Pigeon in the engine?

[jammer]

Greetings,

I’ve been lurking here for the past week. What a great bunch of people. My ‘89 300SEL has 102,000 miles. Recently I started hearing a low pitched whining/whistling noise from the front. It sounds like a pigeon! I only hear the sound while driving and before the engine reaches normal operating temperature. I don’t hear the sound after driving the car for 10 minutes or so. The sound correlates with speed not RPM. It comes on at about 30mph and makes no difference whether I’m accelerating or decelerating to 30mph. Could it be the speedometer? I have no confidence in the dealer in Tacoma and even less confidence in a local independent parts changer who doesn’t know what diagnostics mean. If anyone knows of a good mechanic in the Tacoma area please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help.

[sbourg]

I wouldn't expect a bad wheel bearing to go quiet when warmed up, but possibly a driveshaft or u.joint problem? Something else to check would be the aux fan bearing. This will likely turn at speed from forced air, and will be affected by the radiator warming up.

Steve

[jammer]

Thanks Steve. The front bearings were replaced a month ago, which is why I’m so unsatisfied with the local mechanic and the dealer in Tacoma. The mechanic replaced warped roters about 11 months ago without recommending replacing the original wheel bearings, which after lurking here for a week I understand could have been done for the cost of the parts. The dealer wanted to charge me $100 to tell me the bearings are gone after I asked them for an estimate to replace them! Back to the sound. I have taped the auxiliary fan with scotch tape to see if the sound would disappear when I drive the car at 30mph. However, with all the snow we’ve been getting here, it is hard to reach that speed safely. I’ll let you know the outcome once the snow is melted, which is forecast for the end of this week

[d2bernhard]

Hey Jammer, MB indies seem to be really hit or miss up here. I do a lot of DIY. I trust Phil Smart, but only some of thier service writers. Price is of course as high as one might expect from the MB dealer. Let me know via email if you want names.

[jammer]

Well, I've heard the voices again today exactly at 30mph. I checked the aux fan afterward and it was still taped, so I guess we can rule it out. Can the drive shaft or the U-joint be suspects if the sound continues to be heard while the car is moving at 30mph in neutral? David, I’ll sent you an e-mail shortly. Thanks for the offer.