 | Home > Technical > Drive train whirring sound |
 
|
|
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410  
|
Check your wheel bearings and prop shaft UJs for wear or play first, before you start thinking diffs and gearboxes.
|
||
18th Jul 2023 1:50pm |
|
| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1841 
|
Any chance of a bit of grit or something entering the handbrake drum, or the handbrake having gone slightly out of alignment? The handbrake drum is on the rear propshaft, so part of the transmission/drivetrain, and could very definitely give the sort of noise you're describing. Donald
1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
||
|
18th Jul 2023 2:31pm |
|
| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410
|
 Donmacn, quite right chap |
||
|
18th Jul 2023 3:03pm |
|
| Gal Dove Member Since: 22 Jan 2022 Location: South Wales Posts: 70  
|
Thanks - will try putting that handbrake on one click to see if that makes any difference to the sound... |
||
|
18th Jul 2023 3:48pm |
|
| 8619simon Member Since: 04 Nov 2016 Location: North Wales Posts: 247 
|
Worth checking tyres and make sure you have not got uneven wear. I had a whirring and hum that started at 35mph and stopped at 45mph. Thought diffs, bearing etc. turned out it was a bent track rod that had caused excessive toe in and uneven wear.
|
||
|
18th Jul 2023 7:48pm |
|
| Gal Dove Member Since: 22 Jan 2022 Location: South Wales Posts: 70
|
UPDATE: Turns out to be the tyres. Took the car to my local Indi 4X4 specialist, described the symptoms and he pretty much diagnosed it without even going to the car. We then noticed that the two front tyres are wearing unevenly - they're Conti Cross Contacts, are 9 years old and have done only 23k miles - they look like they'd do another 100k miles.
My Indi told me that the Conti's are renowned for this and that it's not related to the tracking being out or there being any issues with the track rods, etc. I queried this as I've only even known cars to scuff their inner or outer edges due to either too much toe-in or toe-out. But apparently not with Conti's. I could visibly see that the outer 'grips' were lower in some areas than others - to the point that there could be one normal height grip on the outer edge and then the next one would be down slightly - then the next one would be normal again!? So I can only put this down to the rubber compound being inconsistent across the tyre(?). Anyway, my Indi took the car in to check all of the diff and transfer box levels, etc - and didn't charge me a penny for doing so! He told me that I could either live with the noise or replace the tyres - at around £175 a corner. So I'm planning on living with it, for now, as he tells me that the car is safe. But I have to say that I'm a bit flummoxed by the whole experience. I'm more that used to recognising excessive tyre scuff and I usually cure the problem before it gets too bad. But this seems to be different insomuch as the wear is very inconsistent. It's a new one on me and I'll have to keep monitoring the situation. Thanks to all for your suggestions and please let me know if there are any other thoughts on this - other than swapping out to BF's! |
||
|
12th Aug 2023 11:39am |
|
| 8619simon Member Since: 04 Nov 2016 Location: North Wales Posts: 247
|
@Gal Dove…. Glad you got it sorted. That uneven wear pattern you described is exactly what I had on a set of BF Goodridge KO2, but in my case the track rod was looking more banana ish, so that was definitely the cause in my case. Swapped to a set of Falken Wildpeak AT which at £150 are significantly cheaper and I have been really pleased with them so far.
|
||
|
12th Aug 2023 3:22pm |
|
| Jabberwocky Member Since: 27 Oct 2021 Location: Luxembourg Posts: 222 
|
My take away from this is you are driving around on 9year old tyres, forget about the tread, what are the sidewalks like? I’d be changing them if it were me, 9 years it at the upper end of what’s recommended for a tyres life, 23k is not much for the age the vehicle which means it’s been sat around a lot, which is not great for tyres.
2 things not to skimp on are tyres and brakes |
||
|
12th Aug 2023 3:46pm |
|
| TexasRover Member Since: 24 Nov 2022 Location: Paris Posts: 1034  
|
In the UAE where I lived tires were not allowed to be more than 5 years old being checked annually at the MOT
Obviously much higher temperature there but something to be said for that - an age limit. |
||
|
12th Aug 2023 6:22pm |
|
| Gal Dove Member Since: 22 Jan 2022 Location: South Wales Posts: 70
|
Many thanks, Simon - and to all others for the information. |
||
|
12th Aug 2023 7:17pm |
|
| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17344 
|
That wear pattern of crenellations is very common especially with MTs used extensively on the road, particularly so if the vehicle is driven fast or hard. It isn't a defect, it is due to the tread blocks deforming as the wheel rotates resulting in the leading edge of the blocks being better supported than the trailing edges. The leading edges therefore wear faster. All you can do is periodically swap the wheels around so they are running in the other direction of rotation and slow down and drive gently.
It the reason worn MTs hum on the road more than new ones. |
||
|
12th Aug 2023 8:08pm |
|
| Gal Dove Member Since: 22 Jan 2022 Location: South Wales Posts: 70
|
Ok thanks - might try a swap around then.
|
||
|
12th Aug 2023 8:13pm |
|
| Ianh Member Since: 17 Sep 2018 Location: Essex Posts: 1981
|
My 265/75r16 Goodyear wrangler Duratrac’s lasted 10 years and 60k miles on my Puma 110. However although they had circa 50% tread left they were getting very loud and one split on the inner sidewall. The tyre deflated just after I went around a reasonably sharp bend at about 20mpg on a country lane. I thought i had a puncture in the tread but spotted the sidewall split when I inspected the tyre after I changed it for the spare. Noting I inspect my tyres regularly and there were no cracks on the sidewalls.
At that point I counted myself lucky and changed all my tyres immediately. If the tyre had spit at 70mph on a motorway I could have been in a lot of trouble. So as jabberwocky states, after 9 years you have had good value from your tyres and it’s very likely time to change the tyres , not due to amount of tread but because the sidewalls may well have deteriorated. |
||
|
13th Aug 2023 1:11am |
|
| Will@LRW Member Since: 04 May 2019 Location: UK Posts: 177 
|
This photo may help to illustrate. These are BFG KM3s less than 3 years old on a vehicle in Africa. The tread is like the mid-atlantic!
 Click image to enlarge These are the worst tyres i've ever experienced for noise (locally bought in Malaysia). You couldn't drive faster than 50mph/80kph due to the howling Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge LR Workshop Find a Defender's history and spec: https://defender.lrworkshop.com |
||
|
13th Aug 2023 9:58am |
|
|
|
| All times are GMT |
< Previous Topic | Next Topic > |
Posting Rules
|
Site Copyright © 2006-2024 Futuranet Ltd & Martin Lewis
