left and remarkable sound while turning right - or vice versa, and just a small sound while driving straight forward?

The outer CV joint has no bearing itself and I have inspected them after jacking up the car and they are rock solid - no play at all.

The gear box uses 5 liters (!) of oil (1.3 gallons) and changing the oil to a better quality would cost a fortune, but if I knew that it made the sound disappear I'd go for int...

The wheel bearing will make different noises when turning left or right depending which bearing is bad. If the wheels feel solid (assuming u felt for play in the wheels and driveshafts and not just the driveshafts) when the car is jacked up, then it may still be the wheel bearing, spin the wheel with your hands as fast as you can, and listen real good for any grind or roughness, usually a good indicator is the faster the wheel spins (ie. the highway) the louder the noise will get.

I doubt its the actual transmission, as then u would only have issues in that gear or all the time regardless of turning depending the issue that is.

[nizzehult]

Originally Posted by Drainx

I think 'bearings at the end of the gearbox' are the ones connecting the transmission to the rear driveshaft and/or the center driveshaft. A friend of mine had the same problem a few weeks ago with his bmw on the center bearing where its held to the underside of the chassis.

Sounds logical. And I think that the intermediate shaft that goes to the rear axle (or what it's called, excuse my english) has bearings as well. Main question is: do I have to worry about this noice?

Originally Posted by stancati

The wheel bearing will make different noises when turning left or right depending which bearing is bad. If the wheels feel solid (assuming u felt for play in the wheels and driveshafts and not just the driveshafts) when the car is jacked up, then it may still be the wheel bearing, spin the wheel with your hands as fast as you can, and listen real good for any grind or roughness, usually a good indicator is the faster the wheel spins (ie. the highway) the louder the noise will get.

I doubt its the actual transmission, as then u would only have issues in that gear or all the time regardless of turning depending the issue that is.

Yeah, I know that bearings in general can be tricky to sort out whether they are good or not. Spinning the wheels by hand don't get anything and it's (more) komplicated to test a 4WD in a garage by simulating driving since all 4 wheels have to be jacked up.

This IS a typical noice from a bad bearing. It has low frequency - so low that it can hardly be heard in low speed - and when speed exceeds 70-80 km/h there are other sounds from tires, engine etc that will drown that sound.

[darth-grantius]

My Ae95 does the same thing. knocks at slow speeds at at high speed the sound dissapears.