Strange Whine from Rear of Car

[apole]

Hi guys,

I maybe imagining things but my car seems to have strange whine from the rear. More noticeable if you are going under 30MPH but I'm sure it's making a noise and getting worse over time. Had the wheel bearings checked and there is no play in them. 2WD petrol bongo with normal diff. Oil was changed 6K ago, old stuff looked fine.

If it is say the diff on it's way, will it suddenly fail or just make more and more noise? Anywhere I can get it checked or things I can do to test myself and is it likely to be expensive?

Andy

[dandywarhol]

You haven't fitted a roof rack recently by any chance? i once chased hard enough for a whine on a customer's car only to find he'd fitted a rack and it gave a wind noise just like a worn diff

[dandywarhol]

Ahhh.....it was yours with the underseal coated diff!!!

I was going to mention in that last post that it's not a good idea to underseal the diff - it can cause the oil to overheat. Is the breather clear?

[westonwarrior]

Mother in law in back seat?

[dandywarhol]

Mother in law in back seat?

That would be a familiar whine weston..............................

[jaylee]

Mother in law in back seat?

That would be a familiar whine weston..............................

That's a Chardonnay..

[apole]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your help. I've checked and it's not the mother in law, as you said that is a very different noise altogether.

Thanks about the breather tip, yes I did check that when you pointed it out and forgot to mention that. If I'm right, it was a small (less than 1 inch) mushroom cap on the top of the diff. The cap moves freely but doesn't come off so I'm assuming if it can move around then it can let air in and out. Good tip though as underseal could well block that.

It's unlikely to be brakes binding etc as the other day when it was in I asked the mechanic to check it out. He checked the wheels and bearings etc and they all moved easily, with no slack or clicking. Advise was to leave it and see how it goes.

Diff oil was changed recently and the old stuff was clean, noise was there beforehand mind.

Noise is pretty constant, not affected by cornering, braking or acceleration, you just notice it more when you are slowing down as less engine and road noise.

I'm not sure if it's worth investigating further or leaving as advised and see if it gets worse.

Thanks for all the help and advise.

Andy

[dandywarhol]

Thats the one ! The cap doen't come of apole but the whole breather is a push fit into the diff.

[Doone]

I did hear of someone who had fitted a non-genuine exhaust (I don't know which make it was) and always heard a whine after that. He thought it was coming from the turbo. It was louder with the window open - obvious really but confusing at the time. Unfortunate as many others fit non-gen with no problems.

[B*Witched Blingo]

Silly as it sounds I used to get a wierd whine from one of my cars at the rear. It turned out to be the tyres..Just a thought..

[apole]

Well it had it's MOT today and passed which is good.

I asked the tester about the wheel bearings and the noise (after he said it had passed of course !!) and he said there was no indication of any wear that he could see.

They did a product called Lucas heavy duty oil conditioner, some oil based product that is supposed to help, but I'm not so sure on those kind of things.

I think if it does get worse I'll nip over to basingstoke via a sawmill and swap it !!!

Thanks again for your help, I'll update you if I find anything more.

Andy

[mikeonb4c]

Good news on the MOT pass Andy