A customer asked me about a noise his '11 Sportage (2.4L/auto, 175K) is making, and after a test drive and a little poking around with it in the air it appears to be in the transmission. Becoming audible from inside the car above about 15 MPH, the only time the noise doesn't occur is when there's absolute slack in the drivetrain - even when slowing down it's there, but slightly quieter than when sustaining speed or accelerating. It's not a whir or whine, like a wheel bearing, and not a defined bang or pop - more like an oscillating scrubbing sound that has a rhythm to it, directly related to ground speed; however, it's not related to wheel speed because when I had it in the air, idling in drive (speedo was reading around 20) and rubbed a board on one tire slowing one wheel the noise didn't change in relation to that, only with the difference in engine speed. Which makes me think it's in the final drive portion of the transmission. But after some googling I don't see any mention of a similar, common problem with these vehicles.
Thoughts? I'm inclined to recommend against any maintenance to try to "save" the transmission, because new fluid ain't gonna help worn or banged up final drive gears, and just drive it 'til it gets worse or fails then rebuild/replace.
Thoughts? I'm inclined to recommend against any maintenance to try to "save" the transmission, because new fluid ain't gonna help worn or banged up final drive gears, and just drive it 'til it gets worse or fails then rebuild/replace.