Fluster-ated!

[Aredubjay]

Got up early this morning to take "Patience" to the muffler shop. Tranny work had taken its toll on the exhaust system. Needed both new gaskets on the "Y" and one piece that had been welded was beginning to leak again from flexing. I still, however, need to get the bracket for holding the exhuast to the tranny (lost in one of its many fixes), perhaps I'll order it once the frustration is gone.

While at the muffler (and brake) shop, I had them install the Bradi Slotted and Cross Drilled rotors I'd bought from Stevebsy over a year ago. I finally figured that I wasn't going to get 'round to doing it myself (they look great, by the way). The pads were fine, but one of the guides was frozen, so, they fixed that and cleaned all the calipers all the way around.

So, here's the frustration. The fellow who serviced my front diff said he did not hear a "scrubbing" sound from the front diff, when he drove the car. Only a slight brake noise from the rear. I told him to make sure he checked it out, he said he would.

So, 700-odd dollars later, and ten days, I get the car back and what should I hear on my way to work yesterday but the dreaded "scrubbing" from the front. "Okay," I says, "Perhaps brake service will take care of that, once and for all. (Just to note, my diff is no longer pumping grease into the tranny -- so, my dollars weren't COMPLETELY wasted). The brakes were serviced today, the sound is STILL there. GRRRRR!!!

So, any ideas? Sounds like it's coming from the axle (L/F). The boot's fine. I had new ones installed a year ago. There is no leakage from the diff at the point where the axle enters it. The axle is not wobbly. It sounds like a dry bearing (not wheel). I'm stumped (and, apparently, so is the dude who fixed the diff). I want this annoying thing to go away!! I guess I'll be contacting Beav in the near future to get his input.

Another question: It isn't that often that my car has been in the air, and they've started it. And if it was, I'd never noticed this before. Is it typical for one of the front wheels to turn, on start-up, even if the car is in "N." They started it, at the muffler shop to listen for exhaust leaks, and the F/R wheel engaged and turned slowly for a good 30 seconds. Is this normal?

Sorry for the long post. I just needed to vent.