Strange clicking noise while rolling along

Hard to explain. Vehicle is a '99 110 TD5.
Had this strange noise almost from the first day I got it.

What I know: it's coming somewhere from the right front. Frequency changes with vehicle speed. Light high pitched clicking, quite loud.

How to reproduce: taking the foot from the accelerator. Noise stops when clutch is pressed. Shows up briefly while switching gears, but not always.

What I did: Already exchanged one of the two universal joints on the front transmission shaft because it looked guilty - no luck.
Had the car at two different garages. Both told me not to worry, claimed it was just usual transmission noise.

Well, I'm worried. Don't really trust them that much, don't know if they're holding out for serious money when disaster strikes...

Tried to capture it on video, here's the link: http://youtu.be/Pne-vaOWmKw
The sound is audible for the first three seconds (need headphones attached to get it, poor speakers on my phone).

So - what's your opinion?
What to do?

My first thought was the bake disc mudshield but that wouldn't explain the clutch/gear change link

Second thought was air filter can sometimes make odd noises and declutching might cause the engine to move slightly causing the air box to catch against something.

Didn't have a third thought - sorry

Have you checked the wheel bearings, they can allow the hub to move under load and off load which can then mean things like the brake shields can catch.

Hmmm... How to? Winch up and give it some shakes? Sorry, I'm on holiday at the moment with very limited resources, except time

Don't suppose it's the bellhousing moving having seen your other thread?



EDIT: Just seen your update that all the studs seem to be there, so probably not unless not fully tightened

Station House said:

Second thought was air filter can sometimes make odd noises and declutching might cause the engine to move slightly causing the air box to catch against something.

Click to expand...

You might be on to something here. The cable for opening the bonnet looked suspicious. Just secured it with a tie clip.

Looked around the air filter and noticed a chain of tie clips trying to pull the two top tubes away from the heater (unsure, boxy thingy top right back). Put some Kleenex between the hose clips and the housing.

Now for a nice, long test drive.

Station House said:

Don't suppose it's the bellhousing moving having seen your other thread?

Click to expand...

Hopefully not.

Finally found the time to lift the front wheels. Don't know if this is normal, but both front wheels behave in a slight disconcerting way...
Each wheel can be turned through 3-5 degrees until the drive shaft starts to turn. There is one clearly audible click when changing directions, seems to come out of the wheel assembly... Also a slightly chafing sound, like the brake is stuck. Which I won't believe at the moment...

Any ideas, before I start taking the wheels apart?

Could be your CV on the way out?

Ummn... what's a CV?

Constant velocity joint

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii264/bustersbus/CV%20joint%20renewal/CVJointrenewal011.jpg

Fixed it. Or made it worse...

On a test drive after cleaning the MAP sensor I hit a large pothole with the right front wheel. The clicking is gone, now there's a slight squeaking instead. Guess I'll really have take it apart, any month now.

DiscoPol said:

Have you checked the wheel bearings, they can allow the hub to move under load and off load which can then mean things like the brake shields can catch.

Click to expand...

I think this is a good starting point. I recently replaced the front off side wheel bearings on my Defender and whilst they did not display the noise you describe (excessive side to side disc movement), I can quite easily see how they would. The outer bearing was almost non existant with the cage rotted away to nothing and the rollers flopping about with signs that at times they had become wedged - could this be the clicking noise which disappears when the drive is disengaged ie the bearing has a reduced load?

I'm thinking pretty much the same. The jolt may have realigned the rollers... Really need some time to sort this out.... Hope the car manages the next days in this condition.

Finally managed to get the wheel bearing and the constant velocity joint replaced. The parts were somewhat worn, but not enough to explain for the noise - which isn't gone, by the way.

So back to square one...

How long you owned the td5?
I can't here your audio but please check engine oil level ASAP
If oil level if high it's diesel in the oil time, I put an engine in for a guy who ran a disco 2 and said it had a ticking noise then one day at high speed it oil hydraulic'd on the motorway
He'd never bothered to query the noise until bang...... Too late

I've bought it a year ago. Oil levels are fine, rather sinking than rising.