suspect: 2000 v70xc se with 110k miles

this funky "tinny" ping has recently begun. it is intermittent and repeats with a frequency consistent with the vehicle speed. at first i thought it was a cv joint going bad because it happened when the front wheels were turned and it sounded as if it were coming from the front left.

now, i think i have narrowed it to the drive shaft. any thoughts on what this could be? i will have a look this evening.

 

My first guess would be the driveshaft.

 

can you be more specific? can i continue to drive the vehicle?

 

update, i also get a similar sound but much less intense and only 1 ping when i put the tranny into reverse. again, this is intermittent. also, it seems not to happen or is less severe when the ambient temp is warm. it was approximately 80 degrees today.

 

You should be fine.
What happens is there is almost like a really small CV joint in the front of the driveshaft where it meets the Diff.
The boot tears and the grease comes out/ gets contaminated and it goes bad.
But you need to buy a new driveshaft to fix the problem. I believe the new shaft is like $1000.00.

 

Remove the driveshaft; see if the noise stops. Check the front coupling on the shaft like tech said.