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Recently acquired a 2001 1.4 Match for my girlfriend, its covered inly 55k miles.

Annoyingly it makes a whining sound constantly when driving. Its not engine related as it related to wheel speed. (I can dip the clutch and it makes no difference but slowing the car down, the noise slows down with the wheels).

Its a little like when you reverse really quickly and you get that whining noise, but nowhere near as loud!

Any ideas what this is please? Its not super loud but its defo not supposed to do it!

OOHH, also whilst im on here. It also makes an annoying sqeeky, fluttery type noise at exactly 1k RPM, goes away above and below this so you only notice it when parking really. This is defo the engine and I thought one of the pulleys somewhere might need some grease?

Thanks!

Wheel bearing for sure!

alexperkins wrote:Wheel bearing for sure!

MMM. was pretty sure that would be the response! Is this fixable myself/ does it need greasing or replacing ...If I leave it for a bit is that a problem>..
Oh and the $64K question, how much is it gonna Cost me!

Cheers

Definitely a wheel bearing, it'll need replacing for sure. I'd book it in as soon as you can, but you can drive on it in the mean time no problem. Just take it easy.

I paid just under £100 for mine to be supplied and fitted.

It is replaceable yourself, but you need a bearing puller. Best just get a good mechanic to do it. Part is about £50 ish

Cheers guys, Might be a stupid question but how the heck do you figure out which one it is? I'm guessing front right but I couldn't say for sure!

I tried jacking up the car and spinning the wheel but couldn't reproduce the noise!

Is there any particular bias as to one in particular going? (front/ back etc)?

Jack it up and spin the wheel. You will be able to feel the movement in the hub, and the noise

Just listen out for where you think it's coming from. There is a method for when the cars jacked up, but I'm not totally sure on what to listen out for.

I just came to the conclusion that mine was the rear left, told my garage to confirm it, and that they did.

alexperkins wrote:Jack it up and spin the wheel. You will be able to feel the movement in the hub, and the noise

I did try this but its very difficult on the fronts to spin the wheel freely, also the noise seems to go away below about 15mph so id have to spin the wheel damn fast to reproduce it !!!

Also noticed tonight that it seems to get louder when I dip the clutch (at first I thought I could just hear it better as the engine noise dies down) but I'm convinced it gets louder! Am a little concerned its gearbox related but im crossing fingers for it just being a wheel bearing!

If it's the gearbox, it's disappears when you put the clutch down. Don't get too far ahead of yourself. Just take it down to a garage and ask them to check out the wheel bearings first. If not get them to take it out.

Tim_GTi wrote:If it's the gearbox, it's disappears when you put the clutch down. Don't get too far ahead of yourself. Just take it down to a garage and ask them to check out the wheel bearings first. If not get them to take it out.

Sounds as if its defo a bearing then. Might have a stab at jacking it again.. and then head to the garage for a proper diagnosis when I get time!