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The shavings on the diff plug are normal. Dont' worry about them.

It's hard to diagnose sounds online, but if it makes you feel better, my car makes a lot of rear diff noise. There's a lot of slop in it, so the noise changes depending on whether it's under load or not.

 

Ok, my car makes that noise too i believe. Is it anything to worry about, if so is it something that can be avoided with early maintenance?

 

might be your rear bearings. I'm fighting this problem again, as mine rusted up a last year about this time. The Honda dealer thought it was the diff making the noise, but my mechanic eventually traced the noise to the rear wheel bearings. It wasn't easy for him to trace that noise, but it's similar to what you're describing.

 

its the diff..... I would bet on it.

you probably have a crack the main housing between the bearing raceway and the housing. this looseings up the bearing race and the bearing spins and that movement starts taken off pcs of teeth.......thats what mine did....I ended up getting 4.77 with a 2004 housing per hardtops recomendation.

This is exactly what mine sounded like at 50000 miles and I got a mechanics stethoscope, jacked up car, put it in gear and have someone run to 20mph in 1st and 2nd then coast in neutral you will know right away..if you have the scope.

$20 great tool. Get a cheap one at any autozone.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by REDS2KCA
its the diff..... I would bet on it.

you probably have a crack the main housing between the

 

I would be very careful before you commit to taking the diff apart (unless you really wanna spend the $$). The Honda dealer told me with assurance that I needed a new diff. They too drained my fluid and found almost no metal shavings or bits, but they insisted it was the diff. I would think that if your diff is screwed, you would know it by the debris in the fluid...as in there would actually be some! Unfortunately, I couldn't prove I did the 30k (did it myself...threw away receipts) so they weren't going to cover it under warranty. They wanted $2500 or so for the job and like $700 just to take the diff apart to be sure what the damage was. I took the car to my friend's mechanic and he (after 2 days of hair pulling) found that the rear bearings had rusted up. I don't drive through puddles and we don't get that much rain and absolutely no snow in San Jose. After cleaning and relubing the bearings, the car was fixed.

Moral: start with the obvious and easy things before you commit to something heavy duty. I get the impression we get lots of strange noises from the rear end on our cars, so it just makes sense to start from the wheels and work your way inwards...it's cheaper and smarter.