Noise and vibration!
 

Returning from Spain, I noticed that there was a buzzing cyclical noise - more like throbbing! - which varied with speed, being less noticeable at low speeds, but then increasingly noisy above 40mph, and seemingly resonating with the bodywork. For instance noisy at 60 mph, but then quietened down a bit at 64mph, increasing again thereafter etc. The vibration could be felt throughout the body, especially noticeable on the handbrake. On one stop to pay at a peaje, there was a small but distinct smell like burning rubber, possibly from the left-hand side of the car?

Investigation on a ramp at a local garage did not reveal anything of note, except the Spanish mechanics were amazed at the amount of rust underneath! "Sal" he said! It was hard to localise the noise whilst driving, and it definitely got somewhat louder as the miles passed (around 2,000 of them!). I was just grateful we made it home!

Anyone care to hazard a guess as to the source of the noise and vibration? I should add that the Tourer was very heavily laden...all those old vinyl records weigh a ton!

Observations on the trip No.1: French drivers will move out to the outer lane to slow your progress if they see a lorry they want to overtake about 300 meters ahead...

Observation No.2: Sheer volume of traffic invariably leads to nose to tail crawling along on all motorway carriages, even where there are no accidents. Only takes one idiot to slow down thousands! The M6 from the toll road onwards was a car park today!

Observation No.3: In France, you will pay about 80 euros in peaje fees to presumably reduce your journey time and distance travelled on the way to Spain...fair enough, although 80 euros will just about fill your tank up...except, fuel on the services of peajes is about 35 cents a litre more expensive than your 'normal' garage, and the chances of eating a three course + drink "menu del dia" for <10 euros, as available at non-peaje service stops is non-existent. So peajes do cost more than just the toll fees!

Observation No.4: The price of fuel at British motorway service stations is as high as 25 pence or more a litre more than "ordinary" garages. So £12 to £15 more to fill up your tank. Daylight robbery!

Observation No.5: Overall mpg according to the computer was 41.5 mpg for the trip from Malaga to Scotland. All bar 50 miles or so on motorway, at speeds generally of around 75 to 85 in Spain and France; in the UK, the mpg improved mainly because of the many road works and miles covered under 50mph road restrictions!

Observation No.6: Do not rely on a route planner app on your phone to navigate anywhere! Many times my phone lost the GPS signal, or no wi-fi, and consequently I found myself way off course too many times to count! There were even road signs in the Navarre district in Spain telling you not to believe your sat. nav!

Observation No. 7: On the last 100km or so of the autovia into Le Havre from Alencon, there are no garages! So don't be brave like me and end up slowing down to about 50mph to eke out the last few kilometres once your "fuel low" warning light comes on just as you've gone past the last garage! How I made it all the way to Le Havre, doing maybe an extra 30 km even when the "Range" said zero, I'll never know!

Burning rubber smell for me very recently was the crankshaft pulley disintegrating.

Was it expensive to repair?

Btw, don't think just because you have a British reg. car, you will not get caught with speeding fines...I had one waiting for me on my return (100 euros fine), and no doubt there may be some more on their way :(

Fill up with fuel BEFORE the motorways.

Take sandwiches.

Don't break the speed limits

Buy a sat nav.---Believe it most of the time.--:D



There you go; just saved you a fortune.--:D



PS. The sat-nav will cost less than the fines that are in the post to you at the moment.---



PPS.. Almost forgot---------Crankshaft pulley is dying.

:D

I did fill up before the motorway...but when you're doing over a thousand kilometres, your tank does run dry...

As for sat.nav, I somehow managed to disable my iGo app, and google maps only worked for so long - I had issues with data from my phone, which it needs from time to time as well as a GPS signal...but thanks for the sandwich advice, only I'm not sure Brittany Ferries do them, and the 'Hotel' I stayed in was unoccupied - at 20 euros a night, you don't get much service! :)

Crank shaft pulley is dying? - well, I had best get that seen to asap, if that indeed is the problem :(

No helpful comment on the fuel consumption? Before I set out on this trip, I was comfortably expecting 50+mpg, but I guess my heavy right foot put paid to that idea. I'm not sure how slow I would have to go to get 50mpg, but whatever it is, it would not make the journey plausible in under 3 days. Extra day in the sunshine = well worth the cost! :)

Just back from the local garage. I was hoping it would be the crankshaft pulley, as Rimmers have them in their clearance sale for £18.. :)

However, turns out it is a rear wheel bearing :( Where can I buy one of those please?

Having done some research on the forum, seems drop forge bearings as recommended by Marinabrian is the way to go. Trouble is, I cant tell drop forge from cast steel or machined mild steel, so I'm going to go with https://www.autodoc.co.uk/snr/1928929# and forget trying to find something similar for less money.

Drop forged actual original equipment supplier........

https://cdn.autodoc.de/thumb?id=1928...n&ccf=34077766

Machined mild steel rubbish........

https://cdn.autodoc.de/thumb?id=7179...n&ccf=34077766

well, the bearing kit has arrived, and looks nothing like the one I ordered i.e. drop forged as recommended by Marinabrian. Mine is supposed to be SNR as in his first photo, but actually says FAG CN and F - 805925 02 and 2007 N 173 CT on it. I have yet to master adding photos to the forum, but here is a link to them:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...pPb0U1Y1RKUXZB

This is not what I thought I ordered. Most unhappy. I have written to AutoDoc to complain and cancel the order. But as I need my car, I will have to fit this in the meantime - more needless expense! Someone from the Club told me this would happen...

To make the day complete, I received yet another speeding fine in the mail, this one from France, claiming I was doing 143 km/h....how could I go that fast with a knackered wheel bearing?? :(