Help - Camry drivetrain noise

[WildBillHimself]

Wife's 2010 Camry has 95K miles (we bought new). About a month ago I started hearing a noise from the drivetrain (not engine) that sounds similar to a bad bearing. It starts at about 15 mph and gets faster (but not louder) as car speed increases, up to the point where road noise drowns out the bearing(?) noise. Several people (2 were mechanics) rode in it and I'm the only one who heard the noise. So I raised the front wheels off the ground, put auto trans in neutral and turned the wheels. No noise from just spinning the wheels but if I roll the wheels back and forth a few inches there is a clunking sound like a slack u-joint. The right side is a little louder than the left. No slack in the wheel bearings that I can detect. I'm an old school RWD shadetree mechanic. Is this a CV joint going out? BTW we just put new tires on and the noise is the same before and after. Thanks for any advice.

 

[StuP]

Any warranty left ?

 

[WildBillHimself]

No warranty.

 

[8675309]

that slack you feel rocking the wheels back and forth is normal
transaxle diff has to have some play.

 

[jcountry]

Has it had any work done lately?

I had a similar issue on my truck. Thought I had something bad going on with the transmission until I crawled around and saw where they had bent the exhaust heat shield just enough for it to rattle up against stuff. Bent it back, and glorious silence ensued.

 

[Poppa Mike]

Try this in an empty parking lot or similar area. Turn the steering wheel as deeply as you can and go slowly in a tight circle. Listen for a "clacking" type noise. Usually a bad cv joint will produce this type of noise and it will get louder as the joint gets worse. If the noise is more of a "roaring" type sound that's more likely a bearing.

 

[Cornholio]

Water pump. Couldn't isolate until it went completely out, I thought it was something else in drivetrain

 

[Cornholio]

This was in my camry

 

[SLIM]

these cars have a sealed hub bearing and most of the time if its a bearing noise it wont make the noise with the tires off the ground because it takes the pressure off the bearing unless it is really bad

 

[MRM]

Does the noise change when going neighborhood speed around curves?
That would suggest wheel bearings.
Change with road speed or engine speed.
Neutral going down a hill might help.