I had a whine develop in my '05 GT (manual trans.) at about 150K miles. The dealer checked it and said the transmission and clutch were fine. They disassembled the rear and replaced the bearings, shims, races etc. and added xl-3. They said the ring and pinion were fine. That cured most of the noise, but I'm still get some whine in 4th gear when I let up on the gas(cruising). If I give it a little gas, the noise stops completely. I took it back and rode with the mechanic who did the work. The dealer seems reluctant to do more and this was an expensive, non-warranty repair. I'm wondering if I could either request Ford to have another dealer take a look at it or possibly have another shop troubleshoot their work and try and get Ford to reimburse me. Any suggestions?
2005 Gt Rear Differential Whine
- Thread starter nitewulf69
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Husky44
10 Year Member
First--I would recommend not using the dealer for maintenance and repairs once the car is out of warranty. They typically charge quite a bit more than other shops, and you aren't necessarily getting any benefit for that, other than a blue oval on the invoice.
For your driveline work, I'd recommend checking with the local gearheads in your area to find a good driveline specialty shop.
I'm guessing they pulled the center section, but didn't pull the pinion gear (assuming they pulled center section because you said they replaced "bearings, shims, races". Most likely they tried to get rid of the gear noise by adjusting the backlash on the ring gear, but didn't try to adjust pinion depth, which is a bit of a pain in the butt. With 150k miles on them, it's possible that there is either sufficient wear on the gears themselves, or on your pinion bearing (which again, I'm guessing that they didn't replace).
I'm not sure you'll have any luck getting Ford to reimburse you; also doubt you'll get another dealership to support your argument that you should get reimbursed by the first dealer.
My advice: without hearing it to know how loud it is, I'd first suggest turning up the stereo a little. If it's too loud for that, I'd suggest finding a new shop that specializes in drivelines, and having them go in and set everything. I'd seriously consider a new gear set while you're in there. Gears are cheap; it's the labor that's expensive, and you're going to pay that labor anyway. May just be time to upgrade that ratio while you're in there.
FWIW: I'm getting gear whine on my 13. I put 3.73s in a little while ago; also swapped them into my 95. Great gear, but it seems to me that these 8.8s whine when you hammer on them, no matter how well you set up the gears.
For your driveline work, I'd recommend checking with the local gearheads in your area to find a good driveline specialty shop.
I'm guessing they pulled the center section, but didn't pull the pinion gear (assuming they pulled center section because you said they replaced "bearings, shims, races". Most likely they tried to get rid of the gear noise by adjusting the backlash on the ring gear, but didn't try to adjust pinion depth, which is a bit of a pain in the butt. With 150k miles on them, it's possible that there is either sufficient wear on the gears themselves, or on your pinion bearing (which again, I'm guessing that they didn't replace).
I'm not sure you'll have any luck getting Ford to reimburse you; also doubt you'll get another dealership to support your argument that you should get reimbursed by the first dealer.
My advice: without hearing it to know how loud it is, I'd first suggest turning up the stereo a little. If it's too loud for that, I'd suggest finding a new shop that specializes in drivelines, and having them go in and set everything. I'd seriously consider a new gear set while you're in there. Gears are cheap; it's the labor that's expensive, and you're going to pay that labor anyway. May just be time to upgrade that ratio while you're in there.
FWIW: I'm getting gear whine on my 13. I put 3.73s in a little while ago; also swapped them into my 95. Great gear, but it seems to me that these 8.8s whine when you hammer on them, no matter how well you set up the gears.
Thanks, Husky. I realized right away that I had made a mistake using the dealer. They did replace a number of bearing assemblies, but probably short-cutted the procedure as you suggested. Actually, the whine is really not that great (I am a perfectionist), and with 150k miles it may be that this is "as good as it's going to get" without replacing the entire differential. I'm also mulling the decision to buy a new car. With this many miles, there are more expenses sure to follow.
