Can anyone tell me what this noise might be please?

Inactive

fatpiggy wrote: »

Is it a French car by the way? My mechanic says their wheel bearings are total rubbish.

That would seem appropriate for the rest of the car then..

jackieblack

fatpiggy wrote: »

Wheel bearing I reckon, having had one go after I drove down a water-filled very deep pothole which just looked like a surface puddle. You could check the bushes on the shock absorber by jacking it up and taking off the wheel - that may release the bushes. Is it a French car by the way? My mechanic says their wheel bearings are total rubbish.

It's a Nissan Almera (1998) - not sure where it would have been made!

Inactive

jackieblack wrote: »

It's a Nissan Almera (1998) - not sure where it would have been made!

Fortunately for you, not in France.:D

hartcjhart

pop the car into a garage(NOT KWIK FIT)and ask them to take a quick look and to give a quote to fix,you will then know what is wrong and wether safe to drive

dont tell them that it is going to scrappage

pitkin2020

hartcjhart wrote: »

pop the car into a garage(NOT KWIK FIT)and ask them to take a quick look and to give a quote to fix,you will then know what is wrong and wether safe to drive

dont tell them that it is going to scrappage

Thats the best advice so far, from the OP's description it could 1 of a 100 things and without actually seeing all people can do is guess really. Just pop it into a local garage, ask for a quick opinion and a quote and see what they come back with and take it from there.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

jackieblack wrote: »

Would either of those make it dangerous to drive?

Possibly, it depends upon the extent of the damage. Really, guessing the cause of a noise over the internet is difficult, so it could be something else.

If you want to drive it to the local garage, do so at your own risk.

crazyhaggid

It could be something as simple as the wheel arch liner being dislodged by the water and is now rubbing on the tyre.

darich

1 - stone/grit caught in the brake caliper somewhere?
2 - already suggested - wheel arch liner rubbing?
3 - bulge in tyre due to pothole?
4 - lots of possibilities.

I'd jack the car up, get the wheel off and see if it's something obvious. I might even hose the area down to rinse out debris possibly picked up in the puddle.

IF you think it's the wheel, swap it with another on the car and see if the sound moves with the wheel or remains where it currently is.

If it's being scrapped in 6 weeks I'd be inclined to do nothing at all. Possibly not to everyone's taste but I'd grudge paying a garage to inspect it and say they found a stone in the caliper....here's a bill for £60.

jackieblack

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Possibly, it depends upon the extent of the damage. Really, guessing the cause of a noise over the internet is difficult, so it could be something else.

Yes, I do appreciate this, was just looking for educated guesses really, I know nothing about cars.

darich wrote: »

1 - stone/grit caught in the brake caliper somewhere?
2 - already suggested - wheel arch liner rubbing?
3 - bulge in tyre due to pothole?
4 - lots of possibilities.

I'd jack the car up, get the wheel off and see if it's something obvious. I might even hose the area down to rinse out debris possibly picked up in the puddle.

IF you think it's the wheel, swap it with another on the car and see if the sound moves with the wheel or remains where it currently is.

If it's being scrapped in 6 weeks I'd be inclined to do nothing at all. Possibly not to everyone's taste but I'd grudge paying a garage to inspect it and say they found a stone in the caliper....here's a bill for £60.

My husband says he'll jack it up and have a look for me on Friday afternoon - it's too dark by the time he gets home from work the rest of the week - although he claims he couldn't hear any noise when he drove it on Sunday afternoon :rolleyes:

I could manage without the car for 6 weeks if I have to (not needed to get to work, and I could get shopping delivered), but it would be a bit of a pain - DD has an orthodontic apointment next week, and half-term in 3 weeks, stuff like that.

jackieblack

Ok, so my nice neighbour came round last night with a big spotlight-type lamp and he and my husband crawled around on the ground in the cold and dark (:beer:) and there is nothing to be seen from a visual inspection. They are going to jack it up on Saturday and check a few more things in the daylight.

After chatting to him about it for a while, he said the noise I was describing sounds like worn brake pads.

Thinking about it, I usually have the radio on while I'm driving, the jouney where I hit the pothole I didn't have the radio on as I was chatting to my parents, who were in the car with me. So it's possible the noise was already there and I just hadn't heard it, and hitting the pothole that day I put 2 + 2 together and came up with 5! :doh:(where has the 'confused' smiley gone?)