Hello, I just Purchased a 1996 3.8L RS Camaro the other day with about 117,000 miles. I purchased it aware of misc. problems and this one was the main concern.
Anyway while cruising at about 15+ mph I can hear a light grinding metal on metal noise from rear passenger tire. I pulled the wheel and drum cover off earlier to check the drum and make sure all the springs and innards looked decent. Nothing looked too bad, some orangish rust and what not but no broken springs or anything. I was hoping it was something obvious but nothing looked blatently wrong. Maybe worn bearing? I will check that in the next day or two.
Now another concern which I think is associated is that when I am driving it and i apply the brakes with a little mor oomph and occasionally when I accelerate lightly it feels as if the rear differential is lurching or clunking around. I have driven and let my dad look under and at the side to see if the rear differential was visably hopping or dislocating and nothing visually was seen.
I am fairly mechanically adept but usually diagnosing is the biggest burden while working on cars and I am confused on this. I have a repair book in the mail but figure this problem is more complex and will not be spelled out in the troubleshooting section. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Otherwise I will just have to take it to the shop and pay for a diagnoses. Thanks in advance! -Nick =)
I'm not familiar with your car and I can't hear the noise, but my advice is to start with the easy inexpensive stuff. If the bearings is something you can do, go ahead and replace them. Make sure you remove and replace any old grease with new and good grease, pack them bearings good also. If you still have a problem you can get a differential from a junk yard, change the differential oil and install it in your car. And you'll have new bearings you loose nothing by replacing them in my opinion. Clean the brake system back there with some brake cleaner spray while you're at it, spray it like it did'nt cost you any thing. Put some brake grease where recommended.
Sounds like a bad universal joint in the driveshaft, or carrier bearing (split driveshaft mount) if the Camaro has one. Look for rusty dust around the universals, you should be able to shake the driveshaft and see where it's loose, good lucck ,cb
The metal scraping noise is probably a brake shoe scrubbing the drum. Can probably be fixed with a brake adjustment or brake job. The axle bearing would make a grinding noise, not a metallic noise. The banging and clunking is most likely the differential. Lots of miles and poor maintenance can cause excessive wear (slop) in the gears. It can sometimes seem as if the entire rearend housing is shifting around. My Yukon, with over 200K, has the exact same thing. Lots of noise and a sense of movement from the rearend. Check for excessive play-you may be suprised.
Also, don't overlook the "U" joints. They can make grinding noises too. On occations, when they go bad, they can "Clunk" around and give you a real problem trying to find out whats going on.
Hope this helps. Good Luck.
I would check to make sure that the rear brake is not sticking,Just block the front wheels,jack the rear end up put it in nuetral and spin the tire with your hand and feel and listen for drag,also wiggle back and fourth and pull in and out to check bearing play.You can also listen to the differential for clunking or grinding while you're at it.
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