Loud noise audible at highway speed (never notice before)

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kaplan3jiim@comcast.net - 26 Sep 2007 05:15 GMT

While driving home late last night on a deserted interstate, noticed
my 97 Brighton Wagon(AWD, 158,000 miles) making a notable deep noise,
coming from somewhere on the RHS of the vehicle. Couldn't tell
whether it was front or back (just me alone in the car). It did seem
to vary a little according to my speed, increasing with speed,, and
also quieted and increased somewhat on its own at times, all while
going straight. Within this general deep noise, was at times an
occasional muted thumping sound - as best I can describe it - but I
felt nothing. Noise may have been around a while - I just ran out of
radio to listen to last night and that made any car noise more
audible. It was pretty alarming to hear although in the course of 130
mile drive it didn't worsen, just got softer and louder.

I'm not a DYI'er (beyond oil and air filter changes) but am trying to
figure how to proceed. My WA guess is the noise could be drive shaft
or even something from the exhaust system itself and the latter might
be easier to find on examination. Suspension?

I know that even experts hearing a noise can't always determine what
it is.

Any suggestions as to possibilities and as to how urgent it might be?
I don't want t spend a fortune on something that could be noisy for
10,000, 20,000 miles, or more, but not risk failure. Although the
current plans are to keep this car UFN.

TIA

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Clive - Selectron - 26 Sep 2007 09:43 GMT

Been there.
Try braking hard from speed and note if an
increase in volume of the mystery noise.
If so it may be a tire has worn 'out of round'
ie flats around the circumference which is
not uncommon on AWD and 4x4 vehicles
so I was informed by the tire fitter.
New rubber cured the problem...and it's
happened on my WRX twice so audible warning
to fit new rears! Fronts not affected apparently.
Road surface types will alter the noise.
Then again it might be something entirely different
like wheel bearings.

Clive P Norris
Managing Director
Selectron (UK) Ltd
Musical Equipment Distribution.
www.skullstrings.com
www.espguitars.co.uk
www.emgpickups.co.uk
www.tube-shop.com
www.coreoneproduct.com
www.whirlwindusa.com
www.espshop.co.uk
"They laughed at Newton,
they laughed at Einstein,
but they also laughed at
Bozo the Clown."
Carl Sagan

Signature

Clive P Norris
Managing Director
Selectron (UK) Ltd
Musical Equipment Distribution.
www.skullstrings.com
www.espguitars.co.uk
www.emgpickups.co.uk
www.tube-shop.com
www.coreoneproduct.com
www.whirlwindusa.com
www.espshop.co.uk
"They laughed at Newton,
they laughed at Einstein,
but they also laughed at
Bozo the Clown."
Carl Sagan

> While driving home late last night on a deserted interstate, noticed
> my 97 Brighton Wagon(AWD, 158,000 miles) making a notable deep noise,
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
> TIA

Reply to this Message

kaplan3jiim@comcast.net - 26 Sep 2007 10:43 GMT

I can check that. However the tires, Goodyear Triple Treds, with
35,000 miles, have been rotated regularly at 5-7 k mi intervals.

The wheel bearing had been replaced in the rear, right I believe, once
about 30,000 mi ago. As you mention it, the sound at the time before
that was somewhat similar, except for the "thumping". Maybe going
again - although it shouldn't at 30,000 mi.

Jim

>Been there.
>Try braking hard from speed and note if an
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>Bozo the Clown."
>Carl Sagan

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spamTHISbrp@yahoo.com - 26 Sep 2007 13:45 GMT

On Sep 26, 4:43 am, "Clive - Selectron" <cl...@selectron-uk.co.uk>
wrote:

<snip>

> If so it may be a tire has worn 'out of round'
> ie flats around the circumference which is
> not uncommon on AWD and 4x4 vehicles
> so I was informed by the tire fitter.

<snip>

> Clive P Norris
> Managing Director
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Bozo the Clown."
> Carl Sagan

<snip>

Did they give a mechanism for this?

Dave

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Clive - Selectron - 26 Sep 2007 15:39 GMT

Somewhat vague explanation but a combination of suspension
setup and all wheels driven...the tires wear out of round.
Landrovers amongst others get the same problem they say.
I've experienced this twice, same car different make tires.
The first time I was having a little 'go' with an Evo and had
to brake at maximum from around 110 mph which produced
an appalling howl from the back of the car. It was so loud the
guy in the Evo nearly twisted his head off looking for the source
of the noise!
It was so bad I was in the dealer next morning for a bearing/diff/brake
etc check. I didn't suspect the tires as tread was still legal.
They said it probably was uneven tire wear so I had them checked
and the tire shop confirmed the tires were out of round etc.
New tires solved the problem.
It happened again as that set wore...road noise gradually increased
and got louder as speed increased so I realised it was the same problem.
New boots fitted again and no noise.
I have no idea what the tech explanation is but it's happened to me twice
but only as the tires are coming to the end of their life tho' still legal.
Dunno!

Signature

> On Sep 26, 4:43 am, "Clive - Selectron" <cl...@selectron-uk.co.uk>
> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
> Dave

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David - 26 Sep 2007 13:58 GMT

>While driving home late last night on a deserted interstate, noticed
>my 97 Brighton Wagon(AWD, 158,000 miles) making a notable deep noise,
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
>TIA

Exhaust hanger?

Reply to this Message

houndman@phonom.net - 26 Sep 2007 14:45 GMT

On 26 Sep, 03:15, kaplan3j...@comcast.net wrote:

> While driving home late last night on a deserted interstate, noticed
> my 97 Brighton Wagon(AWD, 158,000 miles) making a notable deep noise,
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
> TIA

Is this a road you have driver before, and recently, does the noise
happen all the time at those speeds, could it have been the road
surface? I have a new Impreza wagon and Never heard the noises I am
hearing from other cars. The other day I heard a whistling sound and
thought it was a wind noise, but it went away, so figure it might have
been from the road surface. One I was never on before. I have heard a
Clicking sound when driving over a section of new concrete. It looked
like a big patched surface, and even strangely colored in areas, like
it was stained brown.

I'd make sure the sound is on all road surfaces, and see at what
speeds it occurs.

VF

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VanguardLH - 26 Sep 2007 18:56 GMT

> While driving home late last night on a deserted interstate, noticed
> my 97 Brighton Wagon(AWD, 158,000 miles) making a notable deep
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> 10,000, 20,000 miles, or more, but not risk failure. Although the
> current plans are to keep this car UFN.

So what does "deep" mean? That you could feel it through your butt in
the seat while also hearing it (i.e., you can both feel and hear it)?
Or that it is low frequency?

Wheel bearing.
Stone, bolt, or other protruding object stuck in tire tread.
Stone stuck in dust shield for brakes and rubbing against rotor.
Worn u-joint.
Rusted out hole in exhaust pipe or muffler. Hangers rusted out and
muffler banging around (how rough was the road?).
Grooving in the concrete road to let water drain off and provide an
edge in braking.
Unbalanced tire. Maybe you lost the lead weight used to balance it
before.
Dragging a body underneath. ;->

By the way, you do realize, right, that you are providing your e-mail
address to spambots that roam newsgroups to harvest them?

Reply to this Message

kaplan3jiim@comcast.net - 27 Sep 2007 04:45 GMT

<snip>

>By the way, you do realize, right, that you are providing your e-mail
>address to spambots that roam newsgroups to harvest them?

I am providing an address. I have no idea whose it is, but it is not
mine. Hopefully no one's.

Reply to this Message

Catherine Jefferson - 27 Sep 2007 16:17 GMT

> <snip>
>> By the way, you do realize, right, that you are providing your e-mail
>> address to spambots that roam newsgroups to harvest them?
>
> I am providing an address. I have no idea whose it is, but it is not
> mine. Hopefully no one's.

It may be someone's, unfortunately, and the domain definitely exists.
That means you'll have spambots targeting that domain, and plugging up
the email "pipe", even if the address does not exist.

If you want an email address that doesn't exist and will never exist,
just create an address at example.com, example.net, or example.org. For
example :-), you could use kaplan3jiim@example.com. Any attempt to spam
that would result in the spammer's own mailserver failing to find the
mail server for the domain example.com, and not sending email.

</OFFTOPIC>

Signature

Catherine (Hampton) Jefferson <ariel@spambouncer.org>
The SpamBouncer * <http://www.spambouncer.org/>
Personal Home Page * <http://www.devsite.org/>

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kaplan3jiim@example.com - 28 Sep 2007 03:00 GMT

<OFFTOPIC>
Thanks for the suggestion. Done.
<OFFTOPIC)

><OFFTOPIC>
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
></OFFTOPIC>

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VanguardLH - 27 Sep 2007 18:14 GMT

> <snip>
>>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> I am providing an address. I have no idea whose it is, but it is not
> mine. Hopefully no one's.

Then why even provide a legitimately syntaxed e-mail address. Use
<somename>@example.com or <somename>@<somedomain>.invalid. Those are
special e-mail addresses which can never be assigned (example.com and
.invalid are reserved for testing are are not deliverable). That
means no spam can ever be delivered there. Unless you feel compelled
to take newsgroup discussions offline by going to e-mail (which
disconnects the remainder of that thread from other users), there is
no point in using a legitimate e-mail address at all.

If you want to provide a legit e-mail then munge it. However, ALWAYS
munge the domain *first* and optionally munge the username. Munge the
domain to one that isn't even registered. That means spam will never
be deliverable because that domain doesn't exist so there no receiving
mail host to accept the mail session attempt from the spamming source
mail host. Don't do youNOSPAM@domain.com. Instead do
you@domain-NOSPAM.com or youREMOVETHIS@ANDTHISdomain.com (provided
neither domain is registered).

The fact that you use a username that could be legitimate and a domain
that does exist and is also active exhibits irresponsible behavior.
You don't go energizing spam at a domain (hence why you munge the
domain first) and you don't go energizing spam at an potential
innocent.

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