2001 V70 XC Whine when coasting

[RaymanSean]

My 01 XC70 started making a weird noise a few days ago while coasting. My first reaction was to look for the Suzuki motorcycle that had just got to 60mph in first and then coasted/ engine braked.* Realizing that there were no such vehicles around me, I realized that it was my car. The noise is only present when i coast and only if the initial speed is greater than ~25mph. My initial guess was transmission fluid low, but that checks out, I checked the inflation of my tires and they were good too. Given that the roads were wet this am, I tried to test the AWD, and I am 99% confident that only the front tires are getting power. The frequency is not based on engine RPM. Also if I down shift into second while coasting the noise goes away Based on all this I think it may be the angle gear or angle gear collar. Am I even close?


*Other illustrative sounds: Orbital sander on a hollow box, dry wall screw gun, gear pump that is low on oil.

[vtl]

Check the bearing on passenger side CV axle, it dries out and whines. You can do the check with the axle in place, just remove two bolts from bearing's carriage bracket, pull axle down a bit and rotate the bearing and see if it's dry.