mystery noise

[hocky]

When I am driving my 1997 C180 Classic 5 speed auto down the road with the driver window open I can hear a soft whining sound coming from the car's side which I cannot pin-point. Could this be worn out bearings, auto box problems or engine problems? The mileage is now 226,000kms. I bought it 2 years ago and have only travelled in it for 1000kms, being a spare car. My other car is a 1994 C180 4 speed auto Elegance with 203,000kms on the clock, but this one has no such noise. What am I up for as far as engine oil change or auto service or new bearings are concerned. What other potential problems are there? The other observation is, with the 1994 car, when I am in gear at the lights, there is no vibrations, no rattle whereas with the 1997 car, at the lights and on brakes, I can feel a rattle in the front and some vibration. Thanks.

 

[imadoofus]

If the soft whining is very soft, could it be a bit of loose trim? inner wheelarch cover, for example.

To my untrained eye, I'd wonder if the vibration is an engine mount.

PJ

 

[hocky]

Thanks mate, I will try to get some indept. advice first from you fellas as well as my own guesswork before I get into the stealers. Trouble is many of the techies want to test the car out first, take things off and put them back on again by trial and error and this takes a lot of labour dollars. Otherwise they will try item by item with spares until it adds up to the thousands and maybe still not fix it. Will just have to endure this odd car behavior for some time before I go in for the fix, thanks.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Is it engine pitch related, or speed related?

 

[Arno]

Try putting some pressure on the brake pedal while driving and listen if there is any change in the noise. Could be that the brake callipers/discs are not adjusted correctly.

 

[hocky]

P o D, I will try to check on this on the weekend and reply to you, thanks mate.

 

[hocky]

Arno, I will check on this on the weekend and reply, thanks mate.

 

[hocky]

Ok fellas, I have taken the car out for another run with the window opened and I found that the noise is from the gearbox in the lower gears. Its a soft whining noise changes with speed as the gears change. Sound loudest in 1st, softer in 2nd and goes away in 3rd, 4th and 5th. This 1997 model has 5speed auto electronic box. When I say loudest, I don't mean really loud, just to describe the difference in the pitch. Reckon this caused by gears which are no longer new (226,000kms), maybe a bit dry due to very infrequent use like once a week or once a fortnite and only for about 2kms distance. Just wonder if trans oil change will make any difference and whether this is necessary. I'd rather not see the stealers as they will beat me to my Bank as usual. I know they will find lots of excuses to have lots of things changed "due to age or wear", and lots of labour will be charged for these and search time too.

 

[Alps]

get your gearbox oil level checked, and then get it changed asap!

best case this will solve it... worst case.. gearbox is on its way out!

 

[hocky]

Thanks Alps, will see that my car visits my favourite indie as soon as I can find the time. This car looks almost like new in and out, thats why I bought it. Hope your suggestion is the right one and my cost only for the trans lube change. Maybe it will also need a filter? My indie has the MB diagnostic computer plug-up so it should be able to tell him and me what else is wrong?

 

[hocky]

Hi Alps, I have already had my auto trans fliud changed, plus filter, new gasket for the sump and renew the red plastic fluid inlet plug lock. Nothing has changed so far, the whine is still there. I think my indie has not changed the fluid from the other part of the trans. However, the error code on the dash after starting has changed from 11 to 8 now??? What's happenning I don't know. This error code display lasts only about 5 seconds and goes away. The new trans fluid has not resulted in any positive changes in the car's running or performance like what a few members have indicated.

 

[bagman1971]

hate to be negative but i had a w202 c180 auto 1997 and the whining was the differential and had to have a new one fitted at great expense. suggest checking this out!

 

[hocky]

C 180 problems

Thanks Bagman1971, what was your car's mileage in kms when this happenned? What was the cost of the transplant of the differential? Thats not part of the gearbox right? 2 days ago I started and the motor hiccuped again and coughed out a code 7 instead? Whats happenning to my car? The error code is going backwards and this is really very distressful. What will happen when it gets to no. 1, will it totally shut down or go into limp mode, who can help me if I am out there in the wilderness? Why has Mercedes made a car like this? Crazy! Today I stepped on the accelerator and it hiccuped, but only for 1 second and it kept running without any error codes being coughed out.