RXV Whining Noise

[Jerj7907]

I would start with checking/changing rear end oil. Good starting place since you hear noise while under aload. Make sure you have oil that is good in limited-slip differential.

[davidgonewild]

Yes, it's loud enough to record, in fact, people refer to us as the 'Jetsons' when they hear us coming down the street.

[davidgonewild]

I have stock gears in it.

[catmcaw]

I have a 2008 RXV that has some gear whine. I replaced gear oil with 85w140 royal purple gear max. I took it a short test drive and it sounds the same to me. At this point my whine is not all that loud. I can hear it but can live with it.
If it gets louder I'm not sure what the next step would be. Maybe replace bearings.
My only other experience with gear whine is with gear driven cams on Harleys. To tight they whine and when loose they sound like valves need to be adjusted and if I remember correctly the fit was +/- .0005.

[Sarge50]

I have a 2009 RXV and had the same problem when I bought it. Being a newbie thought it was normal until I drove a friends RXV. The whine was most pronounced during accel and decel. I changed the fluid, no change. I found a used rear end DifF assy from a dealer on Ebay. I bought it and installed. Much quieter now but still not as quiet as a DC Cart so I think the AC motor does whine abit. I still have the old Diff. I plan to replace the input pinion bearing. Pretty sure that is the cause of the whine. These carts brake through the rear end so it gets a lot of abuse and the bearings are under a great deal of stress. The AC Motor is easy to remove, took me about an hour to replace the rear end/Diff.

[BisonGolf]

I am looking at used RXV's 2010 and 2012. The 2010's whine and the 2012 does not. The dealer told me all the older carts are different. You need to drive them. I asked how to get rid of the whine and he told me you need to put in a new differential. When the carts came out new, if they did not have a specific additive added at time of break-in, they would whine. It will be with them throughout their life. Some courses and dealers did it and some did not. Guess we will keep looking at other carts.

[HiTechRedNeck]

RXV tech here...


What causes whine?
seems to be caused by wear on input shaft/gear and bearings.

Sometimes you can fix it- sometimes nothing seems to help.

Hows that for a great non answer!!!!? But it is true.

Some older RXV's are almost silent -- some newer ones WHINE.

For the most part, no effect on cart lifespan or performance.

Bearings are not too expensive, input gear a bit pricy.

Motors may whine a little but not usually loud enough to worry about.

If anyone finds a sure fire way to stop whine PLEASE POST !!!!!

[cgtech]

Whoa, HTR, never heard a "not sure" post like this from you. I'm in the same boat. We have been down the same path. They have changed gear lubes, twice. Input bearings, yay. High speed gears were always "louder" than stock gears in the long haul. I saw a post here about a "factory recall additive", thats BS. I use a regular GL5 with friction modifier. Meets and exceeds their standards (during the times they called for "gear oil", not "tractor fluid"). That thin oil was garbage, as far as noise was concerned.

[BisonGolf]

So I bought a used 2011 RXV today and it has a little whine. Not to bad. I drove a new one and it has no whine. Dealer told me I could have the transaxle changed to a new one any time during the next year for $650 if I could not live with the whine. Is that a good deal??

[HiTechRedNeck]

cgtech-

Like i said - its true.

I can't say what will or wont fix the Whine.

Might be how far bearings are pressed on shaft, sounds a lot like pinion whine..
(ford rear end anyone?)

Looking for "Magic bullet"