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My mains electric drill makes an identical noise due to a worn rear plain bearing. Lubrication solves it for a bit then it's back.
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Front end noise!
- Thread starter anton
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anton
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Car is booked in to go to the shop for a proper assessment next week Monday, I'm gonna leave it in the garage until then because it's developing a worsening rattle from the front driver's side which will also need to be investigated. Cheers for all the input lads!
I will keep you guys posted once it's in the shop!
I will keep you guys posted once it's in the shop!
Good luck with it Anton. Hope they’re good guys and know Cruisers.
anton
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So there have been some developments, but nothing particularly inspiring.
Took the car for a drive with the mechanic, of course no noises to be heard. fortunately I had a video of the noise which I showed him, and he seemed pretty confused by it. We agreed that he'd take the front end apart and have a look.
Fast forward to today, he called me and said that my power steering pump was cooked, and taking in alot of air, which may be the cause of my problem. while I'm 99% sure that its not the problem, it did need doing so we're going to replace that anyway, worst case scenario is I have a new power steering pump which I needed to do anyway.
He also said that he found some water in my CV, which i think is more likely to be the problem, however I had the swivel hub seals done about 4 weeks ago so I'm not sure how I would've got water in there.
He also said that the spindle bushes looked OK, so I'm not sure what to do with that info. What do you guys think???
Any help would again be appreciated, because my trip to the mechanic has been fairly fruitless.
P.S. the mechanic seemed fairly knowledgeable, it's a workshop that deals with a lot of 4wds, and the mechanic looking after my car drives a GU patrol with similar modifications to my 80.
Took the car for a drive with the mechanic, of course no noises to be heard. fortunately I had a video of the noise which I showed him, and he seemed pretty confused by it. We agreed that he'd take the front end apart and have a look.
Fast forward to today, he called me and said that my power steering pump was cooked, and taking in alot of air, which may be the cause of my problem. while I'm 99% sure that its not the problem, it did need doing so we're going to replace that anyway, worst case scenario is I have a new power steering pump which I needed to do anyway.
He also said that he found some water in my CV, which i think is more likely to be the problem, however I had the swivel hub seals done about 4 weeks ago so I'm not sure how I would've got water in there.
He also said that the spindle bushes looked OK, so I'm not sure what to do with that info. What do you guys think???
Any help would again be appreciated, because my trip to the mechanic has been fairly fruitless.
P.S. the mechanic seemed fairly knowledgeable, it's a workshop that deals with a lot of 4wds, and the mechanic looking after my car drives a GU patrol with similar modifications to my 80.
Like I say, it sounds too fast to be at wheel speed. You mentioned front prop having play. Where exactly is this play in the propshaft? Spline? Does it only do it with a certain load/amount of people in the vehicle?
99% it is your steering. My box was loose on my old defender and I was about to offer that point before reading on. The only other thing could be a loose wheel but if the shop has had it on and off then may not be. However you crazy aussies are worse than the Russians. I've seen what you do do to your trucks on youtube and the word it MrT isn't very happy about it either...
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anton
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Couldn't tell you where the play is, but if the car's on the ground and I get under it I can rotate the front prop about 15-20 degrees in each direction, whereas the rear maybe rotates 5 degrees at most.
And Re: load, no, there seems to be no discernible pattern in relation to how heavily the car is loaded.
anton
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Yeah wouldn't have thought a loose wheel would be the culprit, It's been up on the hoist a handful of times with the wheels on and off to rebuild seals, replace wheel bearings, replace pads and rotors etc. and has continued to make the noise regardless.
Haha worse than the Russians you reckon? In what sense (just out of interest)...
Try lifting the prop at each end and at the slide coupling. There should be no movement whatsoever in either the slide coupling or the shafts from the transfer box or the diff. If there is movement from either shaft I would expect this to be accompanied by an oil leak from the appropriate seal but there has to be oil there to start with of course.
anton
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Hmm ok. Cars still in the shop but I'll have another good fiddle underneath once I have it back. I suspect if there was any glaring oil leaks the mechanic would've noticed it when the car was on the hoist it but you never know.
Cheers for the input!
Have you never seen the Russians offroading! They like to submerge the truck in ice bogs and drag them backwards with tractors and stuff! Just youtube search for Russian 4x4! The aussies on the other hand like to drive full speed ( in 1st gear low) into large stationary objects mainly large boulders and vertical rock faces!
Back to the original point, it took me weeks to figure out the problem with the defender front end only diagnoses when I went through every part systematically and found the steering box bolts were loose. It took a certain speed to create enough wobble to make it noticeable but stationary you just wouldn't find it. Maybe just check your springs are seated ok as well.
anton
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Haha we do have some really fun tracks out here! Should come over from wherever you are and check them out. And yes there are some morons out there but most of us look after our trucks!
OK cheers for the input, I'll add that to the list of things to check when I get the car back and let you know how I go.
anton
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Car is back from the shop with a new power steering pump, however I broke my ankle while the car was in the shop so I haven't been able to drive the car to test if it's fixed the problem or not! Also being on crutches etc has meant I can't get on the tools and have a look at anything else on the car, so unfortunately everything is on hold for now.
I am getting a friend to take me for a longer drive (70ks or so back to Sydney) tomorrow, so I'll report back if anything happens on that drive.
Once I'm recovered I'll take it for a proper test and a bit off offroading. I'll also check the spindle bushes, the prop shaft uni joint, the diff and have another look at the CVs.
Have you had anyone look at your car? My mechanic seemed pretty perplexed when I showed him the noise...
Oh that's no good with the break, take care with that!
I haven't really had a chance to do anything with it yet, had two trips over the past two weekends clocking up around 1200kms.
It did it 3 times over that period, only lasting a few seconds each time.
I initially thought it was the starter motor kicking in.
I do most of my mechanicals myself and have only had the car for two months so I will take a look over the weekend.
Let us know how you go.
I haven't really had a chance to do anything with it yet, had two trips over the past two weekends clocking up around 1200kms.
It did it 3 times over that period, only lasting a few seconds each time.
I initially thought it was the starter motor kicking in.
I do most of my mechanicals myself and have only had the car for two months so I will take a look over the weekend.
Let us know how you go.
Julian T
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I would check the front diff crown and pinion teeth, you could have a damaged gear tooth, my front diff used to make a similar noise at random intervals for varying times, also came under load.
problem foxed a lot of "specialists" until I broke the front diff being over exuberant with the right foot off road and replaced the pinion and crown gear, never had the noise again.
problem foxed a lot of "specialists" until I broke the front diff being over exuberant with the right foot off road and replaced the pinion and crown gear, never had the noise again.
anton
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Hmm interesting. I had a look at the diff while doing the CVs and it looked fine, but I haven't actually taken it apart to check, It would be a pretty big job wouldn't it?. Would I have been able to see a problem by just looking from the wheel hubs?
I have considered that the diff might be the problem, and have though about just buying one from a wreckers to replace, the only problem is my 80 is fairly low km and 80s are getting old so any diff I buy would probably have more kms on it than mine...
Julian T
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Mine foxed all the mechanics I demonstrated the sound to, until it failed.
You will need to pull your side shafts out and then you will be able to unbolt the diff from the axle housing and remove it so that you can visually check the gear teeth.
Don't forget to drain the diff oil first.
If you jack the front of vehicle up and put it on axle stands to get the front wheels off the ground and then rotate the front diff drive flange by hand you might, and it's possibly a big might, be able to feel a damaged or broken tooth, there should be some resistance when the damaged gear teeth try to mesh, may even hear it?
A replacement diff might be an option to test for the fault, just make sure it is the correct ratio.
And when you replace the diff you may be able to see if there is a fault with the one your truck has in it, if after fitting the replacement you still have the fault then return the diff as it's not needed, ask the used parts supplier if they have a returns policy prior to purchase.
This of course presupposes a fault with your crown and pinion gears, or the spider gears, but for you to have a problem with the spider gears I would assume it to only manifest a fault when one wheel was rotating faster than the other, for example when turning.
Hope you get to the bottom of it.
You will need to pull your side shafts out and then you will be able to unbolt the diff from the axle housing and remove it so that you can visually check the gear teeth.
Don't forget to drain the diff oil first.
If you jack the front of vehicle up and put it on axle stands to get the front wheels off the ground and then rotate the front diff drive flange by hand you might, and it's possibly a big might, be able to feel a damaged or broken tooth, there should be some resistance when the damaged gear teeth try to mesh, may even hear it?
A replacement diff might be an option to test for the fault, just make sure it is the correct ratio.
And when you replace the diff you may be able to see if there is a fault with the one your truck has in it, if after fitting the replacement you still have the fault then return the diff as it's not needed, ask the used parts supplier if they have a returns policy prior to purchase.
This of course presupposes a fault with your crown and pinion gears, or the spider gears, but for you to have a problem with the spider gears I would assume it to only manifest a fault when one wheel was rotating faster than the other, for example when turning.
Hope you get to the bottom of it.
anton
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UPDATE:
So car threw a bit of a curveball. As mentioned before I was planning to have the mrs drive the car back to Sydney last night to see if the noise has been fixed with the power steering pump replacement.
Unfortunately we got about a quarter of the way home and the car completely died (going uphill, 110kph, semi trailer behind us - not fun). I had to have it towed the rest of the way to Sydney. I assume its the alternator as the car just cut out and the main battery has been completely drained.
It didn't make the front end noise for the short time we were driving (About 30mins) which was good, but now I've got something else to fix in the meantime!
I don't think theres anything the mechanics could have done while fixing a power steering pump to blow the alternator, but nonetheless the timing is a little suspicious (first drive since picking it up....). What do you guys reckon?
So car threw a bit of a curveball. As mentioned before I was planning to have the mrs drive the car back to Sydney last night to see if the noise has been fixed with the power steering pump replacement.
Unfortunately we got about a quarter of the way home and the car completely died (going uphill, 110kph, semi trailer behind us - not fun). I had to have it towed the rest of the way to Sydney. I assume its the alternator as the car just cut out and the main battery has been completely drained.
It didn't make the front end noise for the short time we were driving (About 30mins) which was good, but now I've got something else to fix in the meantime!
I don't think theres anything the mechanics could have done while fixing a power steering pump to blow the alternator, but nonetheless the timing is a little suspicious (first drive since picking it up....). What do you guys reckon?
