Transmission noise

[rgt@lanl.gov (Richard Thomsen)]

I have an Audi 5000CS Quattro, and had the front struts replaced last
fall.  It then started making more "road noise" than it did before,
but my mechanic does not know if it is really road noise or not.
A friend and I jacked up the car and ran it with all wheels off the
ground, and it made noise from the transmission/front diffs.  When
we turned the right front wheel by hand, the left front wheel turned
in the opposite direction, and there was no noise.  However, when
we turned both front wheels the same way at the same time, there
was noise from the transmission/front diffs.

Last Thursday, it seemed to howl a little at low speeds.

My mechanic claims that if you take the wheels of any 4-wheel drive
car off the ground, it will make noise because the weight makes the
bearings tight.  He does not hear anything unusual, and says it will
cost over $250 just to pull the transmission and send it somewhere
where they can take a look.  He says that he would just run it until it
makes a lot more noise and then can pinpoint where the problem really
is.  I am thinking of doing this, as I need the AWD for the winter,
and my other car is RWD.

Any comments or suggestions?

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| Richard Thomsen			Network Engineering            |
| rgt@lanl.gov				CIC-5, MS B255                 |
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