I'm getting a noise that sounds like it's somewhere up front.

It seems to be related to roadspeed/wheel speed rather than engine RPM. It seems to be most noticeable at around 18mph on the speedo when accelerating slowly and it does it in a straight line as well as when turning.

If I'm between 20 and 30mph and let off the accelerator I get the noise as I'm slowing down but the noise is faster. When this happens it's more "wuhwuhwuhwuh" than "wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh".

Hoping someone recognises my attempt at replicating the noise :P

Have you had your front wheels off? Tyres - worn or a bulge somewhere?

Is the noise sided at all? (ie O/S, N/S) - wheel hub?

Drive shaft UJs if not? or Diff?

Not really sure why it would speed up as you slow down....

I was thinking along the same lines as oilmagnet, tyre bulge or something like that. Do you feel anything through the steering?

Sorry, poor description.

It's faster in the scenario I mentioned because the road speed is higher.

The noise starts slow and speeds up as the car does. Most noticeable/loudest when speeding up at a moderate pace at just under 20mph. Past 20mph it kinda blends in to a whir/whine.

Letting off the accelerator between 20-30mph makes the noise a noticeable wuhwuhwuhwuh again.

Tyres are fine, swapped them around yesterday following my thread about the worn outer edge (swapping them has done nothing for the pulling to the left issue :( ). No bulges or uneven wear except for the very edge of one tyre.

It sounds mechanical, possibly central. Fairly sure it's forward of the seats, could possibly be under them but I don't think so.

I can't feel anything through steering that feels associated with the noise.

What do the following sound like when they fail?

Diff

Transfer box

Viscous coupling

I've had a failing wheel bearing before on a different car and that was a constant noise rather than a pulsing one. It also sounded grindy. Anyone had a pulsing wheel bearing noise?

Tried to catch it on video just now but I could barely hear it myself. It seems to be more prominent when there's more weight in the car - we've travelled off to the coast for the weekend loaded up with two adults, a baby, suitcases, toys, pushchair, kids bike, travel cot etc.

It was definitely more noticeable with all that in the car. I was on my own with an empty car for the video test. It does happen when I'm on my own though. I've been hearing it slightly for a while.

I've had a wheel bearing do the "wah wah wah" type noise before, but in almost every case it was at much higher speeds and would notably change if you applied steering input.

Given your noise is related to road speed, but also seems load dependant, i would probably think its something in the driveline? A noise from a tyre wouldnt change if you lifted off the throttle, but a noise from a diff or prop would. My rear diff makes a howly sort of drone type noise if you lift off the throttle at motorway speeds for instance.
My old car had a damaged pinion on the front diff and it howled under load but went quiet when coasting.

I guess check the front prop and its flanges and the output/input bearings?

Does sound like one of the Universal joints on the propshaft to me, I had one fail and that would squeak and squeal at times, Also caused a thump as drive was taken up (which I'd thought was the handbrake sticking at first, that was only really noticable when changing direction of travel - Parking mainly going from reversing to park and stop, then drive to pull away later)

Thinking about it a bit more, since it doesn't change with engine speed I think I can rule out gearbox/transfer box since the noise would change with gear changes if it was those.

Leaves me with diff, prop joints, viscous coupling and wheel bearings.

A guy in my Land Rover club has a spare front axle with a known good 4 pin diff going spare since he moved on to an L322. He said it would be easier to fit my new ball joints to that then fit the whole axle to the car.

If I've got suspected bad wheel bearings and/or diff then it sounds like a no brainer to take this axle and fit new ball joints and wheel bearings to that. I can fit new UJ's when the prop comes off to fit the axle.

That should take care of everything besides the viscous coupling.

Highly unlikely it's going to be the viscous coupling. You've not done anything to cause it to fail and even when seized they don't make a noise, they just make the car hop sideways on full lock. Swapping the complete axle and new UJs should change whatever it is that is making the noise.

Apart from the drive side of things, could it be a loose heat shield flapping under the car, i had an engine tray make some similar noises once before

Don't laugh but it's also worth checking your wheel nuts. And it's free!

I'm fairly sure it's not the heat shields. It's not a knocking/flapping noise.

I think I can rule out wheel nuts too. I swapped the front tyres side to side, torqued the nuts properly and the noise was still there.

I'm just going to go with the plan of swapping the entire axle and see how it is then. The axle I'm looking to get isn't a 4 pin diff after all but I'll still go for it. Just trying to work out a price with the guy.

I dunno, swapping the whole axle sounds like a right PITA, it must be coming from somewhere specific - you could put a few bluetooth microphones on the underside to try and track it down. Do you definitely have P38 wheels ie not in need of spigot rings, and with proper P38 wheel bolts. It took me longer than it should have to work out that my P38 came with the wrong wheel nuts (but the right wheels, so they didn't fall off in the meantime). I replaced a P38 diff (rear) but that was just whiny, and made a clunk going from fwd to reverse. Not sure what the front diff would sound like. If you removed the front prop for a run that might help narrow things down ?

My main problem is I don't know what wuh-wuh-wuh sounds like :o)

romanrob wrote:

My main problem is I don't know what wuh-wuh-wuh sounds like :o)

I wasn't sure how best to describe it and that was the best attempt at onomatopoeia I could come up with for it :P

Tried to get it on video but it really doesn't show up. It gets drowned out by all the other noises the microphone in my phone picks up. It picks up all sorts of rattles and creaks I don't hear myself!

I'm now wondering if it might be a CV joint. I heard a faint "click click click click" noise when I was coasting in traffic along side the central reservation this morning. Opened my window and it got louder and sounded more like a "tink tink tink tink". It went away when I pressed the brakes and came back when I let off. It either went away or was drowned out by engine and wind noise when I was accelerating. Could hardly hear it when the central reservation was gone so it must have been bouncing back at me off that.

The cabins on these cars are too well insulated from the outside world! They block out so much sound that just don't hear things that might be going wrong.

I'll have a look at these bluetooth microphones. Any recommended ones?

I think I can rule out the wheel nuts. They wuh wuh wuh was there there before and after I swapped the front wheels side to side and re-torqued the wheel nuts correctly.

Took another video but I'll have to wait until I'm to upload that.

https://youtu.be/KSs0vI41jks

I'm still none the wiser after your vid :o) I had the same problem trying to catch my RR making a noise, as you say, drive beside a wall and the difference is dramatic. I'm afraid i have no mikes to recommend, although you can get professional kits 2nd hand on ebay, but I suspect you're better off with a cheap BT mike. If it is a cv joint then I'm sure you'll spot it as soon as you jack it, and/or disconnect the front prop completely to see if the sound disappears. Happy hunting

That does sound like its one of the universal joints on the propshaft to me. Should be easy to check, when mine went you had a fair bit of play in the shaft (lift the front wheels up, and see how far you can rotate the propshaft on the joints). Also had it only happening on accleration or at least with the throttle held down slightly, would stop as soon as I lifted off the gas.

My UJs are squealing :(
Sorry but the vid isn't easy to diagnose - do you have any quiet roads nearby?

Yeah, the video isn't great. I can just about hear the tick tick tick noise as I know what I'm listening for. The wuhwuhwuhwuh isn't audible there at all.

There's a few quiet roads nearby but it hasn't stopped raining heavily for over 24 hours now!

I think I'm just going to go with the "replace everything in the front axle" approach. Either through new parts or through fitting the new axle. I already have the new ball joints and I've agreed a price of £50 for the front axle including diff, drive shafts/CV joints, hubs etc.

If that doesn't change anything it means it's engine/gearbox/transfer box and that's whole different thing to worry about if it comes to it.

if you are going to remove the front assembly take out the front drive shaft and check your unis and also go for a quick drive and see if the noise is still there. never know it might save you alot of work.
just a thought have you got any rocks in your tyres as they can make funny noises at times , try blowing them up to max and go for a drive , it might fly out