Whinin' & Moanin' '88 240

No ideas?

"Michael Cerkowski

Drive train?

"Michael Cerkowski "

next time you hear the mystery sound, try changing the temp setting on the heater control... Sometimes on my '89 240, I get a sound that appears to be flow-related when I have my heat on (obviously, in cold weather). Unlikely, but easy to check for!

m9876c at yahoo dot com

Did you ever find out what it is? I just started to have it intermittently on my '87 240!

eCaVeMaN

Perry Noid (nice!) wrote about the infamous whistle related to the heater system. That stops momentarily when you adjust the temperature control, but there is some speed-dependence to the pitch. Drove me nuts when I drove my 240 in the winter for the first time. "What's that noise!?!?!?"

The driveshaft bearing will continue to make the noise if you pop into neutral and coast, unlike transmission noise. That could help isolate that (at least with an automatic- dunno whether that would work with a manual). Wheel bearings often sound different turning one way or the other.

Yes, sounds like hanger bearing noise symptoms to me too.

I've been following the responses on a browser that can no longer post to usenet. I'm skeptical of the heater valve, because my bat-like ears tell me that this is a bearing noise of some sort, and involves too much mass to be a whistling pipe or valve. Still, I'll try what was suggested when next I drive the car, on Friday. The carrier bearing seems the most likely culprit; I just wasn't sure that it would display that much noise, do it only in very cold weather, do it for several years, and still not vibrate...