P38A Lets play guess that rattle (squeak)!

Hello All,

Now i know these types of posts are difficult to answer without seeing the car but none the less i like to brainstorm so here goes.

I have a noise that has the following qualities:
- Only when moving
- Happens at any speed but its related to vehicle speed not engine
- Dipping Clutch sometimes makes it stop, or at least change tone
- Seems to be worse when turning, not hard just the more lock the more prominent it is.
- Still happens occasionally when traveling straight, much less harsh sounding
- As far as i can tell it is coming from the front, unsure which side
- Sounds like a lathe turning steel but with no lube
- Does it in both reverse and forward
- Intermittent, was doing circles on full lock and it was very loud then changed direction and went back again and the noise stopped completely.

At the same time the noise started an imbalance wobble appeared at about 28mph (any gear) but it only happens in this one village i drive through to work that has a hill. Have not managed to replicate it anywhere else.

Things i have checked:
- Stone behind brake guard; it sounds far worse than this but i checked anyway
- Steering linkage play; All seems ok, small amount in steering box but nothing bad
- Driveshafts; Looked for play and any signs of scraping, however i dont have the ability to jack up the vehicle atm.
- CVs; Checked the boots on the front axle and they are intact, no sign of damage and no play that i can find.

Any ideas or personal experiences???

Cheers, Tony

Maybe a wheel bearing.

Sounds like what @MrGorsky had. We spent 3 hours driving round roundabouts and god knows what else trying to make up our minds where it was coming from. Swore it even changed sides at one point. Then it sort of got better so we decided to wait and see what develops. Seemed to be at just over 20 mph going round a medium sized roundabout, IIRC.

MrGorsky's initial thought was wheel-bearing but in the end we sent the part back as we couldn't decide if it really was going. Presumably it'll set off ABS faults before it get too bad if it is the bearing.

Grrrrrr said:

Sounds like what @MrGorsky had. We spent 3 hours driving round roundabouts and god knows what else trying to make up our minds where it was coming from. Swore it even changed sides at one point. Then it sort of got better so we decided to wait and see what develops. Seemed to be at just over 20 mph going round a medium sized roundabout, IIRC.

MrGorsky's initial thought was wheel-bearing but in the end we sent the part back as we couldn't decide if it really was going. Presumably it'll set off ABS faults before it get too bad if it is the bearing.

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Wheel bearings don't need play in them to make a noise.

Front propshaft UJ

ovalandrover said:

Front propshaft UJ

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Very possible.

I get a grinding noise when turning sharp right. In my case, it's the rear prop catching on the bracket for the twin gas tanks (LPG) and will soon disappear when I bin them forever

wammers said:

Wheel bearings don't need play in them to make a noise.

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We couldn't detect any noise, movement, or grumbling in them when turning the wheels by hand either.
My noise is a complete mystery still! I think it might be the front propshaft UJ too, this week anyway....

MrGorsky said:

We couldn't detect any noise, movement, or grumbling in them when turning the wheels by hand either.
My noise is a complete mystery still! I think it might be the front propshaft UJ too, this week anyway....

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Wheel bearings can make an horrendous noise when the tracks start to break up causing pits and the balls under pressure from the weight of the car flick in and out of them. You will feel no movement or roughness in the wheel.

Thanks everyone for you replies so far

Small Update:
Jacked the front of the car up yesterday and did everything i could think of to check wheel bearings, prop shafts etc. I agree with wammers that the bearings dont have to have play to be noisy saying that mine didnt even hint at having a problem. I understand i didnt spin them with the weight of the car on and i definitely didnt spin them up to 30mph but i dont think its a wheel bearing. To me the noise sounds more outside than a wheel bearing would, which points me more towards drive shafts.

It now does it in a straight line and i can control it with the throttle. So acceleration or under load (constant speed up hill) the noise is loud, constant speed the noise is there but faint and deceleration (engine braking) the noise goes.

Is there anything that could have worn/broken that would mean under load a rotating part would contact a housing or similar?

Change the wheel bearings then you will know one way or the other

biketeacherdave said:

Change the wheel bearings then you will know one way or the other

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+1

biketeacherdave said:

Change the wheel bearings then you will know one way or the other

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That's a £200 punt each side unless he access to a press. Even with a press it is what? £60? Expensive game of pin the tail on the donkey!

I'm lucky I have access to a press and did my own bearings, if he pulls off the hub gets a bearing most decent independent garages will do it for a small fee £10 or so and let's face it these motors are getting old and the bearing are just as old.

That's not how I roll guys, Diagnose then fix rather than randomly replace.

Anyway the noise has started to subside and it gradually being replaced by a wobble. Pretty sure this is a prop shaft so will whip it off tomorrow and see what I can find.

Anthony Day said:

That's not how I roll guys, Diagnose then fix rather than randomly replace.

Anyway the noise has started to subside and it gradually being replaced by a wobble. Pretty sure this is a prop shaft so will whip it off tomorrow and see what I can find.

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Anthony Day said:

That's not how I roll guys, Diagnose then fix rather than randomly replace.

Anyway the noise has started to subside and it gradually being replaced by a wobble. Pretty sure this is a prop shaft so will whip it off tomorrow and see what I can find.

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Maybe better to check first rather than randomly whip off.

Am I right in thinking the centre diff is locked on these things so I can "whip off" the shaft go for drive and see if the wobble/noise goes?

So the random whipping is the check, before I got spend me money

Anthony Day said:

Am I right in thinking the centre diff is locked on these things so I can "whip off" the shaft go for drive and see if the wobble/noise goes?

So the random whipping is the check, before I got spend me money

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Yes you can take the front prop off and go for a spin, hopefully this will give you a clue as to where the noise is coming from.

This might end up in me slowly removing parts of the car and going for a spin. Await video of me sliding down a hill on just the seat, noise and wobble still present.