Date:         Sun, 29 Dec 2002 20:24:47 -0600
Reply-To:     Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject:      Diagnosing those strange sounds
Comments: cc: WetWesties@yahoogroups.com
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Diagnosing those strange sounds from the driver seat is often more
difficult than one might expect.
I’ve had a slight growling sound that appeared to be coming from my front
wheel bearing.
It was most prevalent at highway speeds on serrated road surfaces but was
always there to some degree.
It seemed to increase under acceleration or engine loading going up hills
or fighting winds.
It was always still there even with the drive gear in neutral and the
vehicle coasting.
I had the tires rotated thinking it might just be an out of balance tire.
In the process of determining the cause I removed and lubricated the
right front wheel bearing, it showed some wear but not enough to cause
the growling. (no burnt or flaking bearings or races).
I also lubricated all four CV joints.
After test-driving it for another five days I still had the noise.
I had a full spare set of CV joints and axles made up so I loaded them up
with grease and installed them today.
Guess what.. I still had the noise.
Needless to say I was pretty put out with having no forward motion on
this situation.
I opened all my cabinets and rearranged all the contents to a no
vibration condition.
The CV interchange program had only taken about two hours and a half roll
of paper towels so I pulled out a set of driving lights from under the
Westy rear storage cabinet with the intention of installing them.
Oh! Rats! I needed some terminal lugs.
I headed out to the hardware store to pick up some terminal ends and I
noticed that the growling had disappeared.
Since I didn’t really believe that these two little lights could be
vibrating and bouncing enough to cause the problem noise, I returned them
to their old location and sure enough the growling stated again.
Removed them, problem gone.
Once again I have been stricken with Paranoid Maintenance Syndrome but at
least everything is now properly greased.

Stan Wilder
83 Air Cooled Westfalia