I have a mystery noise in my Defender that's been going on for way too long ! It sounds as if it's coming from the front left side . It's intermittent , sometimes it starts after a mile or so and is more noticeable in second and third gear . It doesn't last long and disappears as speed builds up . I can drive five miles or one hundred miles before it shows again . It's a kind of a cross between a chirrup and a squeak . Depressing the clutch pedal stops it , it may or may not continue when the pedal comes up again . Sometimes I hear a 'CLINK !' as I pull away , but not often . Today I noticed a slight side to side shimmy as I rolled along at walking speed and a slight clank clank clank noise . Suspension and steering feel fine , no odd behaviour going over potholes or going round bends . . I changed the hub bearings but that made no difference . The ones that came out looked fine anyway . The hub and stub axle aren't scored . I put a crowbar under the wheel and there is no up and down movement . Swivel joint was filled with one shot grease following a swivel seal change a couple of thousand miles ago . All track rod ends are good . I'd really appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction here ..
What IS this noise ?
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tottot
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Universal joint on the drive shaft. Check for wear in the UJ's and its splines.
Actually checked those , no play whatsoever .
No play does not equal joint is okay, are they greaseable? and if they are is grease coming out of every cup?
tottot
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Tweeting like a Canary bird and then the click as you move off is a sign that seized UJ is starting to give up.
I recently changed the rear uj on the front prop . The front one was fine . There's no play on the rear prop and no vibration .
tottot
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Have you checked the panhard rod bushes, get someone to waggle steering wheel while you look at it from the front.
Read post number 4 again.
They are , but my grease gun is on the other side of the country so can't check . So you're saying even if there's no play they could be squeaking ? The thing is the noise has a rotational quality about it .. like what you might expect from a bearing or something .
Already checked that , no obvious problems .
tottot
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One of the worst things about UJ's is sometimes you can pump grease as much as you like until it is dribbling over the joint but there may be one journal that just will not take any, the grease takes the path of least resistance to the other three. That journal then goes dry and starts to seize and you get the Canary tweet. In time the needle rollers break up and start to escape and there will be play in the joint.
An IR temp gauge pointed at UJ after driving can reveal a hot one about to give up. [Or the old way, test with a finger]
An IR temp gauge pointed at UJ after driving can reveal a hot one about to give up. [Or the old way, test with a finger]
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Yes.
Had one the other day on a transit tipper, no play whatsoever, bit of duck oil changed the noise so then knew that u/j was fubar.
Grease guns and grease cheap from machine mart etc.
Thanks , I'll take a look tomorrow . I've ordered a new track rod and ends anyway , probably no harm after seventy thousand miles .
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