04 Denali Front End Whine (again)

[Schab]

Hi. New to the forum. I've been doing a lot of research and have seen many replies to what seems to be a common whining noise in the front end of AWD denalis. I have a 04 Yukon XL Denali and have such a noise. In addition, I had a humming noise. Under extended warranty, with 57k miles I just had the bearings replaced in the differential (told all by dealer) along with a left front hub. That eliminated my humming noise but I still have the common whining most prevelant from 40 to 60 mph with only light acceleration. Under heavier acceleration the noise goes away, and when you release the gas, the noise also goes away. I just looked at the front drive shaft and it is already part number 15186002 American Axle and Manufacturing which is supposedly the "new" dampended and tuned drive shaft created to solve this problem. Were all part numbers 15186002 dampened and tuned? Any ideas on what to move onto from here to eliminate this problem? Dealers I talk to say this noise is normal. My buddy who has a 4x4 Sierra (not AWD) said he had the same exact noise and it ended up being a bad U-Joint....hmmm

 

Thanks in advance!!

Dave

[desrtrat]

Hi. New to the forum. I've been doing a lot of research and have seen many replies to what seems to be a common whining noise in the front end of AWD denalis. I have a 04 Yukon XL Denali and have such a noise. In addition, I had a humming noise. Under extended warranty, with 57k miles I just had the bearings replaced in the differential (told all by dealer) along with a left front hub. That eliminated my humming noise but I still have the common whining most prevelant from 40 to 60 mph with only light acceleration. Under heavier acceleration the noise goes away, and when you release the gas, the noise also goes away. I just looked at the front drive shaft and it is already part number 15186002 American Axle and Manufacturing which is supposedly the "new" dampended and tuned drive shaft created to solve this problem. Were all part numbers 15186002 dampened and tuned? Any ideas on what to move onto from here to eliminate this problem? Dealers I talk to say this noise is normal. My buddy who has a 4x4 Sierra (not AWD) said he had the same exact noise and it ended up being a bad U-Joint....hmmm

 

Thanks in advance!!

Dave

the 40-60 mph whine is more than likely the front carrier bearings. GM had a bad batch of them put in 03-04 AWD front ends. seeing the dealer replaced them (so they say) and replaced the drive shaft with the "new" dampended and tuned drive shaft, that is nothing more than a drive shaft that has been stuffed with corrugated cardboard that acts as a silencer, than there is outer issues they need to look at. my 03 SS had the same sound new with only 190 mi on it. was getting a sound like a bad pinion Bearing, but mine sounded like it was coming from the rear end. after replacing the rear end assembly, the whine was still there. come to find that it was the front. they rebuilt it twice, still whined. replaced it with one off the assembly line, still bad. found was bad bearings from supplier, poor engineering of the case, and assembly at the plant...

i would take it back and have them check the front again. also pull the rear diff. cover and check for metal. if the case is found to be bad, GM no longer stocks them, only after market re builds are available..

 

sorry for the long post..

 

good luck, AND THE WHINE IS NOT NORMAL

[Schab]

Thanks. The dealer didn't actually change the shaft, I just looked and see the tag with the new part number on it. I assume that if it has that part number, it is the dampened unit. I am so sick and tired of going to dealerships and not getting the work done right the first time. Unfortunately I had no choice this time. I guess back it goes.

[desrtrat]

like i said, this has been a on going issue since 03. mine was one of the first to be brought to GM's engineers for repair. keep on the dealer and if you do not get the response that you feel is right, contact GM costumer assistance for help ..most people are getting 50-75k before needing rebuild on bad units. some have over 150k with no issues..

 

this is what it will look like @ 50k... not mine