Whales in pain steering noise

[Secondtothird]

Hello all,

Have the seemingly familiar moaning whales steering noise approaching full lock at parking speeds. I've followed the very useful info on the forum here and liberally greased the ends of the steering rack, and had a go (albeit perhaps not very well) at the joints on the shaft from the bulkhead I could see.

Noise still there, worse if anything. Seems to be louder when turning right, not hearing much if anything going left. I'm thinking possibly a dry bearing in one of the front strut top mounts, so will try that next, just wondering if anyone here has been able to cure their noise with the front top mounts, or whether this is just wishful thinking!

Thanks
Owen

 

[enuff_zed]

Have you tried going fast over a Humpback bridge?

Sorry........................ :roll:

 

[bigwinn]

Owen I think you are addressing the right things- I can’t think of much else to look at?

 

[smorris_12]

Sometimes this can be the rack seals and other bits of the innards. There are various bottles of jollop that can be put in the fluid to soften the seals and quieten things.

My Jag S-Type had this sort of problem and there was a factory fix of such stuff.

 

[Drunkpanda42]

I did - similar issue, creaking noise from the drivers side - cracked the cover off the middle of the top mount, sprayed liberally with GT85 and problem solved - took a few turns to work it’s way around the bearing

Nice and quiet now

 

[Secondtothird]

Thanks guys, GT85 ordered!

Owen

 

[BumpyZ4]

Removed the boot on the rack and lube the exposed gear teeth. That's what cured my dying whale noise. I know it's hard to believe but it works.

 

[Secondtothird]

Hi Bumpy, yeah that was the first thing I did and no dice, unfortunately.

Owen

 

[thecremeegg]

I think it's something to do with where the steering column comes through the bulkhead as I had the same issue, and no greasing of the rack fixed the issue. I was having power steering issues and in solving them removed and then re-fitted the steering column, which in turn made the noise go away.
I have then since actually replaced the column with a new one and the noise is back, albeit not as bad as it was the first time. The only things that are different are either the plastic sleeve where it comes through the bulkhead, where the column screws into the UJ in the engine bay or the fact that in fitting the column I wiggled the steering rack in a new direction.
I would try greasing up where it comes through the bulkhead first and go from there.

 

[Secondtothird]

Thanks thecreme, I tried the aforementioned method with lubricating the top mount bearings, and it's worked the last couple of weeks, though the real tester will be later on, there's always one driveway angle it does it on, so I'll report back!

Thanks
Owen

 

[enuff_zed]

Whilst I have not done this myself to the top mounts, I have changed quite a few and am familiar with the construction.
My concern would be that whilst this is a short term solution it may actually dilute and wash out the grease that the bearings originally have around them?
If this cures the noise then I think I'd consider trying to force more grease down into the bearing rather than potentially wash it out with a thin spray.

 

[Secondtothird]

Yeah that was my thought when doing it, I figured it might be worth it as a test to see if it fixed the issue before repacking/replacing.

Owen

 

[Secondtothird]

Well, entered the driveway it always moans on yesterday for the first time since lubricating the top mount bearings and voila, no noise. So I think I can safely say in my case it is the top mounts which were having a little moan.

So next step is to repack the bearings, I've only ever repacked wheel bearings on my old Hilux, but was thinking it didn't look too difficult to pack the top mount bearings as they're vertically accessible and obviously the dust cap just pops off nice and easy.

Would I be wrong in thinking it's a simple driveway job to pack some extra grease in there by hand?

Thanks
Owen

 

[enuff_zed]

Well, entered the driveway it always moans on yesterday for the first time since lubricating the top mount bearings and voila, no noise. So I think I can safely say in my case it is the top mounts which were having a little moan.

So next step is to repack the bearings, I've only ever repacked wheel bearings on my old Hilux, but was thinking it didn't look too difficult to pack the top mount bearings as they're vertically accessible and obviously the dust cap just pops off nice and easy.

Would I be wrong in thinking it's a simple driveway job to pack some extra grease in there by hand?

Thanks
Owen

Should be that simple, but you may want to jack the front up and turn the steering from lock to lock as you're doing it to work it in a bit better. Simply packing it and driving off, you're not so likely to ever go to full lock.

 

[Secondtothird]

Yep, great stuff, thank you.

Owen