Technical Whirling noise when driving

[Punto Novice]

Hi

Hope someone can identfiy the cause of an intermitent whirling sort of noise coming from under the bonnet when driving above 30mph, which stops when slowing down or at a stand still.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Scoobysnacks]

See, what you've got there is a trapped schoolboy! If you peel him out from the grille and send him home, the noise will go away!

Those little s##s get everywhere!

 

[darraghcorrigan]

Hey Ive been noticing that one my car too, I have a feeing its the clutch in my car starting to go. I noticed it stops when I push in the clutch, does yours do the same?

 

[bredsticz]

Check the tension of your alternator and cam belts, common for them to whine or whirr when too loose or too tight.

Anything else we could do with a recording or at least a better description of the sound

 

[Scoobysnacks]

Darragh, yours sounds like it might be a different problem. It sounds rather like a thrust release bearing on the way out. Do you "ride the clutch" when you drive? A light pressure on the clutch pedal will cause the release bearing to wear very fast, and will make lots of noise until the clutch pedal is pressed down, when it will stop!

 

[DaveMcT]

When that clutch is noisy until you press the pedal its warning you the clutch is close to packing up. You can keep driving, but watch for any signs of the revs rising without the speed following and also for stiff gearchanges. Both can leave you stranded.

Dont force the gears as it puts real stress on the gearbox (another bill potentially).
Dont drive if the revs are rising (clutch slip) as this can soon damage the engine flywheel (also not cheap to fix).

 

[5abr3]

Tried replying yesterday but the forum wouldn't have any of it. Anyway, on my car it turned out to be the radiator fan motor's bearings. You can check this pretty easily:

1) Disconnect the negative to the battery; radiator fans do not require the ignition to operate. Unlikely to happen but still, just disconnect it.
2) Push the fan around fan gently by hand using a gentle push, if it grinds then you may well have found your answer.
3) reconnect the negative if you intend to drive again soon

The other method is wait for the fan to kick in normally and listen for it making an absolutely aweful racket. That's how I found out mine was shot