Whirring, then grinding noise, now speedo not working

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Piespiespies

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Country
United Kingdom
Make - Hyundai
Model - Elantra SI Auto
Engine size/Type 1.6l petrol
Year - 2002
Mileage - 70k

Bought last week. Running fine, then noticed a rhythmic whirring noise when accelerating between 20-40mph which disappeared at higher speeds. This has continued but there is now a grinding sound accelerating at lower speeds which coincided with the speedo "bouncing" and, most recently, completely failing. I've jacked it up and spun the front wheels but no noise there so wheel bearings seem OK. Can't afford a mechanic right now, so any suggestions welcome!
 
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I guess this is a front wheel drive automatic car?
I'm a bit spooked by the erratic behaviour of the speedo ......consider getting underneath and heaving the drive shafts up and down, where they exit from the gearbox. There shouldn't be any movement at all.
John :)
 
Piespiespies said:
coincided with the speedo "bouncing" and, most recently, completely failing.
Click to expand...
Are there still cars with a speedo cable rather than electronic?

if you have a workshop manual, see what it has.
 
Sure to be a gear driven transmitter, straight from the diff I would have thought......fairly typical Korean metal and usually on the top of the gearbox.
Wondering if diff bearing wear is causing the sensor to disconnect - hence my comment on heaving the driveshafts up and down.
John :)
 
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Identify the drive shafts, that connect the front wheels to the gearbox.
At the gearbox end, see if you can lift the shafts upwards to identify any play that may be there.
At the same time, check that there aren't any oil leaks, as these plus diff bearing wear go together.
At least, this rules out diff bearing problems, but at 70k I would be surprised!
John :)
 
I remember one of my early cars had a speedo cable that had come undone from the gearbox (I think).
I kept meaning to screw it back in!
 
if they have tight bends or kinks, they can rub or break.
 
yes, and the speedo jumping. In the old days it used to be fairly common

I wouldn't expect a factory to build a new car like that, but if it was undone and put back during maintenance or repairs, it's possible
 
Update : it doesn't seem to make a noise during gentle acceleration, only if the pedal is pushed more firmly
 
Many years ago I had a car with a mechanically-driven speedo. The input end of the speedo cable had a steel cog driven by a nylon worm in the gearbox. The worm had a damaged thread which resulted in erratic speedo performance.
 
Alec_t said:
Many years ago I had a car with a mechanically-driven speedo. The input end of the speedo cable had a steel cog driven by a nylon worm in the gearbox. The worm had a damaged thread which resulted in erratic speedo performance.
Click to expand...
Was there any noise?
 
A knackered speedo cable will whirr, shriek or indeed anything in between and the needle will go haywire.
Have you determined if your car has a cable or electronic sensor?
John :)
 
Not yet, however I'm taking it to Halfords tomorrow for a free repair check so hopefully they will give me an idea of what's going on. Will be mightily relieved if it is just the speedo cable to be honest!
 
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