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noisy diff
rodgling - 1/5/13 at 08:50 PM

Went out for a drive in the sun today (very enjoyable) but noticed as I was braking to a stop that there was a loud rattle coming from I think towards the rear of the car. It seems to happen mainly on the overrun, light braking kills the noise straight away. Coasting with engine off, in neutral, noise is still there. It's intermittent.

Busted diff (it's an LSD if that makes a difference)? Doesn't sound like a wheel bearing.

Apart from the noise I'm not noticing any problems like lack of drive or LSD issues etc.

thoughts?

britishtrident - 1/5/13 at 08:53 PM

First check the propshaft coupling bolts and wheel nuts are tight.

snapper - 2/5/13 at 05:45 AM

After checking above ^
I'm thinking drive shaft or propshaft UJ

rodgling - 2/5/13 at 12:55 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
After checking above ^
I'm thinking drive shaft or propshaft UJ


Hmm, that's a nice thought, driveshaft would be a 15 minute job. I'll check these next chance I get.

rodgling - 3/5/13 at 08:56 PM

Just ran the car with the rear wheels in the air. The noise was loudest at the drivers rear wheel, so dismantled things a bit and discovered it was the wheel bearing. Surprising, given that it's designed for a much bigger car, but still, good result.

CNHSS1 - 4/5/13 at 09:30 AM

have you tried retightening the wheel bearing?
ive often fitted new, torqued correctly, and then done a few miles (track miles to be fair) and had them free up and become sloppy. re-torqueing 2nd time cures it.
fingers crossed its that and not a knackered bearing

rodgling - 4/5/13 at 11:50 AM

Managed to get a new bearing pressed on this morning so that's sorted, I hope.

The old bearing was definitely dead though - there was no play in the wheel, but it was very stiff and notchy to turn by hand and made a lot of noise. Odd as it's designed to support a much bigger car and it's only done a few thousand miles, but still, easy fix.

coyoteboy - 4/5/13 at 04:00 PM

Possibly poor assembly or contamination then - you have to be clinically clean when assembling wheel bearings and careful with the torque wrench if you want them to last. The other possibility is that the mounting surfaces are damaged - seen this kill a succession of wheel bearings.