8 replies to this topic

[beentheunseen]

Hey everyone,

My 1989 Mini Racing Green has started to produce a rhythmic droning sound whilst in motion. It's frequency is relative to the road speed rather than engine speed, and still occurs even when I disengage the clutch and go into neutral while cruising. When I jack the car up and put it into gear and rev the engine up, the noise is not present.

I'm assuming this means it has to be somewhere in the last part of the drive-train... And as taking the weight off the wheels makes it disappear, should I be suspecting the wheel bearings? There is no play at all in the wheels so this seems odd...

Cheers, Ben

[AzMaN]

Hey everyone,

My 1989 Mini Racing Green has started to produce a rhythmic droning sound whilst in motion. It's frequency is relative to the road speed rather than engine speed, and still occurs even when I disengage the clutch and go into neutral while cruising. When I jack the car up and put it into gear and rev the engine up, the noise is not present.

I'm assuming this means it has to be somewhere in the last part of the drive-train... And as taking the weight off the wheels makes it disappear, should I be suspecting the wheel bearings? There is no play at all in the wheels so this seems odd...

Cheers, Ben

dose sound like a wheel bearing issue, remove and inspect them, if they feel alright repack them with grease and re-fit them and see if that cures the problem. can you hear which side the noise is coming from?.

although if your going to the effort of removing them, might just be easyer to replace them, will eliminate one problem.

only other thing i could think off would be a worn diff.

[sonikk4]

It does sound like wheel bearings so with the car jacked up grab each wheel top and bottom and see if there is any play, this is not a hard and fast check but it would give you an idea. The other option is to whip each bearing out and check them for wear.

Does the noise seem louder from the front or back?? although its difficult to pin point bearing noise.

[beentheunseen]

Hey everyone,

My 1989 Mini Racing Green has started to produce a rhythmic droning sound whilst in motion. It's frequency is relative to the road speed rather than engine speed, and still occurs even when I disengage the clutch and go into neutral while cruising. When I jack the car up and put it into gear and rev the engine up, the noise is not present.

I'm assuming this means it has to be somewhere in the last part of the drive-train... And as taking the weight off the wheels makes it disappear, should I be suspecting the wheel bearings? There is no play at all in the wheels so this seems odd...

Cheers, Ben

dose sound like a wheel bearing issue, remove and inspect them, if they feel alright repack them with grease and re-fit them and see if that cures the problem. can you hear which side the noise is coming from?.

although if your going to the effort of removing them, might just be easyer to replace them, will eliminate one problem.

only other thing i could think off would be a worn diff.

The gearbox has been recently refurbished, but it wasn't a full-on rebuild guess it could be a worn diff... Would diff noise disappear after jacking the car up though?

[Carlos W]

If it was coming from the back you wouldn't hear it by jacking up the front end and putting the car in gear!

Have you checked the rear wheel bearings?

Noises like this are really hard to pin point where they're coming from

[olds_kool_lews]

to get a good idea of where the noise is coming from, go in a large car park when the shop is closed, turn your steering full lock one direction and go round in circles, and listen for the noise, if going clockwise in circles and the noise gets louder, it will be a passenger side bearing, anticlockwise and the noise gets louder, it will be a driver side bearing, once you have figured out which side it is thats making the noise, jack up the front, grab hold of the wheel as already stated by sonikk4 and if there is any play, that will be your culprit, if not the front, go to the back and do the same, also spin the wheel and listen for a grinding/rubbing/crunching noise, hope this helps!

[dreckly]

it could also be Drive shaft CV joint worn. Hence when it is jacked up there is no load on the wheels. Jack the car up safely (with the car out of gear) and give the drive shafts a good pull and push to check for excess movement. Also as mentioned it could be either the front or rear wheel bearings as either there is no load on the wheels when it is jacked up or the wheels are not turning if they are at the rear

[kieron]

I think I have exactly the same noise in my mini. It is related to the speed the car moves at, and when you are coming to a stop and barely moving it sounds like a creaking noise. Occasionally it isnt there when you first move the car but sometimes it is there straight away. It is also present when the engine is not running and you push the car.

On my car it seems to be louder on the passenger side than the drivers side. but if you jack the car up there is no play in the wheels. Whilst having the car jacked up, I then placed a jack under the bottom arm to raise the wheel so the drive shaft was at the correct angle and i think i could just about hear the noise if i span the drivers wheel, which didnt make sense with the noise seeming to come from the passenger side.

So far I have changed the brake discs, pads and changed the pistons in the calipers on both sides. And just on the drivers side I have swapped a drive shaft and cv for another one and also changed the wheel bearing.

Due to the noise being present when the car is on a flat smooth road I have ruled out suspension components, and as the noise is not there when the engine is running it should be somewhere in the drivetrain from the wheels to the diff and maybe one of the shafts in the gearbox.

Beentheunseen - have you managed to stop the noise? Or does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

[kieron]

any ideas anyone?

thanks