Okay - you know that noise? That one you hear at an old-school playground where the swings are all on chains, that metal against metal high pitch squeal. This is like that, only... more. more metalic - sharper even.



It only happens when i'm in reverse. It only happens when I'm acutally applying power to the wheels. If I'm rolling backwards out of gear, or with the clutch depressed, no noise. It also seems to happen once per revolution - it's not a constant whining shriek - it's rythmic and speeds up as i do.



Any ideas? Where should I start?

 

my guess, bad driveshaft u-joints.

 

Rebuild that tranny my friend. Or just push it backwards from now on

 

sticky caliper?

 

can u tell if the noise is coming from the engine bay, middle of the car, or the rear of the car? does anything seem to bind or any feel of resistance while moving.

 

it sounds like it's coming from the rear of the car. no binding, no resistance. other than the noise the car performs perfectly. And the noise doesn't happen all the time. Some days the car doesn't do it at all, some days it does it every time. I'm going to change out the fluids in the diff and tranny and see if that helps. If it was a bad tranny, u-joints, or caliper shouldn't it make the noise all the time if i'm moving backwards (or forwards for that matter)? But it only happens when power is being put to the wheels. Moving backwards at 10mph the noise stops the instant i hit the clutch, even though i continue rolling at the same speed.

 

Carefully put rear of the car up on jacks and make sure the car is safely supported. Start the car, and listen for the noise when you put the tranny in reverse and add power. It helps to have a buddy to peer under the car and listen where the noise is coming from.



Im still going with my bad u-joint diagnosis. The u-joints, if they are frozen or binding, will ONLY make noise if the drivetrain is under load. Also, the u-joints get accostomed to rotating in one direction, and going to opposite direction dramaticaly amplifies and stuck u-joints or imbalances.



good luck.

 

My car does something odd in reverse. Only in reverse. I get like...clutch chatter or something, but only in reverse. Forward gears are smooth as hell, but reverse chatters faintly...

 

I have the same problem but mine sticks in reverse