Failed CV joint noise
Discussion
We own a 2015 Citroen dispatch van and for a while there has been a slight droning noise coming from the front, I immediately thought a wheel bearing was on the way out and its progressively got worse until it now sounds like a Lancaster bomber. I was absolutely convinced one of the front wheel bearings were goosed so I jacked it up this morning to have a look and both front wheels seem absolutely fine, they spin freely with no noise whatsoever and there is absolutely no play in them at all. I know you can't always tell spinning them by hand but they seem fine to me.
What I did notice though is the near side gaiter on the outer CV joint is completely split in two, hardly any grease left in there at all, obviously been like that for a while but can a CV joint make that sort of noise? when they have been faulty in the past its usually a load of clicks when turning or a some kind of vibration, I've never heard a CV joint make a wheel bearing type of sound.
I haven't checked the back wheel bearings as I think the sound is definitely coming from the front area, suppose it could be the gear box. Obviously the CV needs changing anyway and I was thinking of getting a full shaft off ebay, you can get them brand new for about £60, I know it means dropping the gear box oil but I take it thats the easiest way of doing it.
What I did notice though is the near side gaiter on the outer CV joint is completely split in two, hardly any grease left in there at all, obviously been like that for a while but can a CV joint make that sort of noise? when they have been faulty in the past its usually a load of clicks when turning or a some kind of vibration, I've never heard a CV joint make a wheel bearing type of sound.
I haven't checked the back wheel bearings as I think the sound is definitely coming from the front area, suppose it could be the gear box. Obviously the CV needs changing anyway and I was thinking of getting a full shaft off ebay, you can get them brand new for about £60, I know it means dropping the gear box oil but I take it thats the easiest way of doing it.
njw1 said:
Whilst you're in there sorting the n/s shaft it may be worth checking the intermediate bearing on the o/s shaft as that could be the source of your noise.
Thats a good shout, it did sound more drivers side to me. I have ordered a new near side shaft today. Seems daft that its the easiest way to change a 20p piece of rubber.If it is the intermediate bearing I'm tempted to do a clutch whilst both shafts are out, its done 165k now on the original.
As suspected the new drive shaft hasn't cured the horrendous noise. Although obviously it still needed changing due to the split boot on it anyway.
It really is an obvious noise and should be simple to pinpoint but its flummoxing me. As well as hear the noise you can also feel the vibration though the steering wheel and pedals. It must be a wheel bearing but I just cant work out which one it is, usually the sound comes from a specific side, more so when cornering, this is just a general drone though.
All 4 wheels spin sweet as a nut by hand when off the ground and there isn't even the tiniest bit of play in them, the noise is there in all gears and in neutral with both the clutch up or down it makes no difference whatsoever.
surely there should be something obvious if its a wheel bearing shouldn't there? when I changed a diff bearing on an Audi there was about 1/4 inch of play in the driveshaft where the bearing had worn away and when I took it out the bearing literally fell to pieces and that didn't make a noise anything as bad as this one, it is strange.
It really is an obvious noise and should be simple to pinpoint but its flummoxing me. As well as hear the noise you can also feel the vibration though the steering wheel and pedals. It must be a wheel bearing but I just cant work out which one it is, usually the sound comes from a specific side, more so when cornering, this is just a general drone though.
All 4 wheels spin sweet as a nut by hand when off the ground and there isn't even the tiniest bit of play in them, the noise is there in all gears and in neutral with both the clutch up or down it makes no difference whatsoever.
surely there should be something obvious if its a wheel bearing shouldn't there? when I changed a diff bearing on an Audi there was about 1/4 inch of play in the driveshaft where the bearing had worn away and when I took it out the bearing literally fell to pieces and that didn't make a noise anything as bad as this one, it is strange.
[quote=scottyp123] It must be a wheel bearing but I just cant work out which one it is, usually the sound comes from a specific side, more so when cornering, this is just a general drone though.
All 4 wheels spin sweet as a nut by hand when off the ground and there isn't even the tiniest bit of play in them, the noise is there in all gears and in neutral with both the clutch up or down it makes no difference whatsoever.
surely there should be something obvious if its a wheel bearing shouldn't there?
Wheel bearings are normally fairly easy to diagnose by loading up the suspect bearing by swerving /braking/accelerating but occasionally the tracks on the outer race don't fail in the normal place is at the top.
I remember replacing 3 on a customers car until I found the offender! The car was FWD, less than 18 months old , properly maintained etc; (only charged for 1 as it taught me something new !)
The outer race which had broken up had failed on the bottom ,so gave the symptom when the load came off the (rear! ) wheel unlike the normal case of the top of the loaded wheel causing the noise.
None of the bearings felt in any way rough when spun up by hand.
Sorry it's not much help but it may make correct diagnosis easier.
All 4 wheels spin sweet as a nut by hand when off the ground and there isn't even the tiniest bit of play in them, the noise is there in all gears and in neutral with both the clutch up or down it makes no difference whatsoever.
surely there should be something obvious if its a wheel bearing shouldn't there?
Wheel bearings are normally fairly easy to diagnose by loading up the suspect bearing by swerving /braking/accelerating but occasionally the tracks on the outer race don't fail in the normal place is at the top.
I remember replacing 3 on a customers car until I found the offender! The car was FWD, less than 18 months old , properly maintained etc; (only charged for 1 as it taught me something new !)
The outer race which had broken up had failed on the bottom ,so gave the symptom when the load came off the (rear! ) wheel unlike the normal case of the top of the loaded wheel causing the noise.
None of the bearings felt in any way rough when spun up by hand.
Sorry it's not much help but it may make correct diagnosis easier.
imagineifyeswill said:
Hold the coil spring whilst your spinning the wheel, if the bearing is bad you will feel vibration through the spring.
This worked perfectly thankyou. I suspected it was the drivers side anyway and this confirmed it, I changed the whole hub this morning instead of just the bearing, it was so much easier than battering a bearing in and out with a socket and lump hammer and it only cost £35 of ebay, came with a brand new disc as well.We must have done another 500 miles on the knackered bearing in the last two weeks and it got very noisy but jacking it up again this morning it still felt sweet as a nut with absolutely no play at all in it. Apart from the vibration on the spring you would never know.
scottyp123 said:
We must have done another 500 miles on the knackered bearing in the last two weeks and it got very noisy but jacking it up again this morning it still felt sweet as a nut with absolutely no play at all in it. Apart from the vibration on the spring you would never know.
That is perfectly normal as it is only when under load that the roughness/noise is transmitted into the car.Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff