Strange Noise Help!

I have a 1997 clio 1.2. When driving it down the motorway at about 70mph after about 20-30 minutes a sound starts coming from the front of the car. I think it comes from the drivers side front wheel.

The noise sounds as if something is vibrating or a very load wind noise.

Once the noise starts it dioesnt go away unless i slow to under 20 mph but it comes back as soon as you go over this speed.
if the car is left stood still for about 5 minutes it takes another 10 minutes for the noise to return.

The garage have had a look and cant find anything wrong with it and when they drive it because it is not warm it doesnt make the noise!

Has anyone any ideas, i need help!!!!

I have a 1997 clio 1.2. When driving it down the motorway at about 70mph after about 20-30 minutes a sound starts coming from the front of the car. I think it comes from the drivers side front wheel.

The noise sounds as if something is vibrating or a very load wind noise.

Once the noise starts it dioesnt go away unless i slow to under 20 mph but it comes back as soon as you go over this speed.
if the car is left stood still for about 5 minutes it takes another 10 minutes for the noise to return.

The garage have had a look and cant find anything wrong with it and when they drive it because it is not warm it doesnt make the noise!

Has anyone any ideas, i need help!!!!


hi i have the same problem on my clio its nothing big its just vibration on the engine mount its totally fine, i rally my car and its going strong the d7 engine is solid as a rock,

My car is having exactly the same problem, only I've spent the past 2 days changing most of the drivetrain (brake discs, hub, bearing...)

What -is- this noise? it's like a variating deep whining noise, seems to be connected to the speed of the wheels (ie, it makes a whine on each revolution, so when you slow down the pulses of whines slow too).

It sounds like it's something to do with the drivetrain. I can't place it's location but I know its from somewhere in the engine bay. Everything vibrates!

When you drive with it (like I did to try and limp home with it) it gets deeper and more 'angry' sounding, like its clawing at bearings or something. It's also affected by inclines in the road - if you go over a hump, it disappears as the suspension extends, and returns as it contracts again.

what -is- this problem?

the engine mounts are all okay, I just checked them...

If anyone has any help or information on this, please please post or email me :) I've already spent far too much on parts I don't need.

Thanks,

LastChanceHotel

ok don't buy anything more for your car its ok but i will find the fault. at the moment as i have done no testing to fault find i cannot say but what i can say is that it could be a natural resonant frequency of the spring produced and at a certain speed. because once the spring is in a bound/rebound (or out of rest state) this "vibration" does not occur. as i have driven my car for many years with this fault i can say that it is not fatal or can cause no damage.

Please take it from me DON'T spend anymore money trying to reslove the problem.

ok don't buy anything more for your car its ok but i will find the fault. at the moment as i have done no testing to fault find i cannot say but what i can say is that it could be a natural resonant frequency of the spring produced and at a certain speed. because once the spring is in a bound/rebound (or out of rest state) this "vibration" does not occur. as i have driven my car for many years with this fault i can say that it is not fatal or can cause no damage.

Please take it from me DON'T spend anymore money trying to reslove the problem.

I actually booked it into the garage last night, I'm to phone them in the morning and give them a more detailed problem description. Where exactly is this spring you describe? is there any easy way of testing that this is actually the fault?

Mine has got steadily worse, from after running for 30-40 minutes on the motorway down to 5 minutes driving at ~50mph on country roads! Is this normal? Does it 'buzz' all the time for you?

The only other thing I could attribute it to is gearbox bearings or something.

If you could please respond whenever you get the chance, I can use the extra information to (hopefully) lead the garage in the right direction.

Thanks,

LastChanceHotel

hi i hope im not to late but the spring is on the suspension. it is what is known as a macpherson strut. when the spring is squashed the noise stops (so if hard braking front end of car nose dives and this nose also goes).

try covering all of ur wheel bearings in coper grease not normal black grease as this melts to a liquid with the heat of the friction i had the same prob and i dne tht and it sorted out the noise

try covering all of ur wheel bearings in coper grease not normal black grease as this melts to a liquid with the heat of the friction i had the same prob and i dne tht and it sorted out the noise


STOP!!!!

DON'T get rid of the graphite grease (black) this is self lubriacting up to aprrox. 900c whereas copper melts at 290c this is totally the wrong thing to do this will result in more wear on bearings and higher fuel bills as friction is increased. they use copper grease on fitment of low friction low temperature parts. it is used on the back of brake shoes to prevent squeel, it is also used for lubricating bolts and nuts. i have a very good understanding of this as i ma in the motorsport industry. which garage told you to do this?

Problem solved!

And no, it's not safe to "just leave it".

The front CV joints were both siezing, due to water getting in them.

Go and get it checked out by a garage that actually knows what their doing, you'll save yourself a lot of time and money. (I spent £50 on stuff I didn't need in the end)

LastChanceHotel

Hi
im new to this so please bear with.
i have exactly the same problem
and its annoying so can someone tell me
what the actual solution is???
is it worth scraping the car over and can it be fixed at a resonable price??
please help i love my clio to bits
thanks

I figured it out: it was the front driveshafts - one of the universal joints was siezing because the CV boot had come off and had lost all its grease.

It was £175 all in to have both sides replaced, labour included. I think the parts cost was £50 a side.

A good mechanic should notice this one pretty quickly.

Hope this helps!