Right then I have a 98 Freelander. Love it to bits. However, last week it started making a noise. It sounds like a very very quiet steam train. It's not loud.
I thought Id caught something on the prop shaft initially like a twig or a cat maybe, but theres no debris under there.
Checked the brakes, checked the wheel bearings. Didn't think it was either of them, but thought I'd rule them out to be on the safe side.
So its definitely coming from something on the drivetrain.
The VCU works. I tried to do the whole wheel in the air test, but even though Im a weak girlie I was worried by the whole thing rocking about on the jack. Im alone and I didnt want anything falling off anything, and squashing my foot, and I certainly didnt fancy being underneath clutching an 18 iron bar it all sounded very dangerous. So I gave up on that one and primarily set about finding something that was stronger than me, preferably designed specifically for turning the wheels. Ah ha !! The engine !
I then came up with and subsequently performed what I shall proudly call the tippex & mud test.
This involved planting the front wheels in a flowerbed, between my crocuses and my daffodils, with several bucketfulls of water, leaving the rear wheels on the drive, applying the handbrake and then gently (?) abusing the clutch whilst hanging out of the drivers door and observing the wheels and propshafts.
Do not try this too close to your prize dahlias lest your foot slip off the clutch, and be very sure of your rear brakes which will groan a bit unless the VCU is completely knackered and spins wildly. (You may also want to wear a helmet just in case the car is catapulted forward for any reason and the door slams shut on your head.) Anyway, the test worked, and its stiff and slow, just how it should be (the VCU that is).
Theres nothing oozing out of anywhere it shouldnt. Theres no visibly perished rubber bits. Theres nothing hanging or dangling off anything. The diff is full of clean, but hideously stinky oil that takes an age to wash out of your hair, but I dont think the noise is coming from the back anyway. Theres no play in anything that sticks into or is bolted onto anything else, in any direction, its all as tight as a drum.
So my next plan is either to drop the whole prop assembly including the VCU and then take it for a spin to see if that gets rid of the noise. In which case the prop bearings would be the likely culprit. OR (or AND THEN) suck all the aforementioned stinky oil out of the IRD (I believe its the same acrid stuff thats in the diff), don the marigold and a gas mask, and poke about in it with a magnet to see if theres any crispy crunchiness in there that shouldnt be.
I know Im almost guaranteed to find something if teeth have fallen off something. What I dont know is, if I DONT find any crispy crunchiness, will this indicate that the bearing are mostly likely intact? i.e. if the bearings start to break up/wear will they necessarily end up in the oil or might they hide elsewhere, like in the carriers, while they are minced up?
I dont really want to start pulling bits off willy nilly and breaking fingernails just for a look see. These car bits tend to be heavy, and usually dirty not at all girl friendly.
So, any thoughts anyone? (Be polite)
I thought Id caught something on the prop shaft initially like a twig or a cat maybe, but theres no debris under there.
Checked the brakes, checked the wheel bearings. Didn't think it was either of them, but thought I'd rule them out to be on the safe side.
So its definitely coming from something on the drivetrain.
The VCU works. I tried to do the whole wheel in the air test, but even though Im a weak girlie I was worried by the whole thing rocking about on the jack. Im alone and I didnt want anything falling off anything, and squashing my foot, and I certainly didnt fancy being underneath clutching an 18 iron bar it all sounded very dangerous. So I gave up on that one and primarily set about finding something that was stronger than me, preferably designed specifically for turning the wheels. Ah ha !! The engine !
I then came up with and subsequently performed what I shall proudly call the tippex & mud test.
This involved planting the front wheels in a flowerbed, between my crocuses and my daffodils, with several bucketfulls of water, leaving the rear wheels on the drive, applying the handbrake and then gently (?) abusing the clutch whilst hanging out of the drivers door and observing the wheels and propshafts.
Do not try this too close to your prize dahlias lest your foot slip off the clutch, and be very sure of your rear brakes which will groan a bit unless the VCU is completely knackered and spins wildly. (You may also want to wear a helmet just in case the car is catapulted forward for any reason and the door slams shut on your head.) Anyway, the test worked, and its stiff and slow, just how it should be (the VCU that is).
Theres nothing oozing out of anywhere it shouldnt. Theres no visibly perished rubber bits. Theres nothing hanging or dangling off anything. The diff is full of clean, but hideously stinky oil that takes an age to wash out of your hair, but I dont think the noise is coming from the back anyway. Theres no play in anything that sticks into or is bolted onto anything else, in any direction, its all as tight as a drum.
So my next plan is either to drop the whole prop assembly including the VCU and then take it for a spin to see if that gets rid of the noise. In which case the prop bearings would be the likely culprit. OR (or AND THEN) suck all the aforementioned stinky oil out of the IRD (I believe its the same acrid stuff thats in the diff), don the marigold and a gas mask, and poke about in it with a magnet to see if theres any crispy crunchiness in there that shouldnt be.
I know Im almost guaranteed to find something if teeth have fallen off something. What I dont know is, if I DONT find any crispy crunchiness, will this indicate that the bearing are mostly likely intact? i.e. if the bearings start to break up/wear will they necessarily end up in the oil or might they hide elsewhere, like in the carriers, while they are minced up?
I dont really want to start pulling bits off willy nilly and breaking fingernails just for a look see. These car bits tend to be heavy, and usually dirty not at all girl friendly.
So, any thoughts anyone? (Be polite)