Is it a Nova.. is it a plane.. oh dear

[garethayres]

Hi guys, I own a 1.2i k plate luxe plus nova, that is completely standard, except for the last few weeks its decided to try to imitate the sound of a aeroplane. Ive had the car for nearly 3 years now, and its not had ONE problem! Never broken down or failed to start, what a car!... but is this the end?!?!? :?: :cry:

I am not very clued up on car mechanics, but i know enough to get around and do basic servicing myself. So please excuse my stupidity if this is obvious to you guys.

The car works and sounds fine until i hit 50mph.. if i cruise (no acceleration) around the 50-55 mph mark there is a massive resonating noise. It literally sounds like a plane... no joking. If i get to 60+ mph it goes quieter. If i start to accelerate when i can hear/feel the noise the noise fades away. VERY loud is best way to describe it. :o

Hope that this is not terminal... car has been from 70k to 101k miles with me as a student in uni, would be great if it could last another few months so i can save up some pays for a new car. Ill even have a go at the repairs myself as logn as no special tools are required.

Thanks for any help, Gareth. :)

[jon_boy]

sounds like what mine does. i think it could be a wheel bearing but im not sure. and you might be able to change it yourself. dont know how hard it is yet tho, im yet to do mine.

[Ste L]

sounds like what mine does. i think it could be a wheel bearing but im not sure. and you might be able to change it yourself. dont know how hard it is yet tho, im yet to do mine.

i was thinkin the same, had the same problem on my old 1.2i

[Aragorn]

sounds like a rear bearing

look it up in haynes manual and pay carefull attention to the section about reassembly

if u simply check the bearings are tight as per the haynes instructions first u might find the noise will go away for a while

chances are u'll need to replace them tho

[Nick]

yep mines doing it at the moment, the rear wheels are roughly about ?15 quid each at a garage + parts (which is about ?8 from your local motormania) , so getting on ?25 a wheel

The back ones aren't tooo hard to do, but if you don't press them in right, it'l jst knacker the bearing double quick !

let me guess, your Luxe Plus has the kinda multispoke/wire alloy wheels on it ?

[Glytch]

is the exhaust blowing, that'd make a louder noise.
get someone to start the engine and see if you can pin point the noise.
have a look along the entire length of the exhaust and were it bolts to the engine.

If it is the bearings you usually find that the noise stops or gets worse when cornering. try getting it up to 50 mph on a corner and see what differance it makes, if it gets louder, or quiter depending on which way you turn then it's definately the bearings

[garethayres]

Hi all,
Doesnt sounds as bad as i thought i might be then, ive got a haynes manual so ill take a look tomorrow, if i can get the damn wheel off. I couldnt undo the nuts last time, they are too tight after the machine in a garage done them lol.

I have got them multispoke alloy wheel yea. Old school i like to think of them as. :twisted:

Thanks for your help.

[Glytch]

You wont be able to tell just by taking the wheel off.
Youd need to llok at the bearings them selves which means takeing off the hubs, popping the bottom ball joint etc.

not an easy task if your not confident with mechanics

[jon_boy]

Aragorn why do you think its specificaly a rear bearing? I think mines the front but if there is a way of telling? cheers

[m.d.]

as mot testers do, leave the wheel on and just give it a wobble and a spin on a jack, you can normally tell if there is play that the bearing has gone,

[Aragorn]

generally when the fronts go they go big - mine went and would howl as soon as i was over about 10mph

rears tend to resonate at a particular frequency ie it will get loud at 50mph then fade if u go faster

my fronts just howled louder and louder

the best way to tell tho is to steer ;)

as u change the loading on the front bearings the noise usually changes, mine would go away toally when i turned one direction and get louder if i turned the other way

[garethayres]

OK, after some nice swerving around on the road on the way to work this morning i noticed the noise goes nearly if i turn right enough.

So, does this mean its a front right bearing?

Thanks, Gareth.

[nova_rally]

Probably means it's front left as thats where the weight will be thrown when you turn right.

Alternatively have you checked your wheelbolts? I had a garage leave them loose once (idiots) and every time you backed off the accelerator there would be a horrible knocking noise where the spokes were hitting the caliper!

[Aragorn]

well mine went away on turning left and i assumed it was left bearing but it was the right hand one

so same applies here to you

if it goes away on right turn its prolly left bearing

[sm1thson]

It could also be an unbalanced wheel (caused by dint or a weight falling off). If it?s the front one you steering wheel will shake at the resonant frequency. Swap the front and back wheels and then see if the S/wheel shakes to test if it?s the back.

Although that shouldn?t be airplane loud it can get quite load.

airplane loud could well be exhaust or even air inlet (if your filters +housing has come loose this could be loud)

and I agree with the comments so far on wheel bearings.

[Divaldo]

its a rear wheel bearing, ive jst had both of my rear 1's done