406oc.co.uk

My car is an 1999 HDI 110 estate.
It's recently developed a noise from the front nearside when on left lock. I wear hearing aids so couldn't identify the source until this morning. I took it to a car park and with my missus in the passenger seat went round in left hand circles at a brisk speed and she reckons it's the front nearside wheel area. The best I can describe it is a constant noise somewhere between a whine and a grinding sound, NOT a knocking nor clicking. Nothing on R/H lock.
I'm guessing CV joint but haven't had a chance to check the wheel bearings yet as she's pinched the car for a coupla hours.
I'd be grateful for any comments/ ideas/ suggestions please.
I'm confident enough with the spanners and have a reasonably well equipped shed with compressor, impact wrench etc, so will have a go at it myself once I identify the problem.
Also any recommendations on parts suppliers once I know which parts I need?
Many thanks in anticipation guys.

usually if you catch the click sound early the car will be fine with just a new CV gaitor on .

if you inspect both sides you will see grease on one were it has all leaked out the cv boot. (this is the one that needs replacing).

also dont replace it with a kit that can be glued together.

a proper full peice cv boot kit is whats best to use.

the drive shaft will need to be removed from the disc for the new gaitor to be put over the drive shaft . this is fer easy any decent DIYer should be able to remove it. just be carefull the drive shaft does not pop out of the gearbox or gearoil will leak plus you risk damaging the gearbox driveshaft seals when putting the driveshaft back in .

try www.eurocarparts.com free delivery and very cheap quality parts.

Gary, thanks for your reply and sorry for the extended delay in responding, been a wee bit hectic of late.
Well the thing is it's not a clicking noise but like I said a constant whine/grinding kinda noise so I'm not too sure what it is.
I just chocked the front end up and removed both wheels, then turned it on full L/H lock, put it in gear and revved a bit - result? no noise!!!
Thinking that this could be because there's no loading on the joint I then did the same whilst applying a bit of brake, still no noise though.
It's definitely got worse over the last few weeks, although in all other respects it's fine.
I thought I'd take off the rubber boot covering the CV joint but it's got jubilee type clips securing it, only thing is they're not the kind you unscrew to loosen off and I can't see how to remove them without destroying them. BUT, whilst trying to do just that I put a very slight nick in the boot and immediately grease started oozing out. This was whilst the nick was positioned at the top of the boot, so not just dribbling out the bottom if that makes sense. Leads me to believe there's heaps of grease in there.
I'm stumped, what would you guys do next?

How long have you had the car??If its a recent purchase the joint may have been packed with grease to stop any noise before selling it.I dont think any should come out of the top of the boot,as theres only about a table spoon of grease in the cv joint/boot.
It could be the wheel bearing,but i`ve only changed the rears on mine,the whole hub/bearing,which was easy enough.
I`ve changed 2 cv joints on the front of mine,both on the l/h/side.The first lasted 15 mths before the boot went & the joint went.The last time i changed it just before xmas,i got the whole cv joint off ebay for half the price of any where else.I got 2 cv joints as they were cheap,currently keeping one as a spare.Very good quality kit in my opinion.I`ll post the ebay link at the end.
Changing the cv joint is easy if,as you said you are confident on the spanners.Its along the lines of,
remove road wheel,slacken hub nut(36mm on mine,no deep socket needed on mine)remove brake pads & 2 bolts holding on brake caliper & remove caliper out of the way,seperate lower ball joint on bottom of the hub,remove hub nut & hold the driveshaft while pulling the hub outwards to disengage the driveshaft from the hub.End of the driveshaft in the hub may need a smack with a hammer.Once disengaged,simply pull d/shaft from gearbox.Now i did`nt drain the gearbox,i just put a tray underneath to catch any oil,& topped up g/box oil when all fitted back together.As mentioned there are some seals in the gearbox end,but i had no probs with them.
The cv joint is held onto the d/shaft with a snap ring.I held the d/shaft in my workmate,(or vice)then hit the cv joint with a hammer to remove from the driveshaft.
Its all fairy easy,& all covered in the Haynes book of lies I can get it done in about 40 mins or so now.I`m in Bristol if its any help.

oops forgot
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PEUGEOT-406-2-0-2 ... 20aed82c27

Thanks for your reply Hammerman, but I'm now only slightly confused/relieved/ and a touch embarrassed.
After my wee driveway diagnosis which I reported on the other day, I replaced the wheels but didn't take the car out till yesterday, no noise !!!
I'm now convinced that something was simply rubbing when on l/h lock, but I removed the wheel again and can see no signs of the tyre rubbing anywhere, nor anything else for that matter. I took it too the car park again and put it on full lock and drove round in tight circles as fast as I dared, nothing. So - happy but as I say, slightly embarrassed.