My 300 SRT Core's front end is making a grinding noise when I make tight turns left and right, but it's most noticeable when turning right. It started off as a light hum sound but got more prominent over the last week or two. I only have 17,000km on the dial atm. The noise doesn't happen when stationary, only when moving slowly (ie. roundabouts, turning out of car parks, three point turns etc). I can hear it well inside the cabin with the windows closed too, which makes me think steering component but I can't be sure. Brakes are supposedly ok as per last service record.
Any ideas on what it might be?
My local dealership won't know, trust me.
No, it goes away when I straighten the wheel again. I think I can still hear it ever so softly after I finish the turn and go straight but it's probably just paranoia. You can't really hear the latter over the engine/exhaust noise anyway.
In addendum I have no choice but to do full lock turns frequently as it's the only way to get in and out of my garage. I hope its not the cause of the issue.
Sounds like a wheel bearing to me. If that is the case, it will be worse, while turning right or left, and almost go away when driving straight. Not a lot of kms for a bearing, but who knows.
You MAY need some friction modifier additive (aka, Friction-Modifier / Break-In Additive) for your limited slip differential... When I had my transmission/differential fluid changed, I was hearing a rub/moan when I turned either direction...I, too, thought it was coming from the front end, but when I took it back to the dealer and described it to the service tech/consultant (who, BTW, actually knew "how cars work", esp. SRTs), he knew exactly what it needed... Once they got the ratio of additive right, the noise went away! Take it to the dealer, describe the noise, and "gently" see if you can have them re-do, or check, the friction-modifier additive ratio for your limited slip (if that applies to you--only because I'm not sure if all 300s have limited slip)... Hope it works out for you!
EDIT: Just read over your OP again, and indeed, being it's a SRT, you have limited slip, so ask about the anti-friction additive...and hopefully, you don't actually have a leak back there...
Sorry to hear about this! If you end up deciding to visit your local dealership I'd be happy to follow up with them for you if needed. Just PM our page with your VIN and let me know.
Andrea, I'm in Australia so I'm not sure if I'm in your jurisdiction to help. My trusty 'Mopar Authorised Service Centre' screwed up my service in August and demonstrated their lack of knowledge by not even knowing what grade oil goes in the 6.4L engine, so it's natural to assume they won't know much else about the car either. Please refer to my last 40 posts bitching about it lol.
I got a full refund for the service so there no point complaining further but I'd like to avoid the place if I can.
Sorry to hear about that! Unfortunately I am only able to assist customers in the United States. However, our International Customer Care Team should be able to assist you further. You can reach them by phone at 00800-36343-000 or email at customercareinternational@fiat.com. Please let me know if you have additional questions!
Ok. I'm now 80% sure the noise is coming from the rear. A rear diff fluid change shouldn't be that hard for an independant shop to do, I just gotta get the genuine Mopar brand stuff I guess. How much in litres/quarts should I get? The owners manual doesn't say.
Hmmm...the owner's manual should most definitely say... But, the trick is the ratio of diff fluid (which I think Mopar requires synthetic) and anti-friction additive... So, in my case, it was that they didn't put enough additive in w/ the diff fluid when they changed the diff fluid... They added more anti-friction additive and the problem was solved... This is what it says in my SRT OM for my 2013:
Rear Axle - We recommend you use MOPAR® Synthetic Gear Lubricant SAE 75W–90 (API GL-5) in addition to MOPAR® Friction Modifier — Hypoid Gear Additive).
This should be pretty close, being that it's still pretty much the same platform from '13 to '16 model years w/ the SRT...this is just to give you an idea of what you're looking for... Let me see if I can track down the '15 SRT OM for you and post what it says...
Oops, I meant'16 SRT OM, but it seems there's nothing online I can pull up... But, it really should say somewhere in the back of your OM what spec for diff fluid and anti-friction modifier to use... All else fails, your Chrysler dealer should know what you require...
Yea the book states the spec of fluid (SAE 75w85 API GL-5 in my '16 SRT book) just not the quantity required. I'm guessing you make a rough estimate and use however much.
It would be a bit of a stretch to even assume my nearest dealership would have (or have ever had) any of the Mopar fluid and modifier in stock. Seriously, I'm for the most part on my own dealing with this.
I took the car to a dealership today and they couldn't replicate the noise, but that's because the service guy was probably flogging it around and going too fast when turning. So I resorted to recording these on a windows phone today. You might have to turn your sound right up to hear it, and turn any bass settings you have on down too. The sound in the video is a little more lower pitched in reality.
- Hard to tell w/ the "wonderful" sound quality of PC speakers! But, may very well be your culprit...just to confirm, the noise only presents itself when turning slowly, then gets more pronounced the slower you go...kinda...yes?
- Remember, the diff fluid isn't your primary focus...it's the additive (friction modifier) that's supposed to be added @ the right ratio that eliminated the noise for me...my service tech was experienced "auto" guy, not a "salesman", so he knew what to do...
- If you take it in again, insist that you take the mechanic w/ you and you drive the car so you can replicate the noise...then, gently mention the friction modifier additive for the diff fluid...
I have a 5 speaker + subwoofer setup for my PC so my theory of mind is impaired, sorry ::laugh::
The sound is consistent, it just changes in volume, hence why it sounds intermittent in the video. Not really much variation in the speed I was going (I was only doing figure 8's around light poles). I'd be lucky if I was going more than 15kmh/10mph. The sound has sort of a slow rhythmic character to it, like there's a skip in a gear inside the diff case as it's rotating every 1-2 seconds or so. There's a very subtle clunk at the end of each 'beat' but no vibration.
The dealer did a visual check of the fluid (looked fine he said) and tried to replicate the noise, turning the wheels when the car was hoisted.
He knew about the additive in his first response to me before booking in. I guess he didn't want to waste any if he couldn't hear the noise.
Anyway this particular dealer is 2 hours drive away so I can't exactly 'pop in' again. Might as well just get some fluid and additive via post from them and resort to fixing it myself. Unless there are some alternative non-OEM fluids I can use? I know Nulon have an additive, but they don't have a matching rear diff fluid in the correct grade.
Here's a example of an almost same sounding noise, but without the intermittent grinding:
Today I cruised around for a bit with the rear seats folded down and the boot lining taken out (seems to be a good way to rid the cabin of sound barriers).
And I heard this noise albeit nowhere near as prominent as this, seemed to go up and down with acceleration:
Yeah, that Acura sounds crazy! :eeksurprise: You know...I'm really surprised no one else is chiming in on this... When I took it to my dealer, my service consultant was knowledgeable on the issue...seems as though nobody else on 3CF has had it happen to them...? All I can say is, if/when you can take it back to the dealer, suggest YOU drive the car w/ the mechanic riding along...once he hears the noise, should be a wrap! (whatever it ends up being) Hope it works out, dream2own! In my situation, it first sounded like there was something rubbing up in the front end...but, turned out to be the rear diff...so, press to take the mechanic along so he can hear the noise...should be no excuses for him to not know what it is then! ::wink:: (Oh! And do it soon, because whatever that noise is, it can't be anything good or healthy for your suspension if you keep riding it like that)
So a question, when your mechanic put more of the additive in how much did he use? Or did he just replenish it alongside a full rear diff fluid change?
I was just reading some Dodge Viper forum and they were saying that the additive is prone to burn-off, which would explain why my noise started happening at about 18,000km with the factory fluid still in there.
If I were to get more of the additive put in how should I go about it? Say, by adding 10ml at a time until the noise goes away?
Because I have no idea what my car's current ratio of additive:fluid is right now.
Hey dream2own you cant hear anything in your videos but I too have the same problem really bad first thing this morning. I think hofb99 might be onto something, because something is binding in the rear end..
Ill be booking my car into dealer in the next couple of weeks, but I might do a drive by and ask the question about the diff additive.
Will keep you informed..
When I took it in, my service consultant wasn't immediately sure what the noise could've been... But, once he got it in and took care of it, he told me, afterward, what it was, and seemed pretty confident (had a matter of fact attitude) about what it was..."happens every now and again...tough to tell how much additive to put", I remember him saying... He provided no details, though... So, I couldn't tell you what ratio was used...and the invoice didn't spell it out...think I remember him saying it was kind of a hit or miss type thing...never said he replaced the diff fluid and additive...just simply said modifier was added... I imagine he could've drained some fluid off, then added some modifier to equalize, or simply changed the ratio altogether and replaced both fluids...not sure... Oh, and BTW, that service consultant, months later, became the Service Director for the dealer...as I said, he was actually knowledgeable about the mechanics of a car, especially, muscle car inner-workings...so, he knew what he was doing... Most service consultants (especially, if they're younger) are just service "salesmen"...
Finally got around to trying the additive thing today and I think it worked. Well, I attempted it last week too but the rear diff's fill plug was on too tight.
First I added 15ml and took it for a drive, the sound was still mildly noticeable, so I drove home and added another 5ml and it seemed to do the trick.
I used one of those ear irrigation syringes from the chemist lol (hey it did the job, delivered me the exact volume I needed so...).
I'm getting the car serviced in two weeks. Should I get them to check out the rear diff regardless? I left the noise there for a while so is there any probability of damage or wear?
Steve there is no grinding noise only a groan if that makes sense.
My dealer said there was a problem with the jeeps 4x4 diff. Hadn't herd of sedan diff noise.
I feel it's the clutch packs.
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