Panda (Classic) Charmanda(er) The Panda

[Didge3]

Ugh.
So I messaged Vern a little while ago because Char' had developed a horrible grinding noise (although quiet it wasn't a nice noise) when turning right, most notable when turning right at a roundabout.
He suggested the cv joint which sounds like a likely diagnosis.
However 3 days ago the grinding noise turned into like a howling noise when turning right and even sometimes whilst going straight ahead, very similar noise to the noise when a bus is braking, that high pitched howling.
I was going to record the sound and upload to see if anyone had an idea, however yesterday and today the noises have vanished, nothing. I went all the way round a roundabout and there's a very quiet rumble noise but its almost impossible to hear.
So now I'm completely confused. Sometimes I can bring the howling noise back if I dry steer but not often

 

[Dragon Man]

sounds like a wheel bearing... see if theres any play in the wheels next time you have it jacked up

 

[onemanmade]

Ugh.
So I messaged Vern a little while ago because Char' had developed a horrible grinding noise (although quiet it wasn't a nice noise) when turning right, most notable when turning right at a roundabout.
He suggested the cv joint which sounds like a likely diagnosis.
However 3 days ago the grinding noise turned into like a howling noise when turning right and even sometimes whilst going straight ahead, very similar noise to the noise when a bus is braking, that high pitched howling.
I was going to record the sound and upload to see if anyone had an idea, however yesterday and today the noises have vanished, nothing. I went all the way round a roundabout and there's a very quiet rumble noise but its almost impossible to hear.
So now I'm completely confused. Sometimes I can bring the howling noise back if I dry steer but not often

I suspect wheel bearing, jack up the wheels one at a time to check for play. Always use chocks and safety obviously.

To check for play first place your hands at the 12 o clock and 6 o clock positions and wiggle the wheel, there shouldn't be much movement, then try your hands at 9 o clock and 3 o clock and do the same thing. I say try all wheels because the noise from inside the car can be misleading as to which wheel is the problem.

 

[panda1408]

A wheel bearing can be noisy but not have any play. Spin the wheel by hand after checking for play to see if you can hear the noise. You will always have some noise from the brakes so it can sometimes be tricky to identify it.

CVs usually make a clicking noise when on full lock when they have had it.

 

[onemanmade]

A wheel bearing can be noisy but not have any play. Spin the wheel by hand after checking for play to see if you can hear the noise. You will always have some noise from the brakes so it can sometimes be tricky to identify it.

CVs usually make a clicking noise when on full lock when they have had it.

Forgot to add that bit, thanks!

 

[Didge3]

I'll try to capture the sound on video at some point, was almost silent again today though
Definitely not a clicking noise though.

 

[Didge3]

I have created a video, its somewhat tedious and boring to watch all of it but feel welcome to if you find yourself with absolutely nothing to do for the next 12 minutes and you want to watch me drive around the seafront of Portsmouth on a dreary day go for it. Sorry my windscreen mount isn't designed for filming on so its a bit rubbish and causes my phone to vibrate quite a bit when I accelerate at low rpm's.

If you have some sense left you may only want to skip to these specific points because as I thought the video barely picked up any of the sound I'm talking about.


At 2:06, as I pull out of the junction there's a slight whine when I do a slight turn of the wheel before I actually begin to move, this often happens when steering at low speed (i.e. parking or pulling away) but not always.

At 8:20 whilst I'm turning right on the roundabout I can hear a constant scraping noise, its very very quiet so I can't hear it in the video at all,
the noise can be heard at 10:45 when I turn right, its just audible because there's less engine/road noise. That scraping noise you can hear at 10:45 I hear 50% of the time when turning right at roundabouts, the other 50% it'll be either silent or I'll get the whine noise.

And at 11:50 there is the whine whilst I'm parking, low speed not even turning the wheel for the last few seconds but it still whines.

Oddly enough I've also noticed the video picks up a constant rumbling, this is very wheel bearing suspect but I can't hear it in the car I assume its picking it up as vibrations though the windscreen.

 

[blu73]

2.06 sound totally normal to me. Can't hear any of the other things you mention really, possibly a sound that sounds like a wheel touching an inner arch at one point but its too hard to say from a video what a noise it - hard enough when your in the actual car as you know lol.

 

[Didge3]

A little update.

She did 350 miles over the weekend with her new thermostat and alternator belt.
And currently she has 0 strange noises or whines :worship:
Over the weekend unfortunately I somehow ended up being the designated driver, so she carried 4 adults and a fully grown Doberman which was quite funny, although 750 not best pleased with the added weight.



All she needs now is a good wash and polish

 

[Didge3]

Tyre problems as always, I have 4 month old front tyres, barely a month old rear nearside tyre, with my only old tyre being the rear offside and guess what, went to put some air in it and the valve fails :bang: Wee's all the air out in literally seconds, went to put the spare on but its buggered, sidewalls heavily cracked and has no air in it

Wait an hour for recovery and he fits a new valve, I'm sure this is Char' throwing a strop because I still haven't given her that promised polish
Whilst the recovery guy was with me he goes 'don't see many of these about anymore - blah' the usual.... as he says so a white 750 Formula '90 (I've posted it before, its local to me) drives onto the forecourt, waves were exchanged

Few days on and I've decided going to do an oil change because why not, I got the oil sitting around, its not raining for a change and all I needed was an oil filter which I got for basically nothing, so I had everything ready, even jack the car up literally about to do it and... hmmm where are my hex keys :bang: Completely no idea, so scrap that idea for now until I either find mine or buy some more
Getting to the point, noticed this whilst I was under there, the inner CV boot on the nearside is a bit greasy looking and the bottom of the gearbox looks like its a bit oily, although this could be from my prior cam cover gasket leak which is fixed but did previously dribble oil down that side of the engine and onto the gearbox... Thoughts?



Sorry for the mammoth length post...

 

[panda1408]

Looks like the seal in the driveshaft boot is weeping to me. Is it wet above the driveshaft or only below it?

 

[firstcar-Y10]

Yes, most likely oil seal on the end of the boot but if you've had a leak down there before, first clean it up, check the oil in the 'box and if that's OK leave it to see if it comes back. No point panicking if it is just overspill from last time.

 

[kolza]

Sorry for the mammoth length post...

I would re-do the plastic cable tie with a proper steel cv boot band.

Cable ties does not give equal presure around the whole circumference, they might be fine for the outer or any other geased cv joints but defo not on wet shafts.

 

[Didge3]

Yes, most likely oil seal on the end of the boot but if you've had a leak down there before, first clean it up, check the oil in the 'box and if that's OK leave it to see if it comes back. No point panicking if it is just overspill from last time.

I'll try and clean it up tomorrow then
Never checked the gearbox oil, always scared I'll undo the wrong plug and dump the whole lot

 

[firstcar-Y10]

I'll try and clean it up tomorrow then
Never checked the gearbox oil, always scared I'll undo the wrong plug and dump the whole lot

See the one that's in the photo all covered in gunk? not that one, the other one

 

[Didge3]

MOT Today. Failed on some rust near the front passenger side seatbelt anchorage point. Still has 2 weeks left on it so getting that welded up next week
Had to swap my headlights to my old ones because one of my new ones has an intermittent mainbeam issue.
I rarely use mainbeam so it hasn't been an issue much but I'm thinking of buying some better bulbs now,

My current ones are yellow Which I like but they're also 40/45W so night time driving is not exactly fun....

The ones I had before are a bit of a weird mismatch, one being a 55/60W (Something around that anyway ) and the other a 100/120W bulb which is probably why my headlight switched burned out last year and needed replacing...

So rather risking my headlight switch again I've stuck my dismal yellow ones back in. The question is, what are the best bulbs I can get that won't burn out my switch?

Thanks

 

[panda panda]

What about using a relay with the switch so they won't burn out?

I'm sure dragonman can sort out a little diagram and instructions so you can have bright lights!

Which reminds me I have a job for dragonman involving many spot lights!

 

[Dragon Man]

when you slide the light switch to the lowest position slide it slowly and listen for a click in the fuse box.. there could be a relay already on the lights. if so, you should not burn your dash switch out.

that gets burned out by use more so than current going through it.

you can like i have with talon, wire in relays to each headlamps high and low beam using the original wiring to drive relays. 4 relays in total 2 for each bulb.. high and low.
use over rated cables (i used sub amp cable) feeding direct from the battery (fused at about 30 amps which is good for about 400 watts worth of bulbs) that improves brightness.

i have to have an 60 amp fuse in mine because my total light output is 440 watts. (8x 55watt bulbs)

the thing is with panda headlamps.. they are a really bad at putting light where it needs to be and keeping it from where it should not be. this is mostly caused by the fact they use an old fashioned bulb, the reflector is all the wrong shape and they tried to correct it by turning the headlamp glass into a (poor) lens. in fact if ever you get a smashed headlamp, remove all glass then compare it to the replacement one to really get what i mean.
they are good enough for built up/lit roads but out in the sticks its not good.. using the saying "drive as fast as your headlamps let you see" means you'd never get out of 3rd gear.. in the panda 4x4. and the only hope you really have of driving faster is some one coming up behind you lighting the way for you.

one thing i would always recommend without adding "spot lamps" is high beam driving lamps(which must be mounted at the same height as head lamps to be legal) . they make the world of difference.

in reality though, the brighter headlights Talon has only really annoy other drivers causes flood) it does not really have much of a benefit to you seeing further (throw). the bulbs are standard P45 fit but with the halogen bulb in them (like a H4 bulb with the old P45 base). i get flashed often by drivers thinking that i have my main beams on. even though the MOT guy says (what little) beam pattern talon has is perfectly legal.

i dread to think what it would be like if i put HID's in.

and sure thing man of many pandas. just make sure you bring some nice wire.. and a length of thick (sub like) wire with a nice fuse carrier.

 

[Didge3]

Well my headlight switch has already burnt out and been replaced once so lets assume there aren't any relays?

What bulb wattage can the stock wiring/switch handle?
When I had the 100/120W bulb in the switch got very hot and when it finally failed the plastic that holds the pin bits inside the switch had melted causing the pins to fall out of place.

Basically when buying new bulbs what wattage should I aim for?

 

[kolza]

45W as stock, 55W is a push.