Introduction, car pictures and help diagnose a wheel bearing / differential noise Please!

[Reeder139]

Hi All

 

Shame my first post is with a problem but it's often the way with the cars I buy.

 

Yesterday I purchased a 54 plate Cayenne with 135K on the clock, the car really is in excellent condition, looks great, has detailed full service history, fresh MOT and has most the main problems dealt with already such as the drive shaft.

 

In the past i've had two 981 Boxsters but with a baby we needed something more practical and i've always wanted a cayenne, high mileage doesn't really put me off as long as its well looked after, I can deal with all but the most major mechanical problems myself and I like to have a project anyway, on the MG forums i'm quite well known for detailed threads about modifications and repairs as I've had a number of MG ZT 260s over the years including a full restoration of a written off vehicle, admittedly I did have some help with that so point being, id rather buy an older nice one out right and look after it properly even if it means getting my hands dirty. 

 

I've attached a couple of pictures of my car.

 

Unfortunately the car has developed a noise that seems to come from the front passenger side wheel area.

 

The noise is a high pitch whine that also has a flutter to it, it increases inline with the speed of the car, not the engine speed, its starts at about 15 mph and increases in volume up to a point where it is drowned out by other noise but presumably still there. It is fairly consistent but does drop on and off sometimes inline with perhaps turning or decelerating.

 

There's no play in the wheel or the steering wheel.

 

My research leads me to believe this is probably front diff although I was hoping it might be wheel bearing? Is the front diff in this location as the noise definitely comes from this area or is there any other potential explanation I haven't come across in my research?

 

Id be really grateful for any input you may have and I always get involved in the forums for each car I have so hopefully as I learn about the car I will be able to contribute some constructive stuff as time goes on.

 

I've uploaded three short videos of my driving along, they're all pretty  much the same but you can hear the noises more clearer in certain bits of each video, here's the links -

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by Reeder139

[dpatel710]

Great looking p!g!

 

I'm not too sure about the whine but an easy troubleshooting step would be to flush the front diff fluid and check for metal particles. If you have a lot, it may be time for a new diff. Also, try adding a bottle of oil stabilizer. I added lucas oil stabilizer to mine and it hushed up most of the noises that it was making. Good luck! 

[Reeder139]

On 10/03/2018 at 1:32 AM, dpatel710 said:

Great looking p!g!

 

I'm not too sure about the whine but an easy troubleshooting step would be to flush the front diff fluid and check for metal particles. If you have a lot, it may be time for a new diff. Also, try adding a bottle of oil stabilizer. I added lucas oil stabilizer to mine and it hushed up most of the noises that it was making. Good luck! 

 

Thanks for the reply and thanks for the tips.

 

Its booked in with someone this Tuesday who is going to spend some time with me to diagnose properly and change all the oils anyway.

 

Update on the noise, It does very momentarily stop in line with the car changing gear therefore deducing its something in or after the gearbox in the drive train and I can no longer be sure where its actually coming from!! could be centre console but doesn't sound anything like any of the videos i've seen of failed driveshaft bearings plus according to paperwork this was done.

 

Anyway, hopefully will have an answer this week.