Bloody Hell, everything is happening with the car for some reason! Today when driving on the motorway, I noticed that once I got to higher speeds, for example 70MPH, there was a loud drum roll type/fast knocking type sound coming from under the car. I am suspecting shock absorbers or some suspension type problem? Anyone confirm. I can add that it seemed much more noticeable if there was a bend in the road, even an average small sized bend.
knocking/drumming sound at motorway speeds
- Thread starter madder
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A bit of a difficult one, but I'd check each tyre for damage or bulges first!
John
John
Thanks John. Just did that. Doesn't appear to be any bulges? Do you mean that one of the tyres may have been over inflated? If anything, one of them seemed very slightly under inflated. Though I doubt that would solve the problem. Could it be a shock?
Have to say it seems to match the velocity of the car though? Like if I speed up, the knocking does too. It's fairly loud too.
EDIT: Doing a bit of google research on this and wondering if this could be wheel bearings? And if it is, how dangerous is it to keep driving with the problem? It's just that it looks a pricey fix and I don't really want to spend a lt of money on such an old car. But I do love the car!
Have to say it seems to match the velocity of the car though? Like if I speed up, the knocking does too. It's fairly loud too.
EDIT: Doing a bit of google research on this and wondering if this could be wheel bearings? And if it is, how dangerous is it to keep driving with the problem? It's just that it looks a pricey fix and I don't really want to spend a lt of money on such an old car. But I do love the car!
Typically, wheel bearings emit a droning sound when they load up - for example, on a left hand bend, there's pressure on the right side bearings, so they start to wail - and vice-versa.
The bearings would have to be very shot indeed to make bumping noises I think, but I'd next check the condition of the driveshaft outer CV joints.....a split rubber boot would give you a clue.
Worn shock absorber bushes tend to give the car a floating feel - but they can knock, certainly....personally I wouldn't suspect those.
Check the front springs, right up as far as you can for broken coils.
John
The bearings would have to be very shot indeed to make bumping noises I think, but I'd next check the condition of the driveshaft outer CV joints.....a split rubber boot would give you a clue.
Worn shock absorber bushes tend to give the car a floating feel - but they can knock, certainly....personally I wouldn't suspect those.
Check the front springs, right up as far as you can for broken coils.
John
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I don't know if this is just me getting paranoid, but I think I can hear the noise at any speed now. It's just when I speed up, it gets louder, and faster, which to me suggests something to do with the wheels. It also seems more prominent on my(driver) side. Is there anything else apart from wheels that would make a noise which gets faster with the cars velocity?
For sure it has to be something with the wheels, driveshafts, transmission et all.......presuming there's nothing caught and flapping around under the car!
Here's a wheel bearing test (assuming that you cant feel any movement when rocking the wheel from side to side by hand).......
Jack the car up on the suspected side, and as you spin the wheel, feel the suspension strut at the back. If there is any bearing problem, you'll often feel a knock or rumble through the strut.
Expect any bearing replacement to be somewhere in the region of £150 or so.
John
Here's a wheel bearing test (assuming that you cant feel any movement when rocking the wheel from side to side by hand).......
Jack the car up on the suspected side, and as you spin the wheel, feel the suspension strut at the back. If there is any bearing problem, you'll often feel a knock or rumble through the strut.
Expect any bearing replacement to be somewhere in the region of £150 or so.
John
Thanks John, you're always a great help.
I can tell you that when the car is stopped and I turn the steering wheel it feels very smooth. No noise, no obstructions. However, when driving, the steering wheel is vibrating quite a bit. My passenger seemed to agree that the noise was coming from my side of the car.
I can tell you that when the car is stopped and I turn the steering wheel it feels very smooth. No noise, no obstructions. However, when driving, the steering wheel is vibrating quite a bit. My passenger seemed to agree that the noise was coming from my side of the car.
God, John, I started the car there a few minutes ago, and it gave an unusual ignition sound. It seemed to start much to quickly and there seemed to be a slip type sound? That can't be good? Usually, my car starts a second after I turn the key. It seemed to spark and start before I had even finished turning the key.
I started the car a second time and recorded the sound, although it wasn't quite as dramatic the second time, it still sounded strange. I also tried recording the noise/vibration I'm getting when driving. But since I wasn't near the motorway, I could only get up to about 50MPH. Still, I can hear something that seems a little off. If the recordings are good, I'll try to get them up onto youtube and maybe if you have a minute you could take a listen?
I started the car a second time and recorded the sound, although it wasn't quite as dramatic the second time, it still sounded strange. I also tried recording the noise/vibration I'm getting when driving. But since I wasn't near the motorway, I could only get up to about 50MPH. Still, I can hear something that seems a little off. If the recordings are good, I'll try to get them up onto youtube and maybe if you have a minute you could take a listen?
If the steering wheel tends to wobble when driving, then either you need the wheels balancing, you've lost a balance weight, buckled a wheel (ridiculously common) or have tyre issues......has this just started?
The noise you are hearing on start up brings a couple of things to mind......either the PAS belt or alternator belt is slipping or is in poor condition (more evident if starting on full steering lock).
Failing that, a dry bush in the starter motor can make itself heard in this way.
Looking forward to any updates!
John
The noise you are hearing on start up brings a couple of things to mind......either the PAS belt or alternator belt is slipping or is in poor condition (more evident if starting on full steering lock).
Failing that, a dry bush in the starter motor can make itself heard in this way.
Looking forward to any updates!
John
I'm certainly keeping you busy!
Unfortunately, the startup problem didn't record well enough to tell the difference between itself and normal startup. I will try again when the car is cold, as it seems to be much more dramatic when the car has cooled down.
I am attaching an audio clip of the car driving from 15MPH to 50MPH. It is a 20 second clip. The noise isn't very prominent at this speed. It gets louder at Motorway speed. But it can be heard if one listens closely enough, especially near the end of the clip, from 15 to 20 seconds as the car gets a little faster? Probably not clear enough for you to hear what the problem might be though. If I am going on the motorway tomorrow, maybe I'll try again, but here is what I have so far.
Unfortunately, the startup problem didn't record well enough to tell the difference between itself and normal startup. I will try again when the car is cold, as it seems to be much more dramatic when the car has cooled down.
I am attaching an audio clip of the car driving from 15MPH to 50MPH. It is a 20 second clip. The noise isn't very prominent at this speed. It gets louder at Motorway speed. But it can be heard if one listens closely enough, especially near the end of the clip, from 15 to 20 seconds as the car gets a little faster? Probably not clear enough for you to hear what the problem might be though. If I am going on the motorway tomorrow, maybe I'll try again, but here is what I have so far.
Hell!
Its either the most clapped out wheel bearing in the world, or one of the pads has lost its friction material....have you had the wheel off yet?
John
Its either the most clapped out wheel bearing in the world, or one of the pads has lost its friction material....have you had the wheel off yet?
John
So presuming that the wheel bearing is done on the front drivers side. How dangerous is it to drive like this by the way?
But assuming that is done and likely to cost me between €200 and €300 to fix, the wiper needs fixing, the relay flasher switch needs replacing and I also have a suspected dodgy alternator belt with that slipping startup sound, I'm starting to wonder whether I should bother getting this fixed. I know it's a great car and they don't make Carinas any more, but it does have 246,000 miles on the clock.
I guess I could ask the breakers if they could fix it all cheaper, but it could still be spending more than the car is worth? How much are the wiper link replacement and alternator belt likely to cost?
But assuming that is done and likely to cost me between €200 and €300 to fix, the wiper needs fixing, the relay flasher switch needs replacing and I also have a suspected dodgy alternator belt with that slipping startup sound, I'm starting to wonder whether I should bother getting this fixed. I know it's a great car and they don't make Carinas any more, but it does have 246,000 miles on the clock.
I guess I could ask the breakers if they could fix it all cheaper, but it could still be spending more than the car is worth? How much are the wiper link replacement and alternator belt likely to cost?
Certainly a breakers could come to your rescue here, for the wheel bearing it would be quicker to swap over the complete suspension strut and likewise the wiper linkage would also come from them.
Really it all depends on how much you want to do yourself - there is a hell of a lot of labour time here!
Personally I'd want to inspect the car before I considered it safe, and we aren't certain what the fault is (yet!)
Decision time I'm afraid...at this sort of mileage you don't want to spend very much on this car.
John
Really it all depends on how much you want to do yourself - there is a hell of a lot of labour time here!
Personally I'd want to inspect the car before I considered it safe, and we aren't certain what the fault is (yet!)
Decision time I'm afraid...at this sort of mileage you don't want to spend very much on this car.
John
Thanks John. And I know you're right about the mileage. Its just that they don't make 'em like they used to. This Carina engine is the best I've ever had! I have to do some thinking. My local breakers do servicing and all sorts of repairs and fitting. I guess I could ask them to inspect the car and then give e an estimate?
I have to do some thinking. My local breakers do servicing and all sorts of repairs and fitting. I guess I could ask them to inspect the car and then give e an estimate?Sponsored Links
