Noise Coming From The Back Wheel

[sunny747]

HI,

while driving today, suddenly i heard some noise coming from the left back wheel. I checked it but couldn't figure out anything. I could hear it quite loudly when i pass any speed breaker. While on speed , it doesn't appear much.

my car is not that low but when three people sits at the back, the body usually touches the wheel and makes cracking noise.

is it something to do with shock absorber? my car is pretty old.

thanks.

[GayGordon]

Sounds like you have a wobbly rear end !, ..we find that car part are very reasonable in Thailand, if i were you id pop into a repair shop and get them to have a look, im sure its just shock absorbers from what you say,ask for an estimate first thats important, !.,regards, Gordon

[CroBiker]

Check wheel bearing too, even though they make horrible noise at higher speeds.

[Lickey]

Broken coil or leaf spring,

[dumball]

Noises in rear wheels are usualy caused by worn wheel bearings , if your car has rear drum brakes , the retainer springs break on occasion and rub against the drum . Shock absorbers do just that , they absorb the shock of road bumps etc and control the speed at which the suspension works , they work on oil being forced through small holes that slows down progression and stop the vehicle bouncing up and down like a yo-yo . The springs are what keeps the vehicle at driving height and when they become old and weak , the car will sag as you have explained with 3 people in the rear seat .

[lingnoi34]

Wheel bearings!

L

[culicine]

Wheel bearing will cause a constant droning sound. Some kind of knowcking sound would probably be the suspension, such as the shocks or springs. Get that looked ay before you fix your exhaust:)

[stingray]

Wheel bearing will cause a constant droning sound. Some kind of knowcking sound would probably be the suspension, such as the shocks or springs. Get that looked ay before you fix your exhaust:)

Maybe just some rubber bushes at the rear suspensions. Wheel beering not, they woud do constantly noise at higher speed (ocer 60 km/h).

[dumball]

Wheel bearing will cause a constant droning sound. Some kind of knowcking sound would probably be the suspension, such as the shocks or springs. Get that looked ay before you fix your exhaust:)

Maybe just some rubber bushes at the rear suspensions. Wheel beering not, they woud do constantly noise at higher speed (ocer 60 km/h).

Who mentioned a knocking noise ? Noise usually diminishes at high speed due to wind taking the noise away when a wheel bearing is 'Rumbling' . Shock absorbers woud need to be completely wanked to cause a knocking noise , and then generaly only under bumpy conditions , this noise is mentioned as constant .

[goldfish]

It's amazing what you can come across on the internet. I just googled 'iridium spark plugs' and came upon this

http://www.lancerregister.com/index.php

I don't wish to disuade you from posting. It's a bit akin to the sun coming up in the morning, your monthly pleads for assistance are a stable constant, but this website may be able to offer some help. Please keep us updated tho, it brings a little pleasure to my sad and worthless life

[sunny747]

thanks guys.

i went to lancer shop at rama 9. He said some problem with the absorber plate. He fixed all the four place and charged me 4000 baht. first he asked me to changed the absorber and quoted 10,000 baht for some thai made objects. Japanese shocks he quoted for 20000 baht.

didn't want to spend that much money so i went for fixing the thing. He said at least for 12 months i shouldn't have problems. Lets see.

thanks again.

[dumball]

Thank you for giving us the answer , it is not easy to do diagnostics without the patient on hand , what one explains as this kind of noise or sympton can be explained completely different by another person . I am pleased to hear your problem has been solved without too great an expense for an old vehicle .

[sunny747]

you guys were god dam_n right. it was the bearing problem. it was almost crush inside. Anyway, i had it changed with very little money.

But why does it happen? the bearing problem?

[Lickey]

Hi Sunny, you didnt notice a whining noise before? or the foot or hand brake getting worse?do you have your music up loud?

Many questions, and yes wheel bearings will colapse with age but normally with one of the above [whining, brakes] before this happens.

Perhaps you dont have your old car checked regulary, or serviced, a good check over would have picked this problem up [perhaps?]

The reason bearings colapse is that the hub grease seal is very worn, this alows brake dust and road dirt into the bearing causing pitting and whining, for the bearing to colapse it must have been like this for a long time, or poorly adjusted wheel bearings will cause excess wear.

Then you have "sealed bearings" plastic covers over the balls or rollers packed with grease [HMP] again, if these get to hot or old, the cover falls off allowing dirt into the bearing.

Rgds Lickey.

[culicine]

Like Lickey said, have all the important joints/bushes checked for wear. The CV joints at the front have rubber boots covering them (I'm assuming it's a front wheel drive). If the boot ruptures the grease will dry out/be lost and allow dirt to enter. This will cause excessive wear (old joints will get worn anyway, also). You can see these rubber boots easily if you look under the front near the wheels. So if you ever getting a clicking noise on turns, then your CV joints are worn (had to change mine on an old mini in OZ and it isn't so cheap).

Edited October 31, 2008 by culicine

[sunny747]

Lickey and culicine....thanks so much. You two are like magician. You know everything. YEs at times i drive with loud music to fight with boredom in the traffic. I have been noticing the crank noise from the hand brake. Anyway, i have fixed the rear wheels for 1000 baht each. The mechanic said i should do the front wheel too.

i don't know how he fixed it but now my car is really smooth now.

All these names hub grease, seal bearing ...i also need to know in Thai so that i can pretend to be smart with the mechanic.

[culicine]

Actually I don't know all that much about cars, though my dad was a motor mechanic so maybe some of it rubbed off. I just read a bit and have had personal experience with lousy cars haha. I'm not much of a mechanic.I tried to replace the ball joint on my mini only to have it almost unscrew itself 2 kms down the road haha. I'm glad you got it sorted out anyway.

[Murf]

10 grand for 2 back shocks

What exactly did the 4 grand get you?

Obviously didnt fix the problem as you had to have the bearing changed as well...??

[sunny747]

10 grand for 2 back shocks

What exactly did the 4 grand get you?

Obviously didnt fix the problem as you had to have the bearing changed as well...??

10 grand for racing shocks as i went to lancer shop. This garage modifies only mitsubishi lancer in general. And he has got lots of stocks for lancer parts both old and new.

He charged 1 grand for each wheel to change the bearing for my old car. Please note my car is almost 15 years old but in good condition. i'm not sure he will work with other cars but in his garage, all what i see is lancer and lancer.

He can speak fairly good english and pro racer in Thailand. He owns his garage and modifies cars. Any of you interested, ask for K Tum at soi 43 (soi next to lotus) , rama 9 road. His garage is right at the corner linked to rama 9 road.

Edited November 6, 2008 by sunny747

[sunny747]

i need some information from you guys once again. I'm about to install Header for my car in order to get some horse power. As i already have good muffler so a header might be good as per the garage guy.

But what is the pros and cons of installing header? will it consume more gas / oil? can i drive long? is going to make my engine too hot? many questions...

please input if any of you has any answers....thanks once again.

[culicine]

i need some information from you guys once again. I'm about to install Header for my car in order to get some horse power. As i already have good muffler so a header might be good as per the garage guy.

But what is the pros and cons of installing header? will it consume more gas / oil? can i drive long? is going to make my engine too hot? many questions...

please input if any of you has any answers....thanks once again.

I don't think there will be any effect on fuel consumption or the heat of the engine. Obviously if you like to drive it harder after you get the header then the fuel consumption will get worse, but it isn;t due to the header per se. I had my mini heavily modified and the fuel consumption, i think, got slightly worse and I had a modified head and camshaft as well.

Don;t evpect too much increase in horsepower/torque. Maybe lucky to get 5-8HP. You should feel it but it won't be a lot. If you car is manual, I would think there would be more benefit.

To get more benefit you should change the air filter to the washable and reoilable type, like a k&N or similar. These flow a bit better than paper and last forever (almost!!). Some people change to a 'short ram intake' I don;t recommend this as it's too hot here in Thailand, and they tend to suck in hot air from the engine bay (the air is less dense, and thus can reduce performance). They can sound pretty mean though! A 'cold air intake is best for performance though it's risky here as it floods. The air filter is quite low down near the wheel well.

I changed my intake to the k&N in my civic and also modified the airbox. I like it, but not sure if that by itself give much HP. maybe 5HP max. I only have the stock header but also hope to chage that also (for about 7500 baht). You can also ask your mechanic about a high-flow catalytic converter (this causes a lot of restriction and should give you 2HP if you can get a good quality one.

The stock middle pipe should be OK. If you get too large a diameter performance can suffer as well. You would only chage that if you modify inside the engine or go to forced induction.

Good luck! I'd like to know what improvement you get from the header..

[Murf]

7500 for a header!!!???

Serious!?

Maybe i should set up an exhaust place

[culicine]

7500 for a header!!!???

Serious!?

Maybe i should set up an exhaust place

Well you can always for an import like buddy club at a cool 30000 baht 7500 is faily reasonable for locally assembled with robotic welding:) From photos I've seen they look pretty good - as for performance I don't know. But as I told Sunny I wouldn;t expect a whole lot from a header on a fairly standard car.

[sunny747]

Yes you are right culicine. They quoted me 7000 baht for stainless steel header. They will also change air filter like you said and spark plugs. My car is manual so He said i might get at least 10 HP. Al together it would be around 10 including everything which is fair deal i guess.

[goldfish]

Yes you are right culicine. They quoted me 7000 baht for stainless steel header. They will also change air filter like you said and spark plugs. My car is manual so He said i might get at least 10 HP. Al together it would be around 10 including everything which is fair deal i guess.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Why are you trying to make an old, unreliable car go faster? What you should be doing is maintaining it as best you can, driving it sedately, and saving as much money as you can to spend on a new car for when this one visits that ol' scrapyard in the sky.

P.s. Please note the highlighted contradiction in terms

[sunny747]

Yes you are right culicine. They quoted me 7000 baht for stainless steel header. They will also change air filter like you said and spark plugs. My car is manual so He said i might get at least 10 HP. Al together it would be around 10 including everything which is fair deal i guess.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Why are you trying to make an old, unreliable car go faster? What you should be doing is maintaining it as best you can, driving it sedately, and saving as much money as you can to spend on a new car for when this one visits that ol' scrapyard in the sky.

P.s. Please note the highlighted contradiction in terms

I tried to save money and it never happens. I just spend it somewhere and later i don't even realize it. I'm a foreigner here hence i won't be getting any bank loan so getting things on installment is out of question. Like my Thai staff, just gets 12 grand a month and manages to drive better car than me.

Nevertheless, this is the only modification i'll do . And it is wise to modify old cars than new one. I wouldn't dare to touch engine of a new car. It will cost me a lot.

Why not i make my old car faster and challenge the new one? much cheaper right.

[culicine]

Sunny, how is the quality of your engine? Noisy, blowing smoke etc? I ask this because if you are losing compression in your engine you are losing a lot of HP right there. I once had the compression checked on my mini - one piston was down to 20psi, while the highest was 180psi. One of the values was burnt. Once I got the head overhauled I couldn't believe the difference - I would say at least 15HP was recovered, perhaps more.

If it seems your engine is worn (I don't see too many smoky lancers around though), perhaps talk to your mechanic about an overhaul. However I don't know how easy it would be to get parts like valve stem seals and piston rings for older cars like these. I don't want to fill your head with too many ideas, but it's worth considering, especially if your engine is on its way out. Then the header would see more benefit if your engine is in top condition.