[Pinhead]

I remember some years ago someone either told me or I read about what this noise means in relation to the general wear on your engine, but I have since forgotten. Could someone better versed in the ways of engines please enlighten me?

Basically I can hear a low background whine from the engine in idle when the clutch is out and the engine is not in gear (e.g just after starting). This noise vanishes whenever you put the clutch in, and reappears when you let it out again. I vaguely remember it being indicative of worn bearings somewhere, perhaps in the gearbox? Its not the clutch as this is new and the noise was evident long before this was replaced.

Any ideas anyone? Thanks in advance.

[ScubaSteve]

slave cylinder/release bearing will need replacing on the clutch, might aswell get a new clutch whilst your at it

[Pinhead]

Really? Garage said they checked all this over when they did the clutch not 4 months ago now.

[bouncy]

Pinhead, on 22 April 2010 - 04:02 PM, said:

Really? Garage said they checked all this over when they did the clutch not 4 months ago now.

Check your receipt for the clutch job and see if they have charged you for a new hydraulic release bearing!!! If they have its under warranty, if they havnt its strange that they didnt advise you on replacing it when they had the gearbox out.

[happy-kat]

As that part is reccomended to be replaced when changing the clutch. It has a habit of failing if reused, not always, but it can do.

[btmaldon]

How bad is the noise? Some cars have this wining noise most of their lives. As long as its not as bad as having your Mother in Law sitting in the passenger seat every time you drive the car, you may well be OK.

[ScubaSteve]

i dont think any engine should whine at a level that is audible from inside the car, if you can hear whining inside the car something is wrong, IMO, unless you have some whapping supercharger on there haha

This post has been edited by ScubaSteve: 22 April 2010 - 08:17 PM

[pumapilot]

Clutch release bearing if noise stop when clutch pedal pressed down in neutral, if garage never changed it, then as HK says, it may possibly fail.

[Pinhead]

ScubaSteve, on 22 April 2010 - 08:13 PM, said:

i dont think any engine should whine at a level that is audible from inside the car, if you can hear whining inside the car something is wrong, IMO, unless you have some whapping supercharger on there haha

I wish . . .

Its louder when cold, though becomes less audible after a short run. Difficult noise to describe really - perhaps its less like a whine, more of a medium frequency rattle / rumble - like a tub of ball bearings being vibrated. I'm quite sensitive to changes to noises inside my Puma having now had it for over 10 years. Can even hear the knock behind the bulkhead as the internal heater regulator valve opens and closes (yep, had to replace this a year ago too as it has seized).

Anyway, I'll check the invoice tonight (as didn't get round to looking at it over the weekend). I remember the garage moaning about having to get a new replacement hydraulic clutch line when they did the clutch change. I also asked them to check the slave cylinder for wear, oil leaks etc. at the time. Came back OK.

[ScubaSteve]

does it happene when your moving, stationary or both

[Pinhead]

ScubaSteve, on 26 April 2010 - 10:53 AM, said:

does it happene when your moving, stationary or both

Can only hear it when stationary with clutch out. Cannot hear it whilst in gear and above normal engine noise TBH. Less audible after a bit of a run.

[ScubaSteve]

yeah so probably release bearing them imo

[Pinhead]

Garage opinion is clutch release bearing too. However, was done with clutch recently so something not done right with the job. Investigating . . .

[Pinhead]

Me again!

Nearly 5 years to the day since posting the above and I'm back. The issue above turned out to be front wheel bearings - both were replaced and whine went away. Car is now nearly 16 years old and has survived 130K!

Now I have a new whine......

Sounds a bit different to the failing front wheel bearings this one though. Quite a loud moan / whine now rather than any sort of rattling whine.

Symptoms:

Not audible whilst standing and revving engine. Only audible whilst in motion.
Loudest between 50-60 mph and fades as you go faster or slower than this.
Audible with the clutch in, or taken out of gear and coasting along at speed with engine idle.
May be associated with a slight side to side front end wobble that is detectable now when accelerating relatively hard when already doing 40-50 mph.
No real change in pitch regardless of speed.
Neither louder nor quieter when going around corners.

Suspects I guess (from reading on here), are Driveshafts, CV Joints, Rear Wheel Bearings (front ones done back in 2010 - see above).

Any of you expert Puma mechanics got any other guesses that I can work with to check / diagnose?

Many Thanks.

[happy-kat]

Loose wheel nut(s) or wheel bearing (s).
My guesses.

[Pinhead]

I'm thinking rear wheel bearings as the best bet at the moment tbh, though its very difficult to work out where the sound comes from - it seems to be 'all around you' when driving... They have never been changed in the cars lifetime, so that's 15 years and 130K so might be due. Dreading its the driveshaft being worn, or cracked or some other internal engine bearing going, though I would have though that would cause the whine to rise and fall with engine rpm.

Will check wheel nuts too this evening then, thanks.

[Pinhead]

Its not the wheel nuts....

[happy-kat]

Oh when was the last MOT, in theory they do a basic bearing check in that.
Does going around a left or right handed bend make any difference to the noise?

[Pinhead]

Hi,

Nope - gets no louder or softer around corners like it usually does when a bearing is going on one side only.

Anyway, took it to garage - they checked all bearings, CV, driveshaft - nothing. Mechanic said he thinks the drivers front wheel is slightly deformed and so hums at certain speeds. This sort of matches where I have seen that the hum seems worse over some older motorway surfaces then quieter over newer tarmac (possibly using that noise dampening aggregate they now replace it with on some motorways).

Anyway - should be easy to check if I change that wheel and re-test.