Car Rant

Anyone know anything about cars and the worrying noises they make?

I have a Peugeot 106 P reg and it's only done 57000 miles but last January I heard horrible groaning noises on the motorway. Took it to a garage who said it needed a new gearbox, put in a recon one and charged me 550 quid for it!

I know nothing about cars and I just wanted it to go and stop making the horrid noise but since they supposedly 'fixed' the problem it's not been right.

I've been back a number of times with knocking noises - which they said they fixed by tightening something but it still knocks - I now turn up my music to not hear it. Then a few months back I noticed it started to make a groaning noise when I was doing over 40 mph but decelerating - I'd take my foot off the accelerator and it would start with this noise - put my foot back down and the noise would stop. Weird.

Took it back to the garage and explained it only did this over 40mph and what did they do? Road tested it on Penistone Rd. 40mph limit. Duh. Anyway, for some reason after that it stopped making the noise. They claimed to have been unable to find a problem and because the noise stopped I left it as they told me to 'wait until it gets worse, if we can't hear it we can't work out what it is!' Hmmm.

Now it's started again. I went to Derby for Xmas and it started with the noise again just as I was coming off the motorway and decelerating onto the slip road and pretty much the rest of the way down the A38 everytime I took my foot off the accelerator or just had it lightly on it slowing down and all the way back to Sheffield I was panicking - after all, surely it can't make that kind of painful 'washing machine end of spin cycle' type noise without something falling off!

So it got me home and I need to take it to the garage again but knowing my car it won't make the noise and my warranty on my crappy gearbox runs out in January. Any mechanically minded folk have any ideas?? Maybe my car is like me and just doesn't like it when my foot is off the gas!

Currently saving for a new car...

you take a risk with a recon gearbox... i would be interested to know if they also changed your clutch buring the change of gearbox. If its not that it would well be the driveshaft or differential. Alternatively it could be something as easy as the clutch release bearing which makes a similar noise sometimes.

Not sure if they did the clutch aswell. They did replace a drive shaft as they said that was the cause of it knocking when going round corners.
I think everything that can go wrong has done with this car :(

Lucretia, take it to 'Hutchinsons' on Malin Bridge. They're great and trustworthy, been taking mine there for years.
If work doesn't need doing, they won't, if it does, they will and only whats nessecary.

Go see if your engine rocks excessively...i.e try and rock it. You might have a worn engine mount.

Thanks,

If I can, I want to get it sorted under warranty but as that runs out very soon and the garage I've been using don't seem to have a clue I might have to try elsewhere. Is Malin Bridge near Hillsboro?

I worry about doing more damage to it by continuing to drive it around but if I keep the speed under about 45 it's fine. Which is ok stuck in Sheffield traffic but definitely not happening out of it!

Tried googling and no joy but then 'funny noise' is a bit vague. Shall try a search on 1Man&hisBMW's suggestions so I have some idea what I'm talking about to garage ppl. Or at least sound like I do...

Sounds like it could be the clutch release (thrust) bearing, this whines in acceleration and deceleration and when you depress the clutch if it is worn.... when you had your gearbox changed you should have had your clutch renewed for economic purposes. " Banging" could be many reasons and for the garage to tell you they can't solve the problem tells me they couldn't solve the original one in the first place.... without seeing it I wouldn't have a clue but I would seek out a competent mechanic or get an engineers report on the work carried out if you wish to persue them in court for reimbursement for any future work needed to rectify their botch job.

Best of luck and always ask family or friends for recommendations in the future.... there are a lot of cowboys out there no matter how hi-tech they appear.

After reading the posts it sounds like you have been taken for an expensive ride.
The knocking that you had when turning corners would have been a CV joint not the drive shaft.

The growling noise that you are experiencing could be due to the following.

Wheel bearings, To test if it is the bearings without going to a garage, Freewheel the car when you start to hear the growling noise.
IF the noise persists whilst free wheeling and the gearbox out of gear, it will most likely be the wheel bearings.

One thing puzzles me, It would be normal practice to change the wheel bearings when fitting new CV joints and they should have changed both sides instead of one side as wear to the CV's is normally equal.

If you find that it is wheel bearings on one side, get them to change both sides.
Front Wheel bearings should set you back about £80 plus labour of around 1 hour

Sounds like it could be one of several things then. Eek! My car is falling apart!

I hate going to garages as they can basically tell me anything and I'll be none the wiser and I just know they know this. It's a big garage though with several branches so I thought they'd be reputable. Last time I went they told me my brakes needed doing and when I asked how much they came up with £200 so I said - Leave 'em then!

My uncle had replaced the brake pads about a year ago and he said there was nothing wrong with them and where did they get that figure from.

I just need to keep it going until I can afford a new one.
Thanks for the suggestions all.

Is the noise recognisably from the gearbox or the engine. I know it's tricky to tell in such a small car. It occurs to me that it could be something like a worn cambelt tensioner, or a bearing on the engine. As someone else suggested, try taking the thing out of gear and seeing if the noise comes on when you rev and lift off.

Mainly though, go back to that garage before the warranty runs out and get them to test it properly. Go with them when they test it, even drive it to demonstrate first. Then when it turns up iinsist on it being fixed under warranty. With it fixed, sell the car and buy something else. It has the distinct clank of a Friday afternoon build.

hi
i had this problem a few years ago with a vw polo,i presumed that it was the gearbox bearings and went to guilders (ecclesall rd) a nice chap there told me that there was two bearings in the box and they would be £20 each, i don't recall how much labour costs were,only that the job would be £120+. he actually told me what the job involved,a rather full explanation:o , so i did the job myself,rather than the three to four hours that he said his guys would take, it took me eight hours, this included dinner, umpteen cups of tea and a little head scratching:D ,the bearings were supplied by a friend from guilders (hillsborough)at staff discount (£20 the pair), but only one was needed, so all in all it was a cheap fix, although not all went well, my mate didn't supply any shims and it needed one about ten thou (0,010")smaller than the one that was already fitted, as a consequence, the gear shift was tight when changing from third gear to fourth and back again:mad:

regarding your problem,£200 for changing brake pads REALLY is taking the **** and i would not go back there again if i was you:mad: :mad: :mad:

delboy, the wife had a nissan micra that needed an outer cv joint,i went along to the nissan dealers in the wicker and was told "you have to buy the whole shaft, they don't come apart"
"blocks" was my reply-or rather, a word sounding very similar:D , anyhow they wanted nearly £130 for the lot so i went to wilf jays and got a full shaft (s/h) for £30 that outlasted the car:thumbsup:

lucretia, i would take kay cee's advice and try her suggestion as no one would recommend cowboys (exept relatives & friends) and word of mouth usually means a job well done:thumbsup:

hope you get it sorted soon, john.

joyphil - I assumed the noise was from the gearbox as it's similar to the noise the car was making a year ago before I had the gearbox swapped. It seems to be coming from the passenger side but whereabouts I can't tell.

Trouble is, it's intermittant and I can't guarantee it will make a noise if I take one of the garage guys out in the car with me - they did suggest that but the noise stopped as these things tend to when you try to draw someone's attention to them - like toothache always goes away when your dental appt is due!

Guess I'll just have to tie them to the passenger seat and drive around until it makes a noise. For some reason that always used to be on Mosborough parkway:suspect:

Lucretia_73, Heeeeelp!! I ve just come stumbled across your post on Google, about groaning, or scrapping noises in you car. I drive a 106 too, but my problems started about a month ago.

I m not sure if you can help, but what you describe in your post is the exact same problem I m having. I had one garage fit new headlamps on my car. When I got the car back, they say one of my CV joints metal clips had come loose. There was oil over my wheels. It was funny, because I hadnt noticed it the day before when I was washing my car.

Anyway, fast forward 2 or 3 days later. Thats when I heard the groaning noises. Its noticable like you say around the 40 mph mark, and 60 mph. My exhasut also fell off about 4 weeks ago, and thats been changed, but it makes a hell of a `booming` noise when I do 70mph.

The groaning noise frightens the hell out me too, but it EXACTLY how you descirbe it. Decelarate, and it appears, and when you put your foot down, it disappears. Oddly enough my break pad where chnaged by a different garage, and sometimes when I turn left or right, I can hear what sounds to be `birds chirping`!

Please help. I m at my wits end. Did you find out what the problem was or is?

Hi there! I m not sure if you read your messages anymore, but I FOUND out what was making that screeching noise. It was one od the driveshafts! I took my car to 3 different garages. Only one of them diagnosed what the fault was.

I took my car to Peugeot Ecosse in Bo`ness, Scotland. Got the drive shaft chnaged for £80, reconditioned, and fixed included labour. Overall cost was £135.

Please be careful. Cars have 2 dive shafts. Its imperative you chnage the correct faulty one, or even better. Change them both.

For this kind of money. Its better getting it fixed instead of commiting yourself in buyig a new car.