Technical Rattling/humming/flat tyre - like noise from my 500 Twinair

[winstonkunn]

Hi, are there any 500 Twinair owners who have same problem as mine? I have a 500 twinair that has done only 5000kms, but it started developing a humming/rattling or flat tyre - like noise from passenger side wheel when I am driving. The noise gets worse and obvious between 3rd and 4th gear and the noise fades out when it is doing over 60k. The car dealer that I bought my car from is trying to find problems but they seems to struggle to diagnise the issue. I would love to hear from other owners who had similar problem as mine and if they fixed the problem.

Cheers,
J

 

[doggydoctor]

I am sure a mechanic wouldn't have any problems diagnosing a worn wheel bearing, but that is what springs to my mind.

 

[306maxi]

What size wheels do you have? The 500 doesn't have much soundproofing and can be noisy with 16" wheels

 

[jrkitching]

What size wheels do you have? The 500 doesn't have much soundproofing and can be noisy with 16" wheels

In fairness to the OP, they'd likely have noticed this before - they are reporting something which has only become apparent after 5000 km.

With a car this new, I can't think of anything better to suggest than to persevere with the dealer. Something is wrong and it needs to be sorted out.

I'm assuming the tyre has been checked for FOD.

 

[winstonkunn]

Hi guys, thank you for all your replies. Mine is 500 twinair 900cc turbo charged, 16" and dual logic gear box. The car yard reckons the problem is not wheel bearing, which I still think it is, but something to do with the gear box. They took the gearbox out about a week ago but they can't still diagnose what went wrong with the car. This is a second problem I am having with the car. The first problem was that the instrument cluster failed, so I had to take the car back. They are awfully slow to address the problems, and they never give me any progress report. I love my 500 but the service that car yard provides me is making me one unhappy 500 owner.

 

[306maxi]

Hi guys, thank you for all your replies. Mine is 500 twinair 900cc turbo charged, 16" and dual logic gear box. The car yard reckons the problem is not wheel bearing, which I still think it is, but something to do with the gear box. They took the gearbox out about a week ago but they can't still diagnose what went wrong with the car. This is a second problem I am having with the car. The first problem was that the instrument cluster failed, so I had to take the car back. They are awfully slow to address the problems, and they never give me any progress report. I love my 500 but the service that car yard provides me is making me one unhappy 500 owner.

Does the noise get louder or change frequency as you get slower/faster? Does the noise change if you put the car in neutral (only do this on a straight bit of road)?

 

[winstonkunn]

The noise gets louder when I am doing around 60km per hour (between 3rd and 4th gear) and it gets less obvious above 60km.

 

[306maxi]

Does it only happen in those gears? What if you're in 5th or 2nd at that speed? What about when you're in neutral?

 

[winstonkunn]

The noise is there regardless of which gear it is in but very apparent when it is in 3rd or 4th gear. It changes frequency depends on the speed. I was told by the car yard that they couldn't find any fault in the gear box and asked me to pick up the car. They didn't even drive the car to hear the noise or checked the wheel bearing at all.

 

[306maxi]

The noise is there regardless of which gear it is in but very apparent when it is in 3rd or 4th gear. It changes frequency depends on the speed. I was told by the car yard that they couldn't find any fault in the gear box and asked me to pick up the car. They didn't even drive the car to hear the noise or checked the wheel bearing at all.

If I was to put money on it being one thing or another, I'd say it's the brakes, Fiat don't put any grease on the pads and they can stick in the reaction frames and rub quite badly. You can get a sort of grinding noise at low speed when cornering. Try braking lightly when the noise happens and see if it disappears or not.

Of course it could be the gearbox output shaft, a tyre, a wheel bearing or perhaps even a suspension component. None of those have shown a common tendency to fail at such low mileages.

 

[winstonkunn]

Thank you for your post. I will tell the car yard about what you said when I pick up the car tomorrow.

 

[306maxi]

Thank you for your post. I will tell the car yard about what you said when I pick up the car tomorrow.

Tbh it's probably not worth mentioning it to them, when you get the car it's worth taking the car for a drive and seeing exactly what makes the noise get louder, go away or change character. Sadly if it's the brakes then they probably won't sort it for you under warranty, but it'll be a cheap fix anyway.

 

[ahmett]

If I was to put money on it being one thing or another, I'd say it's the brakes, Fiat don't put any grease on the pads and they can stick in the reaction frames and rub quite badly. You can get a sort of grinding noise at low speed when cornering. Try braking lightly when the noise happens and see if it disappears or not.

Of course it could be the gearbox output shaft, a tyre, a wheel bearing or perhaps even a suspension component. None of those have shown a common tendency to fail at such low mileages.

Following what maxi said, my stock brake pads wore down very quickly due to the lack of grease in them and had worn down unevenly meaning one pad on one side was fine while one pad on the other side of the brake disc was absolutely worn out. When i got them changed i had insisted on grease all over the pads and i did this twice so far without changing the pads and the pads are still fine after 30,000 km of not changing them but maintaining them. So good in fact its now the front disc thats starting to wear out while the pads remain fine, will get them both done together in a few months time. Rear discs and pads are fine.

 

[306maxi]

Following what maxi said, my stock brake pads wore down very quickly due to the lack of grease in them and had worn down unevenly. When i got them changed i had insisted on grease all over the pads and i did this twice so far without changing the pads and the pads are still fine after 30,000 km of not changing them but maintaining them. So good in fact its now the front disc thats starting to wear out while the pads remain fine, will get them both done together in a few months time. Rear discs and pads are fine.

That's very much my experience too, I changed mine myself at 26k miles as they had worn unevenly due to lack of lubrication, 26k miles later they've still got plenty of meat left on them and are wearing pretty evenly

 

[44sunsets]

What size wheels do you have? The 500 doesn't have much soundproofing and can be noisy with 16" wheels

I have the stock 16" alloy wheels on my 500C TwinAir Lounge and the car is perfectly fine on the highway at 110km/h -- cabin noise is normal, not particularly loud, and there's no rattles or squeaks of any kind.

 

[306maxi]

Depends on what tyres you have, some can be louder than others, some peoples idea of loud is different to that of other people

 

[Aussie500nut]

Tbh it's probably not worth mentioning it to them, when you get the car it's worth taking the car for a drive and seeing exactly what makes the noise get louder, go away or change character. Sadly if it's the brakes then they probably won't sort it for you under warranty, but it'll be a cheap fix anyway.

Guess it comes down to your meaning of "cheap" (as in "fix")

Here in Brisbane, we got the salesman to get a few costs for us before we got our TwinAir Plus

Minor service - $400-450
Major service - $750

But get this - front brake pads - just a tad under $300
And I bet you won't get them from Repco or any of the after market spares suppliers either - not until there are a lot more 500s around

 

[bgunn]

I reckon the noise could be a driveshaft (probably inner) joint. Low on lubrication, possibly. The fact it comes and goes implies it's not the brakes.

Difficult to tell without hearing it though.

 

[306maxi]

You can order brake parts on eBay for a shedload cheaper than you can get them in Australia.

plus you don't need to replace anything, just put some copper grease in the reaction frames.

 

[winstonkunn]

It is extremely annoying and disappointing that the car yard had one week to find problems, yet they didn't even bother driving the car and listen to the noise. I am not sure if they are competent enough to put the gearbox back into the car properly.