05gtdriver

Hello all, it's been a long time since I've posted on MustangForums, time flies I guess
My '06 GT with just 46,000 miles has been in the shop nearly two weeks with 1) bad alternator-paid $585 for it to be replaced 2) rear ring & pinion replaced under warranty with a $100 deductible. Although there's still a howling, whining noise coming from underneath the car. My car is pretty much babied and I only drive about 9,500 miles a year. I went to pick it up yesterday & immediately turned around to take it back to them when the noise I had complained about in the 1st place was still present. The service tech & I went for a test drive & he immediately noticed my concern. The tech mentioned when he replaced the ring & pinion that he checked all the differential bearings & axle shaft bearings and all were in fine shape. Could it be a front wheel bearings? I replaced my tires in late 2009 and the shop I took it to maybe over tightened the lug nuts with an impact gun? The noise started in Sept of last year and hasn't gotten worse. I even replaced the knock off Chinese Rotalla tires with Pirellis Zeros two weeks ago because the noise sounds a little like tire roar. The noise is present at speed above slow cruising and stays constant whether in gear or not or accelerating or not(when above cruising speeds). My car looks & drives like new, but these little nagging things are a total bummer. Anyone with something similar?

CutterWolf

Try having them check the front wheel bearings and the output shaft bearing.

kevinmalec

Maybe it's a supercharger that you didn't know you had. ;-)
All jokes aside, if you haven't already, make sure to check the front wheel bearings as CutterWolf stated above.

Diabolical!

They could have screwed up the backlash. When I first bought my car I had to take it in because my gears howled after a week. When I picked it up, it was already howling again. The S197 is finicky about backlash adjustments.

JIM5.0

I agree here. The pinion not being properly meshed to the ring is a source of the whine.

Also another thing to consider: Do you have an aftermarket single piece driveshaft? If so, the geometry could be one of the reasons why the mesh would be hard to get correct.

Aside from the rear gear, do also have them check out the other stuff also the other guys mentioned before me.

alkemist

How bad is the "howling" or is it a whine? Is it coming from the front or rear? Do you hear it only during acceleration, decel or both? What was the given reason why the ring and pinion had to be changed?

grabber blue gt

To me it sounds like its coming from your pinion. Whether you have it in gear or not, accelerating or not, the gear and pinion are always spinning while the car is moving. When I got my 4.10's installed the owner of the shop as well as the installer both even said the s197's are a PITA when it comes to rear ends and its a high chance of getting gear whine if its not installed 110% correctly.

05gtdriver

Turns out the dealer tech suspended my car on jackstands so that he could isolate the noise while the car was under power and it's a bad driveshaft. Covered under warranty and I should have my car my Tue/Wed. So fortunate Ford had upgraded their powertrain warranty in late 2006 to 5/60000 instead of 3/36000(I bought my car in late Aug of '06). I would have upgraded to a one piece unit had the warranty not covered it. My handbrake cable recently snapped & I found a used unit on eBay for $62 shipped.....anybody have a used trunk release motor?
I love my car, but for the amount of use I give it, it's quality is rather poor, but I don't care, the Mustang is my dream vehicle and the nagging stuff has never left me stranded.

05gtdriver

Okay, latest update.....argh.....it wasn't the driveshaft afterall. The dealer had a field rep from Ford on hand and he's pretty sure it's a wheel bearing(like I had suspected all along). If the mechanic had taken his time in driving the car thoroughly the 1st time, maybe he would have come up with the same conclusion? Oh, well, I'm just now waiting and driving around in a loaner Fusion(pretty decent car, but that weird torque-steer thing going on when turning left & accelerating makes me uneasy).
Glad it's all under warranty............

amaNIN

@05gtdriver
Front wheel bearing?
I have a similar howling sound only under light accelelerating load and over 70 mph. Thought it was my 4.10's. I suspect wheel bearing also. But it sounds like its coming from the rear for me.