12 bolt differential "clicking" under hard acceleration

1997 CHEVROLET SILVERADO
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DSDAVIS
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1997 K1500 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 350ci automatic, no limited slip with 155,000 miles.

Gentlemen, I am having issues with the rear differential "clicking" under hard acceleration. I have pin pointed it to the differential after checking the rear snap ring on the transmission and finding it intact and good order. I also added gear oil to the differential at this point and noticed the sound went away for approximately 2 weeks. Now, the problem has returned. The clicking is high pitched and sounds like a gear barely hitting another metallic object. Can you give me a permanent solution or somethings to check for what is going on? Thanks.

D
Nov 8, 2007 at 8:09 AM
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CHEVY22
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the best way to tackle it is to pull the cover and inspect everything. it sounds like a spider gear but it could be anything. but when you pull the cover you should find something. if you need help let us know.

Jim
Nov 10, 2007 at 11:09 AM
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KASEKENNY
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Most likely this is a failed bearing that is no longer supporting the carrier. This results in metallic clicking from what is called gear clash. This is where the gear teeth click together because they are binding under the load you are adding by accelerating and then they release quickly and the teeth click together.

The only way to fix this is pull the carrier out, inspect all the teeth. Then reset your pinion depth and backlash. Once this is set and you have new bearings in place, your noise should be gone.

Here is some detail about this. Let me know if there are questions. Thanks
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Mar 26, 2020 at 4:52 PM
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