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Gearbox/diff whine

Accordial

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London
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2005 2.2 D Tourer
I was recovered by the AA yesterday as the car started making a nasty noise. It's done 165k and it's an '05 manual diesel. The AA man thought it was the diff - having checked the wheel bearings.

It's going to the garage later; are they prone to gearbox problems? If not, it'll be time for a second hand one.

Thanks
 
nope, their gearboxes are rock solid. Is it a whine from the engine or transmission?
 
Transmission. The note doesn't change if you put the car into neutral. Makes a noise above 40mph.
 
doesn't change when in neutral? what makes you think it's the transmission then?

If it's not related to engine speed, then that eliminates the engine but it might be a wheel bearing instead. Without hearing it, hard to say for sure. Never heard of a failed gearbox on one of these... yet
 
AA man said that the diff would still be going round when out of gear. Hence diff. Which is part of the gearbox.
 
Let us know the outcome. And if they can determine the cause that would be useful info
 
Accordial said:
Transmission. The note doesn't change if you put the car into neutral. Makes a noise above 40mph.
if it's anywhere in the transmission the whine should be proportional to road speed, either the "note" or the "level" or both, otherwise it's probably not transmission

might be rear wheels/tyres/bearings, they are well-known for this, especially on the Tourer, can even sound as loud as if a low-flying aircraft is directly overhead
 
Have you had new tyres put on? My accord had hi-fly ditch finders on when bought and they made a horrific noise
 
No new tyres. The front tyres are horrid - garage put them on by mistake whilst servicing - so they didn't cost me anything. But this noise is new, and it got worse over 150 miles until I couldn't bear driving any longer.

Whine is proportional to road speed. It's certainly at the front of the car. More audible on the near side, but then I think the 'box is on that side?
 
It's sounding more like a nearside front wheel bearing to me mate.
 
If it's a bearing the noise will get worse on one side when cornering depending on which bearing has gone.
It could still be a warped cheap nasty tyre though. Try visually checking the surface of the tyres and also run your hands over them. Any lumps and bumps can cause similar noises.
 
>>It could still be a warped cheap nasty tyre though

That's an idea. I might swap the spare onto it.
 
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