lizken Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Any suggestions - we have a rumble at 2000-2200 revs, at 40-45mph. Sounded like a bearing and have replaced both drive shafts which eliminated most of the noise. offside front wheel bearing was replaced for last MOT, nearside appears to be OK Any suggestions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 If it is a wheel bearing the noise should vary as you veer right or left adding and removing load to either side of the van. If it is engine or gearbox related is it worse on throttle load, light or heavy, or overrun and does it vary according to which gear you are in? I think a bit more info is needed otherwise some bright spark might suggest cans of beer rolling around in the fridge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Have you checked your Engine Mountings & Roll-Bar Bushes (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 A noise when a motor is turning at 2000-2200rpm might suggest that the sound is motor-related. A noise at 40-45mph might suggest that the sound is speed-related. A "rumbling" noise is characteristic of a defective wheel-bearing, but could (of course) be caused by something else. If it's a wheel-bearing problem, then it should not be affected by engine-speed, and one would anticipate it occurring over a wide speed-range. It might not be noticeable below a certain speed but, once the noise shows up, it's unlikely to disappear as the speed increases. Try - at your own risk - picking a suitably long, straight downhill road (like a motorway), taking your motorhome up to, say, 60mph, selecting neutral gear and switching off the motor. Assuming that the noise is present at 60mph, if it immediately stops when you switch off the motor, you'll know that the rumble is motor-related. If the noise persists with the motor switched off, you'll know the rumble is downstream of the motor, from the transmission 'outwards'. As the offside front wheel-bearing was replaced at the last MOT-test, although the nearside bearing appears to be OK, that should be the prime suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Derek Uzzell - 2013-04-06 8:32 AM A noise when a motor is turning at 2000-2200rpm might suggest that the sound is motor-related. A noise at 40-45mph might suggest that the sound is speed-related. A "rumbling" noise is characteristic of a defective wheel-bearing, but could (of course) be caused by something else. If it's a wheel-bearing problem, then it should not be affected by engine-speed, and one would anticipate it occurring over a wide speed-range. It might not be noticeable below a certain speed but, once the noise shows up, it's unlikely to disappear as the speed increases. Try - at your own risk - picking a suitably long, straight downhill road (like a motorway), taking your motorhome up to, say, 60mph, selecting neutral gear and switching off the motor. Assuming that the noise is present at 60mph, if it immediately stops when you switch off the motor, you'll know that the rumble is motor-related. If the noise persists with the motor switched off, you'll know the rumble is downstream of the motor, from the transmission 'outwards'. As the offside front wheel-bearing was replaced at the last MOT-test, although the nearside bearing appears to be OK, that should be the prime suspect. hi Derek, just a thought, would the poster not be without steering if he turned motor off. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 derek pringle - 2013-04-06 9:18 AM Derek Uzzell - 2013-04-06 8:32 AM A noise when a motor is turning at 2000-2200rpm might suggest that the sound is motor-related. A noise at 40-45mph might suggest that the sound is speed-related. A "rumbling" noise is characteristic of a defective wheel-bearing, but could (of course) be caused by something else. If it's a wheel-bearing problem, then it should not be affected by engine-speed, and one would anticipate it occurring over a wide speed-range. It might not be noticeable below a certain speed but, once the noise shows up, it's unlikely to disappear as the speed increases. Try - at your own risk - picking a suitably long, straight downhill road (like a motorway), taking your motorhome up to, say, 60mph, selecting neutral gear and switching off the motor. Assuming that the noise is present at 60mph, if it immediately stops when you switch off the motor, you'll know that the rumble is motor-related. If the noise persists with the motor switched off, you'll know the rumble is downstream of the motor, from the transmission 'outwards'. As the offside front wheel-bearing was replaced at the last MOT-test, although the nearside bearing appears to be OK, that should be the prime suspect. hi Derek, just a thought, would the poster not be without steering if he turned motor off. cheers derek If he were unwise enough to engage the steering-lock things could get exciting, but (as far as I'm aware) to do that would involve removing the key from the ignition-switch. With the motor stopped he'd lose power-assistance for the steering and the brakes would rapidly become unassisted. But I did say "at your own risk". I'd do it, but I'd be pretty careful regarding when and where. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 I would think, as the noise relates also to engine revs, just taking it out of gear on a hill and letting it coast while idling would tell much the same story with a bit less risk. However, just getting the van onto a hoist and spinning the wheels and checking for play should be sufficient to identify a wheel bearing problem. Also, tyres can produce odd rumblings at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Brian Kirby - 2013-04-06 11:28 AM However, just getting the van onto a hoist and spinning the wheels and checking for play should be sufficient to identify a wheel bearing problem. Also, tyres can produce odd rumblings at times. Not always Brian, unless they are badly worn, as sometimes the wheels need to be loaded with the weight of the vehicle to produce any real rumble. Also many wheel bearings are designed to have a small amount of end float or play so that alone does not mean the bearings are worn. Tyre noise is generally dependant on road surface and is easy enough to identify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Agreed Rich, but an experienced mechanic should get a clue from spinning the wheels if he is asked to check for a bearing fault. If he is reliable, and he can't detect it, he would probably advise driving a few X000 miles and bringing it back if it gets worse. AFAIK, bearings generally get noisy long before they get dangerous, so there should be no increased risk from this. However, all one can do is take the best advice available, from those best placed to know. Re tyres, I have experienced one instance of noise from a tyre with a distorted tread. The tyre was a few years old but had not, to my knowledge, suffered any abuse or damage. The noise had gradually developed, and was eventually pinpointed by the garage when they got the car on a hoist and spun the wheel. The bearing, which I had suspected, was fine, but they could see that the tyre tread was misaligned. I never saw the tyre, but a new one completely cured the problem, and it never returned. I assume this was due to a carcass failure of some kind. Obviously unusual, but it seems it can happen. Wild card, really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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