Has Anyone Had This Problem?

[c3cob]

I'm finding it difficult to diagnose a recent problem with my C3 2002 Hdi and was wondering if anyone here could help?

 

The car makes a systematic noise that increases with the spead I'm driving at. The noise has gradually got worse and now makes the car vibrate slightly, almost as if one of the wheels is buckled or has a lump in it. It doesn't appear to be a drive shaft poroblem which is what I originally thought.

 

Another thing is that the loud noise and vibrations almost dissapear when I turn the steering slighlty to the left (any further to the left results in the noise coming back as normal)

 

Any ideas would be gratefully accepted.

 

c3cob

[paul.h]

If it is a whining noise it could be a wheel bearing - jack each corner up and spin each wheel to try and detect any roughness/noise and holding the wheel top and bottom see if there is any play.

[c3cob]

Good suggestion but no noise at all when spun round. Put it on a ramp to take a look and there only appears to be a noise when pressure is on the tyres/ suspension as accelerating/motion with wheels off leads to no noise. Wondering if its the drive shaft but all seems fine there. Would a gear box issue have such symptoms? :unsure:

[Johndouglas]

My daughter's Xsara produced a noise - but only when it was driven in reverse.   After checking several suggestions, it was discovered it had a broken suspension spring.   Might be worth a look.

[paul.h]

Another possibility is the intermediate bearing in the right hand driveshaft could be worn. A worn cv joint is supposed to make a clicking noise when turning on full lock but probably would not be noisy at other times. Haynes manual also says an inner cv joint could give vibration. Uneven tread wear on a tyre could be noisy - had this on a car on the rear tyres and the tread could be seen and felt to be unevenly worn. I can not think of anything else that would get worse at higher car speeds but not at higher engine revs in different gears.

On high mileage Saabs I have had to replace gearbox bearings that were worn out and they gave a whining noise that increased with engine speed or car speed depending on the gear selected - eventually on one it started jumping out of gear due to the wear allowing the gearshaft to move.

My favourite though is still a wheel bearing for a further check since you say it changes when turning and this will effect the load on one side of the car. You could also check if one wheel hub is hotter than the others after a run.

 

There is also a citroenC3owners.com forum that may be worth a look.

Edited March 14, 2013 by paul.h

[c3cob]

Thanks for the suggestion John. I'll take a look.

 

Great advice Paul, I think you are right regarding the options as the change in the frequency of the noise is dependent on the cars motion and nothing else. I'm yet to have a further look but will update when I do.

 

Thanks for the direction. Really helpful.

[Guest trevor56jones]

i had a rover 75 which had a bald patch on the tyre about 2 inchs round centre of the tread that made a knocking noise.went when change the tyre