SO ABOUT THAT NOISE
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 9:04 pm
So Captain Clancy and I were having a nice drive down the freeway, demonstrating the Westfield's excellent stability and power, cruising along at about 70mph or so when there came a strange noise. Sounded as though it was coming from the rear, but I am functionally deaf, so... I am never really sure...Sort of screeching, but not that much screech, maybe a like a loose belt, but maybe something else that I had never heard before. We got off the freeway, and it disappeared, hen appeared again. We had a nice drive back home, about 15 or so miles, with no re occurrence of the noise The car worked perfectly well, otherwise. Note that oil pressure and temperature didn't indicate anything.
There were no puddles, dribbles or other incontinence apparent.
So, what did I feel as the driver? NOTHING! No vibration, no hard shifting, no brake problem, and it wasn't tied to the engine RPM. So, WTF is it?
I need to use the car, so today, being about 42C outside, seemed to be a good day to look for the problem.
I checked all the obvious stuff. Wheel bearings, trans lube level, the crank damper bolt, belt tension, searched for loose components, the drive shaft bolts at the diff, the diff... No leaks from the axle seals (amazing...) and the brakes were tight, too.
So, what to do next? Drive the thing. 20 miles, up and down hills, cruise the freeway, get it hot (well hot is a relative term, as now with the new chinese cheap but apparently well made radiator, the temp doesn't hit 80C, and the SPAL fan switches on and off just fine. The car feels just as it always has, and doesn't make any untoward sounds (for a race car, anyway). So....
Off to pick up my daughter at school. Oh, and don't believe all that stuff about kids not being interested in cars or driving. There will be a crowd when I pick her up.
I will entertain any guesses as to where the strange noise came from.
There were no puddles, dribbles or other incontinence apparent.
So, what did I feel as the driver? NOTHING! No vibration, no hard shifting, no brake problem, and it wasn't tied to the engine RPM. So, WTF is it?
I need to use the car, so today, being about 42C outside, seemed to be a good day to look for the problem.
I checked all the obvious stuff. Wheel bearings, trans lube level, the crank damper bolt, belt tension, searched for loose components, the drive shaft bolts at the diff, the diff... No leaks from the axle seals (amazing...) and the brakes were tight, too.
So, what to do next? Drive the thing. 20 miles, up and down hills, cruise the freeway, get it hot (well hot is a relative term, as now with the new chinese cheap but apparently well made radiator, the temp doesn't hit 80C, and the SPAL fan switches on and off just fine. The car feels just as it always has, and doesn't make any untoward sounds (for a race car, anyway). So....
Off to pick up my daughter at school. Oh, and don't believe all that stuff about kids not being interested in cars or driving. There will be a crowd when I pick her up.
I will entertain any guesses as to where the strange noise came from.