Let that be a lesson to us all. Elise wheel bearing story...
Discussion
Some of you may remember a thread I started when an Elise S2 joined the family fleet recently. Driving it the sixty odd miles home for my son the day he bought it, there was at least one of the wheels bearings which was very noisey. Soon after, my son bought a new front wheel bearing, replacing the one on the nearside which he was convinced was the culprit. The pictorial story of that work can be seen on this thread I started a while back:~
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Anyway, that new bearing did not provide a cure... car just as noisey!...
... My son then had an idea. As he had found the bearing swap a relatively easy job even for the average DIYer, he used the old bearing removed from the nearside and fitted that to replace the opposite front bearing. RESULT! Nice quiet front end ...
I mention this because something similar happened to me many years ago when my high mileage MG Montego became noisey at certain speeds and in certain gears. One day it would be there, next not there.
Had a couple of pro-mechanics look at and drive the car and both were convinced it was my gearbox which was the cause of the transmission noise. The noise certainly seemed to come from the gearbox area. I bought a known good gearbox from a contact and set to replace the one on my car. Not a difficult DIY job on the Montego. Disappointed to observe no change... that noise was still there.
The only other thing it could be would be a wheel bearing ~ as other things checked out. A manual check of the nearside wheel bearing ~ the one closest to the gearbox area noise ~ showed a healthy wheel bearing. Even the offside front wheel bearing appeared OK when checked but, I was not 100% certain about that one.
Rather than renew that wheel bearing, a lot of work for the DIYer, I decided to swap the whole front hub assembly with a spare I had obtained quite cheaply from a near pristine 43,000 mile "rear ended" later car in a local breaker yard. These later hubs were all fitted with the later superior wheel bearings. The yard quoted so little for the front hub and disc assembly that I removed and paid for the pair as the other side may also need doing sometime. Result! Immediate cure... nice silent car. So, it was the wheel bearing all along and again the one on the opposite side of the car to that which the noise appeared to come from. The other bearing never needed doing even after 153,000 miles when I passed the old girl on. I still have that spare nearside hub assembly...
So both these experiences with the Elise and the Montego involved noisey wheel bearings on the OPPOSITE side of the car from which the noise appeared to come from.
Funny old game cars ...
..
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Anyway, that new bearing did not provide a cure... car just as noisey!...
... My son then had an idea. As he had found the bearing swap a relatively easy job even for the average DIYer, he used the old bearing removed from the nearside and fitted that to replace the opposite front bearing. RESULT! Nice quiet front end ... I mention this because something similar happened to me many years ago when my high mileage MG Montego became noisey at certain speeds and in certain gears. One day it would be there, next not there.
Had a couple of pro-mechanics look at and drive the car and both were convinced it was my gearbox which was the cause of the transmission noise. The noise certainly seemed to come from the gearbox area. I bought a known good gearbox from a contact and set to replace the one on my car. Not a difficult DIY job on the Montego. Disappointed to observe no change... that noise was still there.
The only other thing it could be would be a wheel bearing ~ as other things checked out. A manual check of the nearside wheel bearing ~ the one closest to the gearbox area noise ~ showed a healthy wheel bearing. Even the offside front wheel bearing appeared OK when checked but, I was not 100% certain about that one.
Rather than renew that wheel bearing, a lot of work for the DIYer, I decided to swap the whole front hub assembly with a spare I had obtained quite cheaply from a near pristine 43,000 mile "rear ended" later car in a local breaker yard. These later hubs were all fitted with the later superior wheel bearings. The yard quoted so little for the front hub and disc assembly that I removed and paid for the pair as the other side may also need doing sometime. Result! Immediate cure... nice silent car. So, it was the wheel bearing all along and again the one on the opposite side of the car to that which the noise appeared to come from. The other bearing never needed doing even after 153,000 miles when I passed the old girl on. I still have that spare nearside hub assembly...
So both these experiences with the Elise and the Montego involved noisey wheel bearings on the OPPOSITE side of the car from which the noise appeared to come from.
Funny old game cars ...
..
Edited by MGJohn on Wednesday 13th October 01:01
Similar experience.
In my case 3 out of the 4 needed replacing.....(!)
My rattling story ends in having 3 wheel bearings changed, wheels balanced (by someone who knew what they were doing) and having the car geo'd.
I just can’t believe how a 6 year old car with less than 40k on the clock would need more than 1 wheel bearing done if as the dealer prescribed the car hadn’t been tracked nor been in any incidents where early fatigue ( in my eyes) would occur.
Anyway like OP my story has a happy ending and heading into the winter with HIDs fitted hardtop going on after MOT I won’t have any issues or noises to chase!!
I always feel I should post up my list of things I’ve fixed just as a reminder to anyone who thinks that Elise ownership wont be expensive (because in the large majority it isn’t) that there are cars which at 6 years in will require more attention than first anticipated. I would say on the other hand I am a perfectionist and once one noise has left I’ll pick up on the next resonance but really other than the blerry stg 2 exhaust I couldn’t be happier.
In my case 3 out of the 4 needed replacing.....(!)
My rattling story ends in having 3 wheel bearings changed, wheels balanced (by someone who knew what they were doing) and having the car geo'd.
I just can’t believe how a 6 year old car with less than 40k on the clock would need more than 1 wheel bearing done if as the dealer prescribed the car hadn’t been tracked nor been in any incidents where early fatigue ( in my eyes) would occur.
Anyway like OP my story has a happy ending and heading into the winter with HIDs fitted hardtop going on after MOT I won’t have any issues or noises to chase!!
I always feel I should post up my list of things I’ve fixed just as a reminder to anyone who thinks that Elise ownership wont be expensive (because in the large majority it isn’t) that there are cars which at 6 years in will require more attention than first anticipated. I would say on the other hand I am a perfectionist and once one noise has left I’ll pick up on the next resonance but really other than the blerry stg 2 exhaust I couldn’t be happier.
CooperS said:
Similar experience.
I always feel I should post up my list of things I’ve fixed just as a reminder to anyone who thinks that Elise ownership wont be expensive (because in the large majority it isn’t) that there are cars which at 6 years in will require more attention than first anticipated. I would say on the other hand I am a perfectionist and once one noise has left I’ll pick up on the next resonance but really other than the blerry stg 2 exhaust I couldn’t be happier.
Yes, folks should always do this ~ that way we all learn. I wonder if owners enthusiastically using these little cars' superb cornering ability stress those wheel bearings ~ they are quite a size and should be up to the job on any car weighing so little. Thinks, are there any Elise owners who are not car nut enthusiasts ... probably a few only...I always feel I should post up my list of things I’ve fixed just as a reminder to anyone who thinks that Elise ownership wont be expensive (because in the large majority it isn’t) that there are cars which at 6 years in will require more attention than first anticipated. I would say on the other hand I am a perfectionist and once one noise has left I’ll pick up on the next resonance but really other than the blerry stg 2 exhaust I couldn’t be happier.
Gooby said:
Shock - you owned a montego?
Calm down dear....I strongly deny that accusation ... "A Montego" ..singular.... How very dare you Gobby!!
I have owned a number of Montegos since shortly after they first appeared over 26 years ago and have no hesitation in admitting it ..... proudly.
I currently own four... all Turbos ... five until I sold one last year. Why so many... because the great and knowing out there in UK car consumer land have advised me to always have a spare, ideally more than one as Montegos are so unreliable ... like most things British I suppose ... and they all break down daily.
Thing is, in twenty six years of driving Montegos ~ various specs ~ and fifty years driving TRU-Brit cars like them I have never ... repeat NEVER had an unreliable British Built car. Unlike alien built stuff ~ including of German origin ~ company cars forced on me by management which have left me stranded by the roadside on a number of occasions over all the years. When allowed a choice, much to the urine extraction of more senior work colleagues, I have chosen TRU-Brit built product...and never had problems ... except when losing them being commandeered by more senior colleagues when their "superior" alien choices spend long periods in the workshop for expensive remedial work. Know nowt plonkers... far from unknown in UK management... Buying foriegn ....Good for the economy and all that providing employment for ... just a mo., but not much within the former green and pleasant...
British workers and management ... here's a good example.... enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a9OAvqyjn0
It's enough to put anyone off buying british ...
There you go Gobby person ... bet you're glad you stopped by... serves you right ... and if you're one of those plonkers advising NOT to get a Lotus Elise with the Rover K-Series .... I shall return with considerable verbal abuse ... just for you...
The K-Series was No. 1 on our criteria of what an Elise must have..
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MGJohn said:
Gooby said:
Shock - you owned a montego?
Calm down dear....I strongly deny that accusation ... "A Montego" ..singular.... How very dare you Gobby!!
t .... nope- didnt like it. It hated me too so I left it in the tree that it slid into with those crappy binary brakes Here you go - buy british
Edited by Gooby on Thursday 14th October 16:04
Gooby said:
MGJohn said:
Gooby said:
Shock - you owned a montego?
Calm down dear....I strongly deny that accusation ... "A Montego" ..singular.... How very dare you Gobby!!
t .... nope- didnt like it. It hated me too so I left it in the tree that it slid into with those crappy binary brakes .
..
MGJohn said:
Gooby said:
MGJohn said:
Gooby said:
Shock - you owned a montego?
Calm down dear....I strongly deny that accusation ... "A Montego" ..singular.... How very dare you Gobby!!
t .... nope- didnt like it. It hated me too so I left it in the tree that it slid into with those crappy binary brakes .
..
My son bought a DeCat pipe off ebay ~ Listed for the S1 Elise. He has an S2. However, he discovered the S1 Elise's Cat dimensions and mounting flanges are the same as his workhorse daily driver Rover 620ti.
When working on his Rover's exhaust system a while back, one of the Cat's studs sheered off ~ not surprising as his car is fourteen years old with over 175,000 miles on the clock ~ so was only clamped with two of the three studs and there was a slow blowing exhaust. He removed the Cat today and fitted the DeCat pipe ~ a perfect fit!
No exhaust gas leaks there now. He paid all of £1.50p plus £5.00p post and packing for the DeCat pipe ....... good old ebay.
He can now sort the sheered stud on the Cat at his leisure.
The old Rover sounded nice as he drove off ~ I drove it yesterday and it drives as well as my own 620ti with a mere 77,000 miles on the clocks ... 100,000 miles less!
..
.
When working on his Rover's exhaust system a while back, one of the Cat's studs sheered off ~ not surprising as his car is fourteen years old with over 175,000 miles on the clock ~ so was only clamped with two of the three studs and there was a slow blowing exhaust. He removed the Cat today and fitted the DeCat pipe ~ a perfect fit!
No exhaust gas leaks there now. He paid all of £1.50p plus £5.00p post and packing for the DeCat pipe ...
.... good old ebay.He can now sort the sheered stud on the Cat at his leisure.
The old Rover sounded nice as he drove off ~ I drove it yesterday and it drives as well as my own 620ti with a mere 77,000 miles on the clocks ... 100,000 miles less!
..
.
nsm3 said:
Will it pass an MOT with that de-cat pipe in or is that just a temporary fix?
It's got more than nine months before the MoT is due.... the cat will be sorted meantime ~ sheered stud removed and replaced... He's going to see if the DeCat has benefits... performance ... economy ... sound. Too early to decide at the moment. I know it sounds nice.It's unlikely the car would pass the emissions on the MoT with the DeCat but it is possible as I've known that happen with other Rovers. I shall take it to my friendly MoT station and see what the emissions are like with the DeCat. I've used him for nearly twenty years and he helps me occasionally at the end of the day by hooking a car up for emissions check ... FOC. I've also used his car lifts at the end of the day before he locks up. So much easier to do those quick under car jobs with the car high up on the ramps...
I bought a tidy 620ti a few months back and it has a long MoT ... my only concern would be emissions which are always an unknown quantity on a recently obtained used car. He connected it up to his emissions equipment and the car showed a clean bill of healty breathing ... again FOC and he even provided the print out.
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