Loud squeal while driving 240 dl

jackielee82 · Post by **jackielee82** » 16 Dec 2006, 17:47

My 88 240 dl sedan recently began squealing once I get up to about 10 or 15 miles an hour and continues until i come to a stop, although if i shift to neutral while driving the sound will go away. The car idles perfectly, and sounds fine when i give it gas when its in park. The sound seems to come from the center of the car. Im not sure how to describe the sound besides a squeal/rumble. doesnt seem to affect acceleration or shifting of gears.Any ideas would be appreciated

Jon

Post by **billofdurham** » 17 Dec 2006, 11:15

What is the mileage and is it manual or auto?

Bill.

jackielee82 · Post by **jackielee82** » 17 Dec 2006, 15:03

Its mileage is around 180k, the meter broke at 150k. Its an automatic. Today after closer listen it sounds more like a whirl/hum that speeds up and slows down with the speed of the car, the thing that seems strange to me is that it stops if i shift to neutral while driving. The car recently sat for a couple months while I was getting money together for alot of brake work.

thanks for the reply
Jon

Post by **billofdurham** » 17 Dec 2006, 15:20

Have you checked the transmission fluid? How long is it since the fluid was changed?

Bill.

jackielee82 · Post by **jackielee82** » 17 Dec 2006, 15:44

I havent actually changed the transmission fluid, but its had a slow leak over the last year and ive kept the fluid between the min and max markers on the dipstick, and the fluid has stayed a healthy red color.The problem didnt occur until my car sat unused for a couple months. Its hard to tell if its transmission, exhaust or rear wheel/axle problems

Post by **billofdurham** » 18 Dec 2006, 12:52

This is a brain teaser, but I think you can rule out exhaust as it should not squeal nor whirl/hum and I don't think it would stop when you drop into neutral.

Rear wheel/axle, again it would probably not stop the noise in neutral as they are still rotating.

Now only engine and transmission left. I would have thought that an engine noise could be induced whilst stationary and revving it hard. So, transmission. I don't want to offend you by asking this but when you check the fluid do you do it as per the instructions in the owner's manual? I have always done this check with the engine hot - after about 30 minutes driving.

Fluid changes for this gearbox are recommended at 45,000 mile intervals. The fluid does lose a lot of its properties with age (aahh, don't we all).

Bill.

jackielee82 · Post by **jackielee82** » 18 Dec 2006, 14:44

Yes i check it while the car is warmed up, still running while on a level street. Today i noticed that the noise also disappears with a very light amount of pressure on the gas pedal, weird.

jr86565 · Post by **jr86565** » 19 Dec 2006, 01:10

What about center bearing and u-joints does it go away or change frequency when you momentarily slack off on throttle?

jackielee82 · Post by **jackielee82** » 19 Dec 2006, 14:54

Yes the sound seems to go away for a second when i let off the gas, and will also go away with the light pressure i mentioned applying to the gas , not even really enough pressure to accelerate. Ive also noticed a whistle coming from what seems to be under the emergency brake, not sure if that would be related or not. I also put the car in neutral today, grabbed the driveshaft and it seemed to have about a centimeter of give moving it back and forth. Im hoping its somewhere in that region and not transmission issues. The tone of the noise does not change but the speed seems to go along with the speed of the car.

thanks for the replies guys
after my local volvo dealership gave me a 1300$ estimate for replacing my master cylinder ( I got the cylinder for 25$, my friend put it on for 50$) I'd prefer diagnosing the problems with help from you guys and having my mechanic buddies work with me to actually fix the problems

jon

Post by **billofdurham** » 19 Dec 2006, 15:25

How I wish car terminology was the same on both sides of the pond. When I saw "driveshaft" I thought 'it hasn't got one' then realised it is what we call the propellor shaft.

Anyway, now that I am in the right place - the movement "back and forth" - is the shaft moving from front to back of the car or side to side? Could you see any appreciable movement at either universal joint or in the support bearing?

Bill.