Steve034x4

There were some threads around a while ago on the infamous 'hoot owl' that is underneath the bed (?) when the driveline is cold and comes and goes around 15-25mph (30-45 kph) or so. Some have done work on the pinion seal, others have done work on the carrier bearing.

Has anyone found the cause and cure for this? (I didn't see a cure posted) Mine is going to the shop on Monday next week - shop foreman thinks it might be the rear pinion seal, but can't say for sure. We sprayed some lubricant on the outside of the rear pinion seal (just in front of the rear diff) but it didn't help. I want to get this problem resolved while still under warranty and as the warmer weather is approaching, we're running out of time.

tks

IA_James

Mine went away after they replaced a bad u-joint.

eastmentCTD600

Which U-joint was replaced? @ the T-Case, carrier bearing, or @ the pinion?

I have the same howl - occurs at low speed, haven't had time or garage space to diagnose it yet.

ataboy9026

U joints DO NOT howl, they may "chirp" like a baby bird at slow speeds but will not howl. Any dealership that trys to sell you on that should not be in buisness. If its a howl does it do it while decellerating?Acellerating? Keeping steady speed? Does the howl stop or change tone when you let off the throttle? It is probably the ring and pinion. My truck has had 2 sets in 3500 miles. And a set of bearings with a "reset" of the first set of gears to try and get the howl out.The howl was way worse, so the second set is coming tomarrow. If it is tires or carries bearing it will do it all the time, under throttle and decellerating. If they try to tell you its tires tell them to throw a set off a new truck on there and go for another drive to rule out the tires.

Steve034x4

ataboy,
Here's the scoop - outside temps should be around freezing or below. Once the driveline warms up (i.e. driving, even in cold temps will warm things up due to friction) it goes away. The time it takes/distance driven will depend on the ambient temp outside and speed, but suffice to say that the warmer it is, the quicker the howl goes away. Colder temps = louder and longer to go away.
It's most noticable both in accellerating or decelerating through the speed zone of 30-45 kph (20-30mph or so) and when I disengage the clutch and coast, it's there in the same speed range (it changes tone when slowing down) and disappears at about 30 kph and under. Not as loud when the clutch is disengaged/coasting. You can hear the tone of the howl decreasing/increasing with speed and you can make it bit louder when you're acclerating in this speed range.
I'd be hard pressed to put this to tires as it happens on both dry (cold) ashphalt pavement and on snow covered road, and I have the all season tires (not my choice) so no tread noise at that speed. Dealer isn't suggesting tires - fortunately they're smart enough not to.

jkitterman

The hoot owl keeps all the birds away from your truck.
I haven't done anything on mine and just think it is a cold weather thing.

CRXsi

Mine's done the 'hoot owl' for the last 2 winters. It is not the diff as I can tell. The noise is not load dependent, it does it during accel, decel, in gear, in neutral, independent of RPM, this leads me to believe it is driveshaft related (u-joints?= unlikely but not impossible, carrier bearing=likely culprit, possbily a seal on the bearing?) or diff related but ahead of the ring and pinion (not load sensitive noise) such as a pinion input seal or imput bearing or such. My noise has always stayed consistant and has not changed....if it starts changing I will become more concerned...until then I have lots of warranty still left.

wexman

Same here. I just ignore it.

TurboTed

Steve- mine has started doing this about 3 weeks ago. It only does it when the driveline is cold, for about 5 minutes of driving, from about 30- 60 KPH. I took it to the local dealer today and left it all day. They drove it near the end of the day, and took it in on the hoist. They tell me it doesn't make any sound(Even my wife can hear it!!) They tell me they took out some axle fluid, as it was full to the top. I told them it was serviced at the dealer that fixed the gears, and several other things that the local dealer couldn't fix. THEN- they tell me I owe $25 for their time!! I'll wait till it breaks- I have lots of warranty left.

Steve034x4

hi Ted,
It's in the shop today....the foreman took it out last week and confirmed that it's not normal - sound he described as rubber on metal. He squirted some lubricant on the outside of the rear pinion seal (where the drive shaft enters the rear diff) thinking it might help but it didn't so let's see what they can figure out. At least he's heard it and the job ticket refers to him personally. Trick is getting it cold enough (below 32 F) which today should be a couple of hours...I'll post results once they've figured this out or done something.

610dodge

my sister had a howl on her 04 600. the dealer replaced the ring and pinion and the rear u joint. it went away. hers was also occuring at around 20 mph. i had my rear u joint replace at about 35k and today i started noticing a little howl. i need to change my front and rear diff so i am going to check it.

Steve034x4

The dealer replaced the center bearing (under warranty) and poof, the owl is gone. Let's see what happens when it gets real cold outside (may have to wait until next year...), but under the circumstances where the owl was there before and after on the same day at similar temperatures below freezing, I'm happy to say that the owl is gone!

CRXsi

Which dealer did you go to? Might have to take mine to the same one then and have them do mine also...

Steve034x4

CRXsi - I've dealt with Tower Chrysler - Anderson Rd & Macleod Tr. No problem getting good service, in my experience any way.
Craig is the guy who heads up the shop - foreman I think...down to earth and real good to deal with. Just wait for a cold morning (leave it overnight there?) as he'll want to go out for a test drive to confirm.
Good luck, Steve