Have been having a tiny, tiny squeak in my '96 mondeo 1.8 hatch since literally two days after sailing through the MOT (done at the end of september) with nothing other than a new n/s wishbone.
First thought that the squeak was coming from the n/s wheel hub as I noticed that there was a small amount of play when rocking across the 12-6 axis. Driving along the A47, the "minor squeak" was replaced by a horrible vibration and a sound like helicopter blades going round. Straight back to my local mechanic in the morning who agreed that the n/s bearing had gone, he slapped a new hub bearing in for me. All fine and dandy, no play any more and thankfully, after a couple of hundred miles since, no more helicoptering. However - the squeak was still there.
After much consternation, fully stripping back the n/s wheel to check the brake discs, cv joints, brake pads, spring clips and calipers for any rubbing, I thought I'd check the o/s wheel too, just in case the squeak was playing tricks on me.
Lo and betide, I spot a culprit. In the recess of the wheel arch, along the sides and across the top of the wishbone was a thin streak of grease that looked suspiciously like it could have been squeezed out of a quickly spinning CV joint. Sure enough, I found the smallest of small holes. There's also the tiniest amount (say 4-5 minutes worth, if the wheel is looked at like a clock face) of "roughness" when turning the wheel around about where the hole in the gaiter is. Is the likely to be the source of my tiny squeak?
Obviously I'm going to need a new gaiter on there before long, but as I don't have the appropriate tools to get the damn thing off I've affixed a little bit of "botch job" adhesive tape over the hole. As there really wasn't all that much grease escaped, do you reckon this should be alright for a couple of hundred miles? As mentioned at the start, the squeak is absolutely tiny (passengers in the car claim to be totally unable to hear it) so I'm willing to risk leaving it for a while.
Any rough ideas of how much a new CV joint gaiter fitted would be? Will I be better off investing in the appropriate tools and doing it myself?
And, most importantly, as it's something that would fail it the MOT, is it still legal to drive the damn thing?
John