406oc.co.uk

Ahhh...what else can groan, croak and generally drive me mad other than my beloved (but not for very long if this continues) 406?

Took my parents to Cardiff airport yesterday at 2am and on the way there I accelerated to 95mph (noone on the road, you see...). At that point something LOUD made a mad squealing noise. We all jumped up wonder what the duck that was.

On the way back I thought I'd accelerate to 100mph again and lo and behold there was that loud squeal again. It's not always there, but seems to occur at over 90mph (haven't heard it below that). It sounds like it's coming from the passenger side front wheel, but I can't be certain and sounds like the wheel is scraping on something. My initial thoughts were maybe the wheel arch liner came lose in the wind at high speeds and is hitting the wheel itself producing the noise. I had a quick look this morning but couldn't see anything glaringly obvious that was loose. It's raining here so I didn't jack my car up for a closer look.

Any ideas what it might be? I've never had it before and certainly didn't have it before my little spin in Ggggermany 2 weeks ago. Thinking maybe that dislocated something? There's definitely no wheel play as I checked that the day after the spiiin. It's definitely not the engine, as it doesn't happen in higher revs in lower gears and the noise is still there when I dip the clutch. There's no shuddering or vibrations of any kind and the car drives as normal. In fact, if I was completely deaf, I wouldn't know about any of these problems!

The car is in for a service on Wednesday and so far I have given Alan (the mechanic) the following things to do:

1) MOT
2) Service
3) Whining noise from the engine which I still didn't get around to looking at (almost 6 months later)
4) Cam belt and water pump replacement if the above doesn't cost too much!
5) Any other issues which will no doubt arise during MOT!

Now I have this squealing sound. Grrr... Any ideas what I should check if I get the chance before Wednesday or should I just tell him about this problem?

There you go Niz... now you don't need to be so bored. Fix my car!

Thanks!!!

CJ

You say there is no wheel play, yet have you jacked the car up and checked for any play?

I'd suggest checking the condition of the caliper and the disc, does the noise go when you brake? is it only in straight lines that this happens or do you get the noise when turning ?

Your CV joint could be buggered... we know the squeeling comes from a moving part, something rotational.. and so the only options are:

Wheel bearing
CV Joint

Without inspection its anyones guess !

I have checked all wheels for play by jacking the car up after my spin incident 2 weeks ago. They were solid as a rock. I haven't had the chance to do it now since it's still raining

I guess I'll mention that to the garage when I take it in on Wednesday. It would be difficult the check if the noise goes away when I brake - yes it would, cos I would slow down to below 90mph and the noise isn't present then. This wouldn't tell me whether it's the brake caliper that's causing it. Your second question also has the same problem - I can only go straight at over 90mph! However, I did try turning gently left and right to "wobble" the car but I couldn't find a set pattern to the noise.

One other thing though, since you're mentioning brakes. Since I had the brake pads replaced in July-ish, they tend to squeal a bit when braking, but as I said earlier, I haven't noticed the squealing at high speeds.

Have you checked your wishbone bushes, front and rear?

If the rubber is split through then you will get some noise, just not sure you would hear it at 90mph+. Have you noticed any uneven wear on the tyre?

Captain... you need to start loving your 406 and not abusing it lol Just kidding !

No I haven't checked the wishbones. Again, no time! The noise is LOUD... properly loud. You really can't miss it. Tyres are pretty new. Only done about 6k miles on them.