Traditionally I put my 17's back on during Easter weekend so I figured now would be a perfect time to trouble shoot that wining noise some of us get after a cruise on the highway. My drive to the shop is all highway and the car usually produces the noise as soon as I get off the highway, just a few blocks from the shop. Sure enough, the wine noise was there today as I got on the exit ramp, but by the time I got the car onto the lift the noise was gone. I pulled off the factory 16's and started looking around for a possible cause of this odd noise. The brakes seemed fine, no scoring and the wheel bearings felt nice and smooth, no play and no binding at all. So what in the world could be causing this odd noise that only appears after a cruise on the highway? I started looking at the driveshafts, my car has 95,000 miles on it. The boots looked fine, both inner and outter left and right. But a closer look at them revealed something odd. On the second nub in, the area which usually splits I noticed the inner area looked a bit dry, almost like it's been subjected to constant rubbing against the area next to it. I could see a very small crack developing in that area as well (I'll keep my eye on the boots and possibly replace them this fall before they fail). It appears like that specific area gets most of the abuse and possibly gets heated up because of the constant contact with area next to it as the shaft spins. As a result that area of the boot appears dry and I thought that might be the cause of the wining noise some of us experiance after a highway cruise. I looked at the right CV boot and it appears the same, perhaps not quite as dry looking but obviously it's the area that takes the most abuse.

I applied some grease lightly to just that area of the outter CV boots just to lube it up a bit so the rubber wouldn't create so much heat as it spun and touched the section next to it. The inner boots did not have this wear mark on it at all so I left them alone. Keep in mind I had no problem getting the car to produce the wine on my way to the shop, but on my way home things were different.

After 20 minutes at 70MPH, usually I'd hear the wining as I got onto the exit ramp and slowed down to around 35MPH. But much to my suprise the car was silent. Absolutely no wining noise from the left front wheel. So I think the noise some of us experiance is caused by the CV boots starting to dry out. As they spin a small section, 2nd inner area from the hub, seems to constantly touch the section next to it and create heat. The heat is causing that area of the boot to dry out and I think creat this very odd noise when the rubber becomes heated up a bit, most noticably after a ~20 minute cruise on the highway. I have no idea why just the left front produces the noise, perhaps the fact that the left and right shafts are slightly different lengths. Or are they? The left shaft comes directly out of the tranny and the right one comes from the carrier bearing. At any rate, after almost 1-1/2 years with this odd noise, it seems to be gone for now.

The one odd thing I did have happen is my brakes started squealing immediately after mounting my 17's. I've had this problem for 3 years now. With the factory 16's my brakes are silent, but as soon as I mount my 17's the front brakes squeal. I've been through 3 or 4 different sets of pads, new shimes, anti squeal gooo and nothing shuts them up. As soon as I swap the wheels and go back to the 16's my brakes are silent. I wish somebody could figure that one out!

If anybody has that supercharger wine from the left front wheel after a highway run, please try lubbing up the left outter CV boot (2nd inner nub) and report the results here in this thread. It would be nice to know that this annoying noise can be put to rest finally.

Ciliff notes: That supercharger noise from the left front wheel after a cruise on the highway could be caused by a worn or slightly dry outter CV boot, lube it up and the noise seems to go away.

P.S. My KYB boots are starting to tare.

 

If the noise is caused by the cv boot bellows rubbing, wouldn't you have a bigger problem later down the road when debris (little bits of rocks, metal etc ) collect to the light film of grease? Right now you have dry rubber-on- rubber contact. But if debris stick to the grease then you'll have a bit of sandpaper effect when the bellows meet and brush against each other.

 

Good point VeeQ, but I didn't leave a ton of grease on the boots, I just made them slightly moist. Honestly I'm not worried and I think that if that area is dried out, lubbing it up a bit will prolong the boots life. You can probably accomplish the same thing with your favorite tire & rubber trim dressing.

 

good find Tom!

 

Well I'm glad I titled this thread with the word possibly
Just got back from my buddies place, watched a stupid movie about two guys that got stoned and went looking for White Castle. Got stoned ourselves... and on the way home I noticed the freaking noise is back.

I'll try something else when it annoys me enough.

 

I think I have this problem. Could it be a wheel bearing?

 

I have the same problem and I suspect it is my wheel bearing as well.

 

I couldn't recreate the sound this morning. It was happening last night...

 

ive had a slight whine when im at low speeds from the drivers side wheel. i have noclue what it isand i havent had a chance to lookat it. anyone else have this problem?

 

I have a similar noise coming from the front end of my car. I have a whining noise coming from both sides at all speeds and only stops when the car stops and would like to know where to pin point the problem. I have replaced a lot of things on my car since i purchased it in september of last year (2004). I have replaced my brakes, rotors, springs (eibach), shocks/struts (KYB GR-2's), put goodyear tires on my stock gle rims. And about 2 months ago replaced my drive axles both sides with remanufactured ones from Advanced Auto. But could not check out the wheel bearings since you need a press to get them out. They did look kind of rusty from what i could see. Don't know how to get them out or what. So I guess my conclusion would be it's either the wheel bearings or something to do with the transaxle (please don't let it be the transaxle) . Too poor to afford that!!!

I have 160,000+ miles on my 99 GLE, if someone who has/had similar problem or knows a solution could give their insight on this it would be greatly appreciated.

 

After several months experiencing the front end whine a few of you discuss, I finally had enough of the mechanics BS and had them replace the bearings. Three days and no whine. For me, the replacement seems to have cleared it up. The warranty covered it, but it priced out at about $560 or so.

 

Make sure the cotter pin isn't rubbing on the mettal part of the outer CV joint