Menu
What's new
By:
Advanced search...

Car unused in Cold weather for 2 weeks - now noisy!

arab

arab

Members
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
Location
Dublin
Car
Honda Accord CL7
Hi,

Hopefully somebody may know what the problem is. Here is my (shortish) story:

During the recent cold snap, I parked my car (80K 53/04 2.0 Executive on 17" wheels and Epsilon alloys) up for about 2 weeks. When I next drove it, all the snow had cleared and the temp was back to about 8C. It started up fine but when I went to pull away, I felt resistance. I thought I had left the handbrake on but no. Neither had the brakes frozen on. I had a quick look around but couldn't see anything so I drove off. When I got out onto the road and got the speed up to about 30+ mph, I thought there was a motorbike behind me. There wasn't. What was that noise? I stopped again to have a look but couldn't see anything obvious.

I would describe the noise as sounding like a massively out of balance propshaft. But since the car is FWD, I don't have a propshaft! Think of a background WOW, WOW, WOW noise that you start to hear at 25 mph and you would be close.

Other bits:
  • The sound is road speed related and nothing to do with the engine speed or gear.
  • All tyres replaced about 2 months ago with Semperits Speed Life - 17" 225 X 45s ZR rated
  • I think the sound is coming from the rear and suspected it may have been something to do with the tyres (dunno why). I put the spare on the offside rear, went for a drive - no difference. Did the same with the nearside read, no difference.
  • When jacking the car up to replace the wheels, I had a look around and couldn't see anything. I could rotate the wheels by hand, couldn't see anything rubbing on the tyres, couldn't see anything wrong with the brakes. I also rocked the wheel and couldn't feel anything wrong (but I may not be able to tell if there was)
  • I jacked the front of the car up. Didn't take the wheels off, but again had a look around, rotated the wheels, rocked them, etc and couldn't see or feel anything wrong.
  • I let the air out of the 4 tyres and pumped them up again. Again. dunno why but had vague thoughts that the tyres might have temporarily gone off shape when standing still in cold weather and that this might help. Eh, it didn't.
  • There was no noise - not even the smallest hint of a noise - before the 2 week idle period
I'm thinking it may be a wheel bearing but a mechanic mate (who hasn't heard the noise) said it is unusual a bearing to fail so suddenly. He did also speculate however that if water got into the bearing and if the thing was sitting there for 2 weeks, it wouldn't do the friction surfaces any good and could very well cause the problem.

If it is a wheel bearing, does anyone know how much this might cost to repair? Again, my mate said some bearings come as-is, some have ABS sensors and other bits attached which can make them expensive to replace; he mentioned 15 Euro or 150 Euro respectively ...

Any help, thoughts, theories or even whines as to the source of my whine welcome!
 
I was going to say exactly the same thing.

I know you think it's not the brakes, but my money is on binding rear brakes. When leaving your car stationary for so long, especially in such cold temperatures it's a good idea to leave the handbrake down for exactly this reason.

Take off the rear wheels and take the caliper off the carrier and give the brakes a good clean up. Wind the piston back in and pump it out, and wind back in again a couple of times to ensure they are free.

I know it sounds obvious, but I'm pretty sure that's all it is.
 
Thanks for the responses.

I suppose it could be that the handbrake hasn't fully released but I can rotate the wheels by hand and can also push the car on level ground - sugesting nothing is binding?
 
Perhaps, but I would still eliminate it as a possible cause first.

It could be that the pistons haven't retracted fully, and only slightly. When you start the car and the brakes pressurise, the piston could be coming back out every so slightly and binding. It's only a theory but my money is still on brakes.

It could also be jammed sliders/pins so good idea to grease them up again.

It could also be road salt trapped somewhere in the hub. How long have you run the car since starting it up? Take it to the jetwash and give the rear wheels/arch area a good blasting.
 
I'm with the others,
suspect the brakes here, don't need to be stuck on firm, just binding slightly, that way you can push it (it's a heavy car anyway so you would possibly think it was the weight of the car rather than a pad binding.
Also maybe releasing pressure of the disc but not enough to remove binding sound, more than likely the pad on the inside of the disc.

Also there will have been some minor corrosion on the discs, which will only amplify the sound.

Certainly worth ruling the brakes out before replacing any bearings IMO.
 
I've noticed lately that when I pull off first thing in the morning the rear break seem to suddenly snap free. There is no sign or noises to suggest any binding whilst on the move though, so i've been wondering why they do this, there is a slight gradient where I park.
 
he hasn't said if its a tourer or a saloon which have different set up on the rear brakes so this info would help

if saloon I have know pads stick to the disc and when you pull away a bit stays stuck behind and then gives a strange noise when driving
 
As Paul said if its a saloon it could be the disks sticking.Take them apart and give everything a good clean with a wire brush.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. It certainly sounds like the back brakes.
Some other bits:
o Its a saloon
o I did drive for about a minute "on the brakes". Got them very nice and warm but it made no difference
o I also tried driving with the handbrake on but an alarm sounds after a few seconds (it doesn't provide much braking)
o There is a light grating sound from the back when I push the car. I just thought if I could push it, then the noise couldn't indicate binding brakes. Ok, I'll say it: Doh!
o Must take a look at the brakes - is there a guide somewhere - I vaguely remember there was something on the old THAOC site?
 
arab said:
Thanks for all the replies guys. It certainly sounds like the back brakes.
Some other bits:
o Its a saloon
o I did drive for about a minute "on the brakes". Got them very nice and warm but it made no difference
o I also tried driving with the handbrake on but an alarm sounds after a few seconds (it doesn't provide much braking)
o There is a light grating sound from the back when I push the car. I just thought if I could push it, then the noise couldn't indicate binding brakes. Ok, I'll say it: Doh!
o Must take a look at the brakes - is there a guide somewhere - I vaguely remember there was something on the old THAOC site?
Click to expand...


There is a guide somewhere, i think in the DIY section near the start of it think Alnug did it, but not certain.

Also do a search for torque settings for the brake callipers, you may not take them off, but you need to be aware of the settings, to avoid hazardous mishaps with callipers coming loose etc, you should find some threads on here.
 
All sorted now!
I tried the various tips above but to no avail. Moving on to suspecting the wheel bearing, I visited a mechanic who confirmed the diagnosis.
The bearing comes with an ***ociated hub carrier and the part cost €140.18 from a Dublin Honda main dealer. There were good-looking equivalents available on Ebay, but I decided to play this conservatively - I tried Holdcroft's and their price was the same as the Dublin dealer once shipping and currency exchange rates were factored in. Honda quote 1.5 hours for the job at a rate of about €120/hour but my mechanic did it in one hour at a rate of €68.10/hour. All in, this cost me €208.28
Listen - do you hear it now? The sound of silence!
 
Well done mate - weird that it went just like that though.. maybe they were already shot but the 2 week stint in the cold weather probably killed them off.
 
Sounds like I have the exact same problem. The noise seems to vary between a throbbing, humming whining noise which usually starts off at a speed of about 50mph. It`s nice to know what the likely cause is, but mine started after i almost melted the brakes and discs, which is explained in another thread here
 
I read your thread - oh dear, sounds like you haven't had much luck ...

It does sound like it could be wheel bearings. However, to first eliminate the possibility of brakes, try applying them at the speed you hear the noise. If it's the brakes, the noise will change when the brakes are applied. If it doesn't (like mine didn't), then it would point to the bearing. Holdcroft quoted me roughly £120 per bearing including delivery to Dublin. Fitting should be easy for a competent mechanic in about an hour or so.
 
I know, all my own stupid fault though. I tried applying the brakes like you said but it didn`t have any effect. Someone suggested swapping my new Bridgestones on the front with the Avons on the rear, which I have done and I have to say I haven`t heard the noise but having said that i`ve not been anywhere yet where i can get up to speed and where the road is smooth enough and doesn`t drown out the noise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top