Low speed grinding noise
 

New noise has started over the past couple weeks. It is a sort of grinding or roaring noise that is present at low speed when going straight. It sounds very similar to tire noise, but is not. It is difficult to tell where the noise is coming from, but I would guess the center of the drivetrain.

If I start from a stop the noise will begin around 8mph and continue to about 17mph where it then stops. If I accelerate through this range of speed, but am turning there is no noise. I don't seem to hear this noise at other speeds.

ANy ideas? Searching didn't reveal much.

you would need to pinpoint the noise... if you can find a long wall along a road, drive next to it with windows down and listen... have someone else outside listen to the car as you drive by...
based on what you have described so far, it could be the front drive-shafts, or the wheel bearings.. it could be the brakes, either front or back, with a dead pad hitting the bare metal...

any prior history? like, hitting a road debris? or balancing tires? sometimes, tire weights unglue and hit the brakes...

you did not indicate what ytour ride is, other than posting in the E53 forum... be more specific, more info we have, more idea we can throw during remote troubleshooting...

IM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM!! i was just thinking about it today as well. for some reason im begining to think its the new front tires and almost gone rears. difference in diameter causing drivetrain troubles? i started noticing it after i put new style 87 wheels on it but got used rear tires and new fronts.

I think I have the same thing as well.. I got the issue when the local Indy changed the oil in the Transfer Case. I think they used the oil for the pre facelift, not the later like my 2005.

Do you get it when you are cruising, like a steady speed but just holding the throttle to keep that speed?

I have been trying to record it, but my recorder wont pick it up properly in the car. I'm going to have to put the recorder under the car somewhere and go for drives until it happens.

Rob

I have recently replaced the brakes all around, tires, and front axles so I don't think it has anything to do with those. I really feel it has something to do with the transfer case or front diff. Those the only things I can think of that would operate differently in a turn opposed to going straight. I have some new t case fluid I am going to put in then do the t case adaptation to see if anything changes.

start from simple and move towards more complex - since you have replaced some of the drivetrain components, such as the axles, did the brakes - check those items first, just to make sure that the problem is not there...

try to correlate the sound to the factors present - is the grinding sound steady, or pulsating in its amplitude, does the pitch of the noise correspond to the speed of the car, to the rotations of the wheels?.. All those little things will allow you to pinpoint the problem...

TC or the differential - it is much more complex endeaviour, and it would suck if half way through tearing things up you will find a hanging brake sensor that made all that ruckus...

and we still don't know what your ride is and how many miles you got on it...

04 4.4i 96000

It's not the brakes or anything related to the rest of what I have just done.

you mentioned that the noise is like tire noise... so, it is not like metal on metal? could it be GUIBO? that thing is rubber (or rubber-like) and is located in the middle of the car, on the driveshaft...

But the guibo wouldn't make a noise like this. I have had them fail before and they always start to make knocking noises. The noise is not metal on metal but more of a roaring tire sound.

I drove the car to work this morning and it seems tha I also hear the noise while at higher speeds and throttle application of about 20%. More or less throttle will make the noise go away. Not sure if it is the same noise or not but it is similar.

did the OP resolve this ?