95 S10 Blazer 4wd-whining in rear end

[mstam]

I have only owned the Blazer for about 5 months. It has 144K miles and I have dumped almost $1000 into it already. Right after I bought it, I had to have the pinion seal replaced and a speed sleeve. I also replaced the cat converter, muffler and serpentine belt. I also had the transmission serviced at that time.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to replace the front caliper pins and break pads. A couple of days after that, I had to replace the alternator. Then about 4 days ago, I began to hear a howling/whinning in the rear end. Great.......So I have checked the U-Joint - a little bit of play in it. No signs of any leakage in the rear end. Would a U-Joint howl/whine or not? I read on this site that it could possibly be a problem with the fuel pump????? What about the rear end itself????Any insight would be of great help!!!!

[Mikado14]

Originally Posted by mstam

I have only owned the Blazer for about 5 months. It has 144K miles and I have dumped almost $1000 into it already. Right after I bought it, I had to have the pinion seal replaced and a speed sleeve. I also replaced the cat converter, muffler and serpentine belt. I also had the transmission serviced at that time.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to replace the front caliper pins and break pads. A couple of days after that, I had to replace the alternator. Then about 4 days ago, I began to hear a howling/whinning in the rear end. Great.......So I have checked the U-Joint - a little bit of play in it. No signs of any leakage in the rear end. Would a U-Joint howl/whine or not? I read on this site that it could possibly be a problem with the fuel pump????? What about the rear end itself????Any insight would be of great help!!!!

Sorry to hear about all that you have put into it, but apparently, the first person to own it didn't do anything or it is just time for this to happen.

Believe me, you saved a few bucks using a speedy sleeve to save the yoke. I will asume that the oil level in the differential was checked at that time so I will ignore it. Dpending upon how bad the play is in the u-joint, you may have found your problem. Also, it could be a rear wheel bearing or carrier bearing. Before I would start worrying about those, you said the u-joints had play, change them.

I am assuming that you only have the noise when driving. If you have it while you are sitting still then your last impression is probably correct. It might be the whine of the fuel pump. How much fuel is in the tank? Does a full tank quiet it down? OR the more empty it is does it get louder?

[mstam]

Thanks for the insight. It is much appreciated. The whinning sound can only be heard when driving. Not when when at an idle. Will try the U-Joint first.....hopefully that will solve the problem. I never let the gas gauge go below 1/2 tank....learned my lesson with a Honda Prelude that I owned previously. Happy Thanksgiving!