Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh noise from under car

[RJ80]

Hi all,

My '79 Spider has developed a rhythmic "whoosh-woosh-whoosh" sounds that seems to be coming from underneath the car and increases with vehicle speed, not engine speed. It sounds like something is rubbing per revolution of... something. It's not a whine or click, or growl so much as a dull "rubbing" noise. It's become increasingly louder in the last 400 miles that it's pretty intolerable at this point.

Of course I'll be jacking the car up and having a look around. Besides the guibo/center support bearing/u-joint area, what else could I be looking for? Since a search didn't really turn up any similar noises, I'm wondering if it's something silly -- like something that's loose and just rubbing on a brake rotor, driveshaft or axle.

Thanks for any tips...

[azruss]

the last time i had something like that it turned out to be a big piece of plastic that wrapped itself around the drive shaft and part of it melted on the exhaust pipe. Also check the wheel wells and the wheels for something jammed in there.

[seabeelt]

Check the brakes. Could be a pad

[RRoller123]

yeah, warped disk would do this if hitting pad each revolution of the wheel.

[RJ80]

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll get some time Friday to have a look and see what I can find. Will report back.

[RJ80]

Ok, so I set the car up on stands and took a look underneath. Everything seems fine to me, no obvious signs of anything creating contact. I spun the wheels and checked for issues, then started the car up with the rear wheels in the air and ran it through the gears. I heard a noise then, but it sounded somewhat different. Checked underneath and the parking brake cable was hitting the driveshaft since the suspension was at full droop.

Jacked up the transaxle enough to avoid touching the brake cable, started it up, ran though a couple gears, no noise.

Shut it down, grabbed the rear wheels and tried to move vertically and laterally on both sides of the car -- no movement, so probably not a wheel bearing.

Started rotating the driveshaft and couldn't find any play around the u-joints. Then grabbed the section of driveshaft that bolts into the transaxle (just behind the rearmost set of u-joints) and found that there seemed to be a small amount of play there if I rotated the driveshaft one direction, then the other. How much play is normal? Could this be the cause of the noise? I don't hear a "whining" noise like others describe with a bad transaxle.

[RJ80]

Update: went for a 5 mile drive or so. Remembered the noise doesn't start until I've been driving for a while and gets gradually worse. Also realized it's really coming more from the front, I think. Got back home, jacked up the front end, and the left front wheel seems to have a slight bit of movement in it, as opposed to the other three which have none. Maybe just a front wheel bearing?

I don't think this is an engine-based noise as it doesn't disappear with the clutch in and the engine at idle while the car is in motion. It also increases in frequency with the vehicle speed, not engine speed.

[4uall]

If it is, this might help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LC9MxUCvI8

Good luck with it all

[RJ80]

That's a great video! Thanks very much for posting.

[bradartigue]

Sounds like the front wheel bearings to me, especially with the play you noted.

[RoyBatty]

Backing plate rubbing on inside diameter of wheel?

[RJ80]

Thanks guys. Went ahead and ordered new inner and outer front wheel bearings, seals and axle nuts for both sides from Vicks Auto. Should arrive later this week and I'll probably get to the install the week after that.

[RJ80]

Guys, just wanted to let it be known that the driver's front wheel bearing was the culprit after all. The video post above was a great help in doing the job, but I had to take the hub with the bearing races to a local shop for removal after multiple hours spent unsuccessfully trying to drift them out. The owner of the shop had the old races out with a punch in about two minutes and it took him a couple careful minutes each to press in the new races after he had spent about 10 minutes locating the right size metal driving blocks to use. Total cost: $10 (and well spent).

The rest of the job was buttoned up in 30 minutes after I got home and a test drive revealed that the noise is completely gone. Thanks for everyone's advice!