Strange noise
Strange noise
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Discussion

Sundayjumper

Original Poster:

531 posts

311 months

Thursday 6th October 2005
quotequote all
OK, so I know "a strange noise" is a bit hard to diagnose across the interweb, but I thought I'd mention it just in case :)

Here's what I can tell so far...

1) Mechanical noise (i.e. not wind noise)
2) Directly related to road speed, noticable from about 20mph upwards
3) Selected gear / engine speed make no difference
4) Turning engine off makes no difference (so not fuel pump)
5) Acceleration, lifting off or braking make no difference
6) Seems to be coming from around the n/s/r wheel but the noise is very hard to pinpoint whilst driving

I've had the back of the car up on stands and can't see any signs of anything rubbing on the wheels / brakes / drive shafts. According to receipts with the car, the diff was replaced recently, so that should be OK too.

I suppose it [i]could[/i] be a wheel bearing, but the noise is a higher pitch than I'd expect from that.

Any other ideas ???

Steve.

2 Smokin Barrels

32,019 posts

264 months

Thursday 6th October 2005
quotequote all
You do over 20 mph with the engine turned off!

I hope you didn't forget about the steering lock!

...but as you say, hard to diagnose over the internet

Podie

46,649 posts

304 months

Thursday 6th October 2005
quotequote all
Sundayjumper said:

Any other ideas ???

Steve.


Take it to Andy at APM and ask him to fix it. He'll tell you the problem in about 4 seconds....

2 Smokin Barrels

32,019 posts

264 months

Thursday 6th October 2005
quotequote all
..possible (new) diff not quite right?

GreenV8S

31,018 posts

313 months

Thursday 6th October 2005
quotequote all
What sort of noise is it - squeaking, grinding, scraping, what? Can you hear / feel anything if you stand beside the car and push it slowly backwards and forwards?

Sundayjumper

Original Poster:

531 posts

311 months

Friday 7th October 2005
quotequote all
GreenV8S said:
What sort of noise is it - squeaking, grinding, scraping, what?

It's kind of like a sheet of metal rubbing on a driveshaft - not a squeak-squeak-squeak but a steady noise changing in line with road speed. Somewhere between grinding & scraping I guess. It doesn't sound like something is about to explode, but it's definitely not normal.

GreenV8S said:
Can you hear / feel anything if you stand beside the car and push it slowly backwards and forwards?

I had the back of the car up on stands and spun the wheels back & forth - absolutely nothing. I'll try it on the ground too.

Incidentally, what kind of LSD are these fitted with ? Mine feels like it's working A-OK out on the road (little bit sideways out of B&Q carpark ), but when it's in the air it feels completely open. Does it only lock under load ?

Steve.

else

795 posts

267 months

Friday 7th October 2005
quotequote all
Sundayjumper said:
I had the back of the car up on stands and spun the wheels back & forth - absolutely nothing. I'll try it on the ground too.

Incidentally, what kind of LSD are these fitted with ? Mine feels like it's working A-OK out on the road (little bit sideways out of B&Q carpark ), but when it's in the air it feels completely open. Does it only lock under load ?

Steve.


It could be a wheel bearing getting noisy, all transmission and suspension sounds seem to travel through the chassis and into the cockpit more readily in these cars. Like Podie said, take it to an expert he'll identify it easily especially if its a common problem.

The Surveyor

7,624 posts

266 months

Friday 7th October 2005
quotequote all
Have you checked the breaks.

Could be a stone stuck against the disk / pad, or a loose pad clip or caliper?

Has the noise got worse, or did it just suddenly appear?

GreenV8S

31,018 posts

313 months

Friday 7th October 2005
quotequote all
The nice thing about problems like this is that either it doesn't matter, or it'll eventually get so bad you'll be in no doubt at all where it is coming from ...

Sundayjumper

Original Poster:

531 posts

311 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
I've not had the car long, and for the first week or so I only drove with the hood down and didn't notice it. Now I've driven with the roof on it's more noticable.

All the brakes look fine, not binding or anything.

Really I need to get under the car while it's doing 30mph or so in order to pinpoint the noise. That might be difficult [] It seems to be getting louder as well.

Steve.

rude girl

6,937 posts

288 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
GreenV8S said:
or it'll eventually get so bad you'll be in no doubt at all where it is coming from ...


My favoured method

If it isn't obvious, and a couple of cheap experimental fixes don't sort it, wait a little while and it will reveal itself.

M@H

11,298 posts

301 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
That description sounds just like the Diff whine I got from my 93 Chim.. it was the same the day I sold the car as the day I bought it and I didn't let it worry me

Sundayjumper

Original Poster:

531 posts

311 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
M@H said:
That description sounds just like the Diff whine I got from my 93 Chim..

The previous owner of mine paid a fairly large amount of money to have the diff replaced about two months ago ! It's a s/h unit but it really shouldn't be acting up so soon.

The noise is really bugging me too. Maybe I should book it into the place that fitted the diff.

Steve.

M@H

11,298 posts

301 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
was it re-con'd or just second hand...? whiney diffs are not uncommon, it could be the s/h unit was whining anyway..?

Cheers
Matt.

Sundayjumper

Original Poster:

531 posts

311 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
M@H said:
was it re-con'd or just second hand...?
Not sure, but it was £450 plus labour and it would be severely remiss of them to fit a noisy diff.

Steve.

rude girl

6,937 posts

288 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
It's impossible to diagnose a noise via the internet. If you can't work it out yourself, why not just book it in with a specialist and get them to have a look?

M@H

11,298 posts

301 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
..and this noise has just "started" all of a sudden right ?

Sundayjumper

Original Poster:

531 posts

311 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
rude girl said:
It's impossible to diagnose a noise via the internet.
Wow, there's some kind of huge echo in here.... that sounds just like the very first words I posted in this thread.

rude girl said:
If you can't work it out yourself, why not just book it in with a specialist and get them to have a look?
Because I don't have the time and/or money to keep taking the car there for every little problem, plus I like to mend stuff myself and thought that maybe, maybe someone here had experienced a similar problem and would be able to help.

Saying "take it to a specialist" is absolutely bugger-all help to me or anyone else. Except maybe the specialist.

Steve.

parrot of doom

23,075 posts

263 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
Sunday - do you have a mobile phone, and a modern one? Most of them have a voice recorder.

Try making a recording of it, and email the file to me if you have nowhere to host it. Then we can all have a listen (make sure the phone is close to where its noisiest, and not outside in the wind!)

parrot of doom

23,075 posts

263 months

Monday 10th October 2005
quotequote all
Sundayjumper said:
Saying "take it to a specialist" is absolutely bugger-all help to me or anyone else. Except maybe the specialist.

Steve.


Agreed. Some people have more money than sense. The garage tried all kinds of things on my Audi A4 to solve a noise at 70mph, even went to new front wheel bearings. The eventual cause diagnosed by myself and a mate, was that a tyre was faulty!

Just because its got a TVR badge on it doesn't make it holier than the font of water in a church!