Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:49:22 -0700
Reply-To: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: New Noise coming from under the body
In-Reply-To: <EE6DB086-16E9-453E-AAD6-B6162766F18E@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Tires are round?
Tranny mount?
Can you describe the sound? Is it really metallic sounding, or "whump" or?
A second set of ears would really help to nail down which side it's coming from.
Although not the most comfortable thing to do, and I"m NOT sure if it
is adviseable, (list?) IF the Vanagon was *safely* up on stands, maybe
you could take it through the gears and watch listen.
Neil.
On Sun, Apr 20, 2008 at 10:25 AM, Robert Stewart <robertmstewart@mac.com> wrote:
> Hey Everyone,
>
> Strange Noise started to occur from the bottom of the van, having a
> hard time figuring out where it is coming from and when it occurs.
>
> This past friday driving from Brooklyn to upstate NY I started to hear
> this loud banging under the van at higher speeds, at first I thought
> it was coming from the front wheels, then later it sounded like it was
> coming from the rear. I was driving me nuts and still is.
>
> I pulled off the road, got under the van and could see nothing caught,
> loose, dangling or otherwise improper in appearance. The noise went
> away when the van was idling and would sometimes stop all together for
> no reason.
>
> A couple of times I thought it was due to accelerating, then I thought
> it was due to turning to the right, but it then stops while doing
> these things. Ultimately very confusing with now leads on how to
> diagnose the issue.
>
> I took the Van to my local mechanic, we put it on the lift, checked
> all the tires, wheels, the front and back wheels to see if we heard
> any noise, NOTHING, Quiet as a mouse.
>
> Checked the exhaust, we saw the new S&S exhaust system I put on 6
> months ago had a piece of metal bre spinned ak off where it was
> connected to the muffler, it was a simple 2 inch piece, he welded it
> on in 5 minutes. Good as new.
>
> Checked for anything loose under the carriage could not find anything!
>
> We looked at the steering, sway bar, briefly looked at the disc brakes
> and everything seemed ok.
>
> I drove away and it sounded fine. 20 minutes later it started making
> the noise again!! I got out checked the Muffler again to be sure it
> was attached and it was! So it was not a rattling muffler, this
> morning I got under the van an again checked for all the pipes to
> solid with no wiggle, they are all rock solid!
>
> What is going on!
>
> It sounds like something hitting the frame and vibrating up to the
> front, and appears to be coming from the passenger side to me. It
> comes and goes and sounds at times likes it tied to the rotation of
> tire as the timing of the banging seems to coinside with speed ratio.
>
> Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? Any leads?
>
> Also one other question What Power steering Fluid should I be using? I
> was really low yesterday and NAPA said I could use Valvoline long life
> (for extended older vehicles).
>
> Thanks in advance for any insight you might be able to share.
>
> --
> Rob
> NYC/Bloomingburg NY
> 88 Wolfsburg, Silver
> 234,000 miles - automatic
> AIM: rmstewart@mac.com
>
--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia - "Jaco"
http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
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