Intermitant Noise, Transfer case? 1G tsi awd

[Semper]

The last while iv been hearing this weird noise from under the car, seems like front passenger side, almost at your feet. im thinking either the TC or tranny.
Its almost like a wobble, slight scrape, its a smooth noise, almost sounds like something i cant quite explain. now iv read the tires could be it, as there old and sat for a few years, but i dont want to risk blowing a TC or tranny.

The best i ca describe it is it gets more intense as you accelerate, when it started you could only hear it in 5th and with the radio off and windows down, now i am starting to hear it in 3rd - 5th. almost like something could have a bit to much play? thats the most i can explain without someone seeing it.
hopefully one of you could help. and it is not wheel bearings i just did both fronts.

 

[Eeeeky]

You say you did bearings, what did you torque the axle nut to?

 

[Semper]

Have to hand tighten them to line up the cotter pins. thre proboly around the same as the lug nuts, 110

I dont beleive it to be them. My old mans a mechanic and he double checks my stuff most of the time. he said it was on correct and hes 30 years in so i trust em for it. id feel some sort of play if it were that i beleive.

 

[Eeeeky]

Thats where your wrong. The axle nuts MUST be torqued to 167 Ft lbs, in order to preload the bearing correctly. This is REQUIRED!!!!

Sooooo, Chances are you probably ruined one or both of those new wheel bearings... Should have read the manual, this isnt something you can just throw back together, and think its ok. Not bashing your old man, not by any means. Its an easy thing to over-look.

 

[Semper]

Interesting, Ill have to pull the wheel tomorrow and inspect it. and re-tourque. Iv never had to do these style of bearings before. not many cars run these style.
didnt know i had to Preload the bearing. thought when you have it pressed it it preloads. Ill check it out and see if this is the issue. Thanks for the tip.

No totaly agreeable, hes worked on GMs for the past 30 years so hes proboly never touched a bearing style like this is awhile.
Well take a look tommorow, If i need to press in 2 more i press in to more. Cheap part i was just worried it was my transfer case. Which it still might be. Idk, i remember i had it hand tightend ridiculously hard, we will see. Theres no play so if its a little noise ill let it go until i feel play then swap em. ill take a look at it tommorow.

 

[TSIturbo91]

I have had 2 transfer cases go on me. First being a bad seal and leaking until it was obvious it was my TC and made all the sounds you describe. It was soft sounding to start with sounds like a bad axle or bearing and got progressively worse.

The second one just locked up at highway speed and I went for a different kind of crazy ride in my TSi.

Anyway if it's not your bearings than the ToB could be it as said but just for kicks I would check the rear seal on your TC for two reasons. 1) its easier than dropping the trans, and 2) it could be the TC going bad from low oil or failure. The rear seal is made of brass and go bad often. A 10,000 mile inspection is recommend for that reason and for the reason that spinning wildly out of control on a highway in the rain into oncoming traffic is a less preferred way to notice your transfer case is bad. But thats IMO

Now one way to check for premature failure that I found was to, from a stop on flat land take off as slow as you can without burning the clutch. Mine made the car shutter due to the problem being evenly distributed to the rear wheels. But made no noise once at speed. This was a rebuilt one that failed within the first 100 miles. Good luck with the trouble shooting.

 

[Semper]

I checked the wheel bearings, There fine, they were just over 165lbs. so they were preloaded correctly ( I set the torque settings on my arm to max i guess )
scoped them, no noise at all from the bearings, they are not an issue.

I do have a bit of that shudder you explain, The car sat for a few years before i got it, I am going to asume he had not maintained anything, Ill look at the seal this evening when i can free up a hoist. only thing is, if it is the TC... I guesss ill just have to replace it with a dogbox... sign.

I also just noticed, its more violent uphill. im leaning towards the end of the TC, the driveshaft, or the Rear end...