Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,

I've a problem with a 1966 Morris Minor 1000 which is producing a very loud high pitched squeaking / whining noise.

The car makes the squeaking noise when you get to 2/3 miles an hour and gets louder and higher pitched the faster I go. It doesn't make a difference if the car is in gear or in neutral (just the speed i'm going) and pressing the clutch whilst in gear makes no difference. The only thing that does seem to make a difference is if i change gear quite aggressively; the squeak cuts out for a split second when the new gear engages. By aggresively I mean change gear with too many revs and release the clutch quickly

I've checked all the wheel bearings and no problems there. Braking makes no difference neither does turning corners either way.

I've checked the gear oil - levels and quality are fine.

Any ideas?

Cheers

sounds like a dry bearing under load ,do engine revs make any difference at all or just your speed?from the front or back? left or right ?

any grit in the drums?
diff uj's

gear box or clutch got to favourite at the moment

Brake dragging? Does it go if you lightly rest foot on brake pedal? Jack up and spin the front wheels....are they free?? Prop shaft rubbing on something under the car - handbrake cable - something like that? Or perhaps - a broken brake return spring rubbing on the drum........

Get someone to stand outside by the car whilst you drive it backwards and forwards, slowly, so they can tell whereabouts the noise is coming from i.e. front, middle or back. This may help us to help you.

Another thought... has the diff got any oil in it? This could account for the whining noise if it comes from the rear.

also worth checking propshaft bearings

(OH of the OP chiming in)

We've done some more checks so here's the latest:

The squealing noise is definitely coming from the rear of the car, but not from a particular side
It's intermittent - sometimes it disappears for a few hundred metres, last night we went 4 miles with no noise (town driving)
It seems to generally start at a gear change, mostly when into 2nd gear and mostly stops again into 4th, although this isn't a definite rule (ie rolling start in 2nd meant it started in 3rd, carried on into 4th, sometimes it doesn't stop in 4th anyway)
It rarely starts in 1st gear but sometimes continues whilst slowing to a stop, with the squeal making an uneven (pulsing?) whirring noise as it slows

We have:
Replaced the oil in the rear diff (oil was dirty and maybe a bit low - maybe some wear?)
Removed the rear brakes and wheels (no apparent problems)
We think the noise is now quieter than it was before we did the above (or maybe we've just got used to it!)


This is a car that's been standing in a garage for the last 30 yrs so we were expecting some teething problems in the first few months of being back in use... We have access to a spare rear diff so we'll be comparing them, and probably re-checking/cleaning the rear brakes as they seem to be the favourite possibilities at the moment. We'll be having another round of checks at the weekend so any more thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks for your help so far.

ETA Noise isn't affected by engine revs, just seems to be speed

Good to have an update!

Another idea might be this. I had a similar sound in mine a few years ago. It was intermittent and alarming to hear. A small stone, or the like, had become trapped behind the shield in front of the pinion seal. I found it because it eventually tore the seal to bits and started a leak.