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300SDL "Ringing"

Recently I've noticed a ringing noise coming from somewhere in the rear of my '87 300SDL at freeway speeds. It's espec- ially evident when I turn an ear toward the back seat area.

I thought it might be a dragging brake, but applying the brakes doesn't change anything. And it seems to me that if the dif- ferential were about to give up the ghost, I'd hear a lower pitched rumbling sort of noise rather than a high-pitched keening sound.

Any idea what the cause of this noise might be?

Geoff

-- "Kwanzaa bells, dashikis sell, Whitey has to pay Burning, shooting, oh what fun on this made-up holiday!"

Reply to
Geoff Miller
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I would check the "doughnuts" that hang the exhaust system.

The other thing I would check is the bushings (I think they are nylon) on the rear torsion spring/swar bar behind the rear wheels. Do you get a _clunk_ when your rear wheels go over a speed bump?

Reply to
me

You'll feel the diff and smell diff fluid long before it fails.

Sounds more like a wind noise than anything mechanical to me.

Reply to
Richard Sexton

not sure what you might mean by 'ringing', but in the even that you might mean 'whining' rather than ringing like with a bell, it could be your drive shaft support bearing..... does it get worse when cold?

cheers, guenter

Reply to
Guenter Scholz

Whining would be an adequate description. The sound does have a metallic quality to it, though.

Yes, it does! And until you asked, I hadn't noticed that the noise is present when I drive to work very early in the morning when the temps are in the 30s or 40s, but absent when I drive home in the afternoon in 60-70F temperatures.

Assuming the noise is from the drive shaft support bearing, is this something that I should have looked at soon because it could fail catastrophically and without warning, or can I wait until the noise becomes annoying? Is it an expensive fix?

Thanks to all who answered.

Geoff

-- "GHACK!" -- Saddam Hussein

Reply to
Geoff Miller

mine's been doing that for the last few winters.... just appears to be annoying

cheers

Reply to
Guenter Scholz

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