19 Escalade: front differential very loud?

[jyi786]

Vehicle is a '19 Escalade ESV with 140k miles. 4WD system primarily driven in Auto at all times. Always change the diff gear oil and the trans case fluid religiously at 30k mile intervals.

The last time I did the fluid change, which was about 3k miles ago, the front diff fluid stunk way more than usual. The fluid itself didn't look so bad to the point that there was anything very wrong with it. I just drained and refilled per usual.

Fast forward to today, I notice that there is a lot more drag on the truck, and it roars when I accelerate, especially from 30-55MPH. The roaring is very loud; you can't have a conversation in the truck while accelerating. The roaring subsides when I take my foot off the throttle. Switching the vehicle to 2WD (2 HI) resolves all problems.

Not here to debate whether or not it was stupid to drive with 4WD in Auto at all times, as I've heard arguments both for and against. I like to keep it there because the truck in 2HI is way too powerful and easy to do a burnout on the rear without keeping it engaged.

Is my front diff on its way out? What do you all suggest I do, go for a new one? Or a rebuild? Or perhaps just another fluid dump and refill?

Thanks for any/all suggestions!

 

[RST Dana]

Vehicle is a '19 Escalade ESV with 140k miles. 4WD system primarily driven in Auto at all times. Always change the diff gear oil and the trans case fluid religiously at 30k mile intervals.

The last time I did the fluid change, which was about 3k miles ago, the front diff fluid stunk way more than usual. The fluid itself didn't look so bad to the point that there was anything very wrong with it. I just drained and refilled per usual.

Fast forward to today, I notice that there is a lot more drag on the truck, and it roars when I accelerate, especially from 30-55MPH. The roaring is very loud; you can't have a conversation in the truck while accelerating. The roaring subsides when I take my foot off the throttle. Switching the vehicle to 2WD (2 HI) resolves all problems.

Not here to debate whether or not it was stupid to drive with 4WD in Auto at all times, as I've heard arguments both for and against. I like to keep it there because the truck in 2HI is way too powerful and easy to do a burnout on the rear without keeping it engaged.

Is my front diff on its way out? What do you all suggest I do, go for a new one? Or a rebuild? Or perhaps just another fluid dump and refill?

Thanks for any/all suggestions!

Hmm
you could get a pedal commander and reduce the speed of how fast your horses are released
You already have the knowledge of why, now you just need to know how much it’s going to cost to fix the issue, because it ain’t gonna fix itself!

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Take it to a local repair shop and get it on a lift and get the wheels off the ground. Have someone inside the truck and put in gear and accelerate as needed to get the sound. Have a second person with a mechanics stethoscope walk around under the truck listening, until you find/confirm the source of the noise.

This is how I found a noise, and it was the front differential. Replaced it.

 

[K2 Kaiju]

How often did you change your transfer case fluid?

 

[jyi786]

How often did you change your transfer case fluid?

As stated in the OP: every 30k miles, religiously. Never missed a beat when it comes to changing fluids.

 

[K2 Kaiju]

Sorry, didn't see that since you followed up with the front dif question. The TC takes more of the abuse in your dubious drive mode choice; 140k in auto sounds like a pretty good run for it. I second getting it up on a lift...

 

[jyi786]

Sorry, didn't see that since you followed up with the front dif question. The TC takes more of the abuse in your dubious drive mode choice; 140k in auto sounds like a pretty good run for it. I second getting it up on a lift...

No worries! Someone else told me that the transfer case usually goes first rather than the front differential, so I wonder if that is what I'm hearing instead.

 

[k_arnold72]

I had some similar symptoms on my 18 Premier that I just changed fluids on. I was hearing a steady whining. Since I had extra fluid left over I went ahead and changed the front dif again and the issue persisted. It wasn't until the wine turned into a hum days later, then wobble later still that I realized it was a wheel bearing.

So as stated above, explore all possibilities, don't just fixate on one thing. If you can get it on a lift it would make it easier to diagnose. I also agree that a throttle controller could help with pedal sensitivity. I've been running a Range Pulsar LT with zero complaints. It's become second nature to reduce or increase pedal sensitivity on the fly with the buttons on the steering wheel.

 

[swathdiver]

Vehicle is a '19 Escalade ESV with 140k miles. 4WD system primarily driven in Auto at all times. Always change the diff gear oil and the trans case fluid religiously at 30k mile intervals.

The last time I did the fluid change, which was about 3k miles ago, the front diff fluid stunk way more than usual. The fluid itself didn't look so bad to the point that there was anything very wrong with it. I just drained and refilled per usual.

Fast forward to today, I notice that there is a lot more drag on the truck, and it roars when I accelerate, especially from 30-55MPH. The roaring is very loud; you can't have a conversation in the truck while accelerating. The roaring subsides when I take my foot off the throttle. Switching the vehicle to 2WD (2 HI) resolves all problems.

Not here to debate whether or not it was stupid to drive with 4WD in Auto at all times, as I've heard arguments both for and against. I like to keep it there because the truck in 2HI is way too powerful and easy to do a burnout on the rear without keeping it engaged.

Is my front diff on its way out? What do you all suggest I do, go for a new one? Or a rebuild? Or perhaps just another fluid dump and refill?

Thanks for any/all suggestions!

Your front axle and transfer case were not designed for full time operation, especially on hard surfaces. Check the cheap stuff first.

One of my factory hubs acted that way. The replacement didn't make a peep and just fell over when the wheel came off the ground for tire rotation.

I bought a used front differential from LKQ earlier in the year, works perfect. I like that they provide the VIN and photos of the donor vehicle. Like, I wouldn't have bought the axle had the truck had front end damage.

 

[B-train]

Lots of good points listed here so far. My $0.02 is to not run in Auto 4wd unless it's called for (snow, ice, mud). You're putting undue wear on the system. It's a stupid option in my book, but it does allow GM to sell more parts or new vehicles when stuff like this will inevitably happen.

Another thing to check when you are doing your investigation is for tire sizes/wear. You have effectively turned a RWD vehicle into an AWD vehicle and now other rules take affect: all 4 tires equal in size, brand, etc. And, all 4 tires equal in rolling circumference - ie: 2 that are burned down to nothing (rear) and 2 that are like new (front) will cause driveline binding. In the scenario listed above, the front is trying to get away from the vehicle and the rear is holding it back - think stretching your truck out because 2 front tires are covering more ground that the rear ones. The opposite can be true if the locations of the tires are reversed. These scenarios will destroy driveline components in a relatively short amount of miles.