Whining noise I can't find please help!!

Clifford98

New member
Hey everyone so I'm new to the forum but I have a problem with my jeep and am really hoping I can pick y'alls minds.

So a little background on my jeep.
I have a 1998 4 door Cherokee it has a drivetrain out of a 95 xj the motor has been rebuilt and the trans has been gone through the t case has an SYE but I'm not sure it it's ever been gone though fully. It is long armed and has a Dana 30 upfront and a xj 44 in the back both are geared 4:10 with auto lockers.

So onto my problem:
A few weeks ago my jeep started making a high pitched whining noise I can kinda hear it at lower speeds but not really. It gets really noticeable over about 40, the pitch doesn't change with speed but it does get louder the faster I go. All the fluids are fine and there's no grinding in the noise.
I've tried a ton of diagnosing and haven't got anywhere. I replaced the front wheel hubs and pulled the rear shafts and they looked fine so I packed them in grease and put them back in. I've also rebuilt both driveshafts completely this week. The noise would appear to be coming front the front half of the cab but you can only hear it with the windows up and it seams to move around when you move your head in the cab. The noise doesn't go away by letting off the gas,getting on it, kicking it out of over drive, kicking it in to neutral, or even Turing the motor off in neutral while coasting at speed. It isn't affected by putting it in 4 wd or pulling the front driveshaft. I've even taken it to two shops and had mechanics ride with me one was even a jeep certified mechanic and he had no idea the other place even put it on a lift and ran it at 50 but on the lift there's no whine in the cab and they checked everything with the thesascope thing and couldn't hear any noise at all.

It is driving me crazy I'm one of those people that fixes every squeak and noise. So I need to find this. Also my main problem is I'm a student at college and can't just drop a t case in my apartment parking lot to check it if it wasn't for that I already would have.

So I'm asking y'all if you've ever experienced this because I could really use the help.


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WJCO

Meme King
I'm just not sure what bearing it could be... what do you mean by something stuck in a tire?


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The symptoms you're describing sound like something that is in constant rotation and not related to load. I'm thinking a wheel bearing, carrier bearing, or tire noise. Could even be in the brakes.
 

Clifford98

New member
The symptoms you're describing sound like something that is in constant rotation and not related to load. I'm thinking a wheel bearing, carrier bearing, or tire noise. Could even be in the brakes.

I thought about brakes but it should change if you tap the brakes correct? I am kinda worried it may be carrier or pinion bearings abut don't they typically change when you let off the gas? And I believe they are normally more of a grinding noise right? This is more of a stereo whine


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Clifford98

New member
Does it 'wind down' as you slow down? If yes , it could possibly be a stretched tc chain or bad tc bearing.

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I wouldn't quite call it a wind down it just basically gets quieter as you slow down but I do agree with you that the chain is a possibility I'm thinking I'm gonna have to drop the case next week and see what's going on inside it.


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WJCO

Meme King
I wouldn't quite call it a wind down it just basically gets quieter as you slow down but I do agree with you that the chain is a possibility I'm thinking I'm gonna have to drop the case next week and see what's going on inside it.


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Try running it on a lift or on jackstands.
 

Honor2afault

Caught the Bug
Sounds an awful lot like what mine has been doing. After crawling under mine on jack stands and checking the 'play' in park, neutral, drive in both 2wd and 4h found excessive slack between front & back shafts. (I've been pretty hard on mine over the years) Doing a rebuild on Tuesday. G2 offers a rebuild kit that includes seals, bearings ect, all but the chain but those are readily available as well.

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T.McD

Member
What about axle gear whine. You said they were geared to 4:10 and locked. You could have a bad bearing or a gear mesh issue. When you had it ran on the lift was it only in 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive. I'm thinking front end gears.

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Clifford98

New member
Sounds an awful lot like what mine has been doing. After crawling under mine on jack stands and checking the 'play' in park, neutral, drive in both 2wd and 4h found excessive slack between front & back shafts. (I've been pretty hard on mine over the years) Doing a rebuild on Tuesday. G2 offers a rebuild kit that includes seals, bearings ect, all but the chain but those are readily available as well.

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Ok so now that you mention of mine has a good amount of play too. If you're on the highway and let off the gas and the get back on it can you hear what sounds like it taking the slack out?


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Clifford98

New member
What about axle gear whine. You said they were geared to 4:10 and locked. You could have a bad bearing or a gear mesh issue. When you had it ran on the lift was it only in 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive. I'm thinking front end gears.

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I thought about that but the axles were done before I got them and I ran them for a few thousand mikes before this noise started


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