(T) 2004 Panda 1.1 active - Whining issue?

Privately bought a 2004 37k mike Panda 1.1 active today. Mostly seems okay and clearly been looked after, but noticed a weird inconsistent issue.
When accelerating, there is sometimes a loud whine that gets louder as the engine speed increases. It stops as soon as you press the clutch in. It does it when pressing the accelerator and when you take your foot off as well.
Some suggested power steering fluid may be low, or one of the belts may be at fault?
It gets really quite loud as the engine speed builds up. Seems to do it even when taking it easy and coasting sometimes too.
Very strange!
Any ideas?

Hi.

Pas ..? no.. its electric

Ours had a whiney alternator for 60k miles..

Does it squeal with cold starts?
that would be a slack..or badly worn belt

Charlie

Oh, oops! No squeal at idle, just in the conditions I described

It is really quite a loud whine, is quite loud even outside the car

Odd that the clutch being depressed changes it..

COULD be the clutch release bearing..

Its a g.box off job

So just drive it... sounds like it has been babied for a while

How much would it cost to do the clutch release bearing? Is that likely to cause a major failure? We only paid £840 for the car.

Part of the clutch kit..

Kit around £80

But could be £300 labour

As I said.. drive it!!

It might settle down.. lack of use
at least you can rule it out as you go

Failure.. unlikely.. and would just need the same parts fitting.

Use it for a few local journeys..

Get a garage to listen..

Simple job

Where are you based?

It’s only done 2000 miles a year for the past 13 years.
Gotcha, I’ll give it a good drive for a while. Drives really smoothly, the gearbox is as smooth as silk

They are lovely little cars..

Had our 1.1 from 2004 til last summer

@94k

Just been for a drive. It is doing it more now I’ve had it and done to motorway drive home. It doesn’t do it in neutral freewheeling downhill, but it does do it in gear freewheeling. It does it slightly in neutral and revving, but not as bad.

Hi Gman

i would consider.

intake manifold leak at a gasket

gearbox input shaft bearing but the end away from the clutch.

clutch release bearing collapsing(ours disintegrated 18 months ago)

loose crankshaft pulley(fan belt end)

keep us posted

tim

if the sound goes exactly as you press the clutch pedal I would guess its the release bearing.


Fairly normal for them to loose there grease. When the outer race can spin freely different you can hear it manly on acceleration. Had a Punto like this. Still did another 25K before I had to changed it.

one of my car is like that but only on First start up. Been like that for 3 years.

Did the bearing take anything with it..?

Or just replaced the clutch kit..

A whining noise usually indicates a failed or failing bearing.

If the noise is present only when the clutch pedal is depressed, it's likely the clutch release bearing.

If the noise is present except when the clutch pedal is depressed. it's likely a gearbox bearing. (the shaft is partially supported by the relase bearing wth the clutch depressed, so the noise goes away; normally the release bearing just hangs loose).

From what you've posted, my money would be on a gearbox bearing, but I haven't seen the car and only a stripdown will tell you for sure. Either way, the repair is going to cost a significant proportion of the value of the car, unless you can do it yourself.

The economics of running older cars depends a lot on how much you can do for yourself. Mass produced A segment cars like the Panda have a design life of 10-12 years. After that time, they're essentially fully depreciated; their value is determined primarily by the length of MOT remaining. A good rule of thumb is about £100 + £50 for each month left to run.

It'll likely continue to be worth that for as long as it's kept roadworthy. The balancing act is whether you're spending more each year in repairs than it would cost to start again; breakeven is probably about £600/yr. How far £600 goes depends on whether you need to pay someone else's labour charges.

If this were my car, I'd take off the 'box and replace whichever bearing had failed; the parts are cheap enough. I'd likely replace the release bearing and clutch plate anyway, unless obviously worn - but that's because I can fix stuff like this myself. If I were dependent on a garage, and it had less than 6 months MOT left, I'd run it "as is" until it broke, then scrap it. With more than 6 months ticket, a garage repair is probably justified.

If it's got a short MOT and you still want to have it repaired, you might want to MOT it first, just to be sure there are no other nasty surprises lurking. This fault won't stop you getting an MOT.

How much would it cost for a garage to do such a repair? It has 10 months MOT left and previous MOTs have been reasonably issue free.
I chose this car over a car that was about £500 more, so I have some money leftover that I have set aside for repairs.

Going to do some testing today, but the sound always goes away when you press the clutch pedal in. It sometimes does it faintly when you press the clutch pedal in and then tap the accelerator pedal.

I can do basic maintenance and bits, but I don’t have the tools to do something like a gearbox bearing I wouldn’t think.