The Mrs. said the engine was making some noise so I took it out for a drive. It is whining from the transmission area and as your speed increases so does the whine. It's not from the engine as I placed the HHR in neutral as I went down hill and the noise got louder, reving the engine did nothing either way. Shifts fine and has not other issues. Got it home and raised it off the ground, checked the boots and all look good, hub bearings are good (replaced 1 so I know what it sounds like, not it). I placed the HHR in neutral and rotated the wheels by hand and could hear the whine in the transmission area, but when I rotated the wheel "backwards" nothing??? I checked the "search" but nothing like I have was found... Ideas??
Thanks,
Dave

 

Manual or automatic?

Regardless, if the noise is in the trans, then it's time to find a transmission shop you can trust.

 

First off

What year, what engine, what model? How many miles?

This could be the bearing at the out put shaft of the transmission, not sure

Also silly as it sounds, are there any check engine lights? If so did you get the codes?

 

I can't say this loud enough.......DO THIS CAUTIOULY AND SAFELY......

Move the car someplace where people and objects will not be in jeopardy, start the car and applied the rear foot brake hard and put your foot HARD on the brake pedal, put the car in gear and increase the RPM slowly and listen for your noise (RPM's may go to 2000-3000, but they are governed at some point in that area). If you do NOT hear your noise it is from the front end, most likely the tires. If the noise still exists, it's PROBABLY your transmission, maybe the trans pump.

Again, DO THIS SAFELY. Oh, should I mention......after doing this test, back off the gas pedal reasonably slow. Don't just "jump" off the pedal.

 

And don't, I repeat don't, point out you don't have a foot brake , you have a hand brake, cause you really have an emergency brake!

But y'all get the idea!

 

Crap, knew I would forget some info:
2007 LT2 Auto
108,000 miles
No codes
Will try the test and will use all possible brakes to avoid a John Force burnout/ launch!!!
Thx for the quick replies!!

 

Geez, sold it a year ago and forgot the BASIC mechanisms!!!!

 

You know I just had to!!

 

Alright did the brake test to rev limit and DID NOT hear the sound, however as soon as I took it down the road...I heard it. As wheel rotation increases, so does the whine.

 

bad hub.