300ce rumble sound from rear of car

[Wally George]

I just picked up a 1991 300ce with 32k original miles on it. I drove it home which was over 1300 miles and it ran great! However, I hear a rumble sound towards the rear of the car at about 50 MPH and above. This car sat for a long time without being driven and is 11 years old. I am not sure what is causing this sound. The rumble is there when I put the car into nutrial as well. The tires that were put on it about a year ago are Cooper and have an aggressive tread design. Is it possible that the rumble is tire related? How about shocks or other suspension related items?

I am hoping that it is not a rear end problem of some kind...

Thanks for any help that you can give me.

Wally

[jjrodger]

Have you checked to see that the wheels are on tight?

Warped discs?

rear alignment (toe-in is addjustable, don't think Camber is, see Ashman's posts on this)?

Finally, rear diff?

[Ashman]

When you mention rumble, do you mean a vibration type of feeling/sound, or a rotational WUH WUH WUH type of sound.

If it sounds like an out of round tire, it may just be that the tires need to be high speed balanced or balanced on the car.

Try rotating the tires front-back and see if the noise is still there.

Otherwise you might be looking at a bushing that may be dry and cracked or worn, or the possibility of a bad shock perhaps.

I would have the suspension checked, balance chacked, and 4 wheel alignment checked.

In my case, I have a sound like an out of round tire, but my wheels have excessive toe in from a visual apperance. mine is more of a rotational noise, like an unbalanced tire, only my tires are in balance, and I get my noise at any speed.

Mine may be differential noise, but to me its more likely crappy tires and out of alignment. if afte rI fix that stuff the noise is still there, I'll work on differential.

Perhaps yours is a problem with the driveshaft being out of balance or a bad flex disc.

If the car sat a lot, have the rubber in the suspension / drive shaft checked.

Alon

[-fad]

rumble when moving (not parked):

...other possible culprits to easily check out:
>driveline
>rear end (no fluid or not enough fluid)
>rear wheel bearings (left & right)
>tire pressures (too high)

good luck and let us know what turns out
-fad