High pitched whine

[Rob]

This has got me thinking recently, I have a high pitched whine while driving at 50mph and above. Its only present when the clutch is engaged, if I disengage the clutch it goes away. Its the kind of noise you hear on larger vehicles like coaches when at motorway speeds. I have no idea if it has been there all the time or if it has only happened recently, but it definitely has not got worse over the last 15k miles. Is this the diff on its way out or is this normal? As I said its not that loud, most people wouldn't even notice it.

 

[Crispin]

Your wife / girlfriend? Mine does it all the time. Coaches have woman on as well so must be the same thing...


Trust bearing in the clutch on its way out.

 

[Rob]

It does it when the girlfriend is not there so it cant be that, although generally it does get louder when she is present

Am I right in assuming the thrust bearing comes with most clutch kits? I get the feeling that my clutch is nearing the end of its life as have got it to slip a couple of times under extreme conditions. I suspect it has not been replaced since new and its done over 150k miles most of it as a plant hire tow vehicle.

 

[Andy]

I second the thrust bearing diagnosis.

Especially with 150 k as a tow vehicle, must be time for a clutch & thrust bearing change!

 

[Rob]

Thanks for your advice guys, if it was the diff I would be worried. Will get it replaced before any serious solo trip or when its starts to slip.

 

[Crispin]

Don't think the bearing comes with the clutch. Double check that.

 

[chriscolleman]

Changed the clutch and bearing recently and now I get this tickety-tick tick tick tick tickety at idle.

Press the clutch and its gone. Get into the driving rpms and its gone. I think the clutch actuator needs a little adjustment. But quite like the tickety tick sound.
Gives it a little chitty chitty bang bang spirit

 

[Rob]

Paid more attention to the noise today and it is loudest when doing 50mph during acceleration, almost completely goes away when in over run and goes away completely when the clutch it disengaged. Does the thrust bearing theory still fit?

 

[paulm]

i've got exactly the same with my 80 auto.
only makes the noise when i'm accelerating - when off the throttle there's no noise...

 

[Paul_Driver]

Bump this old thread. Same problem here!

I too have an 80 series with an auto box 80 like Rob above. I get a constant whining noise but only when I've got my foot on the gas. The noise is at its loudest between 50/60mph and seems to be coming from the front axle. To be honest I've had the problem for a while now and it's got to the stage where I'm concerned that damage is being done.

When I spoke with Julian V last, he suggested that some seals may have gone, causing the diff oil to mix with axle grease. Or at least that is what I think he meant? Today I drained the front diff and the oil was was very thick and gloopy which may support Julian's idea; although I don't understand why this would cause the whining noise. Can anybody explain this to me?

The comments above about the thrust bearing are interesting. Could this apply also in my case?

My CV joints are clicking and the front wheel bearings need nipping up so I am overdue a visit to the clinic anyway - just trying to understand the issues and work out what I can do myself.

 

[Chris]

In my experience, clutch release bearings don't generally whine. They either make a sort of dry grinding noise or 'Scrrrrrrrr' sound. But only when depressing the clutch. It's the job of the bearing to work in moving the two main clutch components apart. When in gear and driving, it doesn't actually do anything. Going off road and through deep water does not help its life. The bell housing isn't very well sealed and getting scuzzy water in the bearing where there is no lubrication is a bit of a death sentence. You an play a tune on the release bearing with your foot. But as I say it only makes a noise when under load from the release fork. The input shaft bearing doesn't come with the kit as far as I know. Not usually anyway. I'd be a bit surprised if it was this making that noise. It sounds more like carrier bearing adjustment / pinion preload / or just total diff set up issues.

Mine had precisely those symptoms (before it caught fire) and only a total rebuild of the diff sorted it. I had new carrier bearings, new pinion bearings, seals, solid spacer and a super Wildsmith tune up on the pattern.

That noise - on and off load at that speed does sound like diff. Given that mine was an auto, so's Paul's and Rob's in a manual and we all had it, it's not likely to be the clutch.

Chris

 

[adrianr]

Paul_ time to rebuild your front hubs me thinks.

your diff needs oil not gloop so thats maybe why its whining.

 

[Rob]

Well I checked the front diff oil the other week and the oil is a thick green gloop, time for another front axle rebuild... Interesting that Julian V mentions that grease contaminated diff oil could cause a whine

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

The bearings and gears are not being lubricated properly when you let the oil get contaminated with grease so they wear out if you don't do anything about it Most likely to be outer pinion bearing making most of the noise, with the front being high pinion and gloop not being very good at finding its way to the outer pinion bearing but all of them will suffer.

 

[Rob]

Makes sense Jon but it sounds very specific, not something you would suggest straight away. Julian must know his cruisers.

 

[Chris]

Ahh, I remember it well. I had to put a heater under my axle and tilt it on a jack to get it all out! I pulled the plug and nothing happened. Then this string of snot started to form. No wonder it needed some TLJW.

Chris

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

if oil is coming out your swivels then grease is getting into the diff. They will stand it for a bit but prolonged contamination knackers them.

 

[Rob]

Swivels are nice and dry, so its not too bad yet. Its only done about 22k miles since the last rebuild and the inner axle seals are already knackered Has anyone else had genuine seals fail this quickly or is this just another symptom of Mongolitis?

 

[frank rabbets]

I assume you KNOW it is a tranny problem but I had a similar whine on my 80 but unrelated to the clutch. It was only throttle related. Turned out to be a warped flange where the top turbo tube meets the erg manifold. Very loud but sounded like a large reed instrument. The S/S gasket was the reed. Took it off, filed it flat with a coarse file and all is still OK. Might help someone else with a non wife related whine.

Frank

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

You might want to check the state of the bushing in the stub axle, as discussed in the milner thread, which when worn lets the axle flop about a bit and also check how worn the shafts are where the seal runs because they wear a groove which then means the seal stops being effective sooner even though it's not actually knackered. You can play with the seal depth a bit and you can also repair the shaft a couple of different ways.