Well after figuring out whats wrong with my ac and ordering all the parts to fix it another problem just popped up, of course. I was driving the other day when I noticed that my car is making a very loud whining noise when I let off the gas. I found a youtube video of literally the exact same noise my car is making which can be found here . If it is indeed the pinion nut like the comment on the video suggests is there any way I can tighten it while leaving the rear end intact. I really cant afford to have it worked on at the shop, not to mention this is my daily driver so catching a ride with someone and doing it myself would be significantly cheaper than putting it in the shop. This car is really starting to get on my nerves. I dont want to get rid of it but im seriously considering it.

 

a good shop can do this in a day and for under $300 but, it can be done by yourself. if you are not familiar with it i would watch someone else first, and have some one guide you through it. HOWEVER to my knowledge you must drain and open the diff. (i could be wrong)

My car sounds like that currently only its about a thousand times louder and not nice...

my ring and pinion are shot. I would be careful to check that, because i did the nut an bearing only to find this problem lurking. the whole ring and pinion set (3.73) was $300 installed.

also this is not a car selling failure... if you sell the car for things like this someone else will fix it and it wont ever have another problem just to mock you. (ive done it 2x now... )

 

Okay how would I go about checking if the ring and pinion are shot? Ive already got the diff open because I figured id change the fluid while I was down there anyways. All the people that I know who have any experience with axles to me the only way that they know how to go about tightening the nut is by tearing it apart. Which is not what I want to do.

 

2 videos

Video: How to Inspect Differential Gears for Wear | eHow.com

Bad wear looks like this:


and to repair/replace


unfortunately as you can see the pinion is almost unreachable without some tear down. sorry for the bad news.

 

So in my circumstance, being a complete axle noob, tighten the pinion nut is pretty much not something that I can do? And thank you very much for the links.

 

Nuts do not normally come loose on there own. Most of the time it is cause by a failing pinion bearing. There is a whole procedure involved in setting the preload on a bearing. That procedure will not work on a worn bearing. It would cause the bearing to fail even faster. Setting up a rear is not complicated but it is very unforgiving. It is in second place for most screwed up by do it yourselfers project right behind Automatic trans installs.

To get the rear set right you have to follow the instruction to the letter skip one step and you will ruin everything. The best way to learn how to do it is to do it with a expert looking over your shoulder. Your best bet is find someone that does rears all the time and have him set it up. It will be worth the money.

Cheapest way to get this fixed it just to swap in a low miles axle assembly out of another Camaro.

Good luck.

 

You could visit your local wrecking yard to see what they have.

 

actually thats a very good point, but you dont know how those rears were treated its hot or miss but you can change the whole rear out under $600 if you know what your doing.

 

Well I got quoted 50$ to inspect it and and tighten the pinion nut if that is indeed the problem. Looks like thats where its going.

 

Either that's somebody who doesn't work on rearends, or he doesn't know a hole shot from a hole in the ground.
Tighten down on the pinion nut, and you change the pinion gear depth setting to the ring gear. That can spell premature gear failure. Run away from that "expert". Did you watch those videos? Perhaps the guy who quoted you $50 to fix your nut should.