Feels Expensive :(

[JakeyCUK]

Hey,

So I went to make sure our RNLI boathouse wasn't flooding this weekend with the high tide and winds. Stayed for an hour with some crew and then decided to leave, anyway when driving off the prom a huge wave came over the sea wall and must have put a good foot of water under my car. I felt the car struggling to stay firing so I dipped the clutch and gave her some revs until the water cleared, which it did. I then drove off but the car feels very very weird now. For the first couple of miles the gears felt oddly spongy, third was really strange, almost like I had filled the gearbox with sand or porridge. That's almost subsided but now the engine has started making a strange whirring noise which is pretty loud, and I'm struggling to set off in first gear with juddering. The juddering starts right at the last part of the biting point, oddly when the car is moving, not when you first start to release the clutch. However once moving the car isn't missing a beat? When I try starting the car it feels like the battery is flat, but it's brand new?

Any suggestions? Anything I can do visually? My dad is taking a look this weekend but wondering whether I need to stop driving it

 

[Bozmeister]

I have also been keeping an eye out on our lifeboat station, due to high sea tidal surges with our crew.

My car also judders heavy when setting off in 1st and when changing in to 2nd but I know it's my release bearing.

My advise would of been, if you thought that water may have compromised your engine/gb ect. that is leave it switched off and to take the spark plugs out and clear the water that way, but obviously as water was breaching that wouldn't of been of your best interest.

My bet would be water/sand/debris has some how made it's way into your bell housing and naffed the clutches surface and bearing, does the noise stop/get louder/stay the same when the clutch pedal is pressed then released?

Thanks

 

[JakeyCUK]

Hi Boz, thanks for the reply! How did you get on at the station? We flooded quite badly last year but managed to dodge a bullet this time! Thanks to the westerly wind it just went side on to our boat house and not straight through it!

Well the noise is constant, like a whirring, it increases with the RPM but does not change with the clutch actuation. Imagine when the car first starts up and you have the initial PAS whine, it's like this but quite "wobbly" sounding, and a lot louder! I want to say the noise is completely unrelated to the clutch but both issues (noise and juddering) have started after the incident

 

[R3k1355]

Sounds like you got some water and crud on the belt, could try cleaning it off see if that helps.
Might just need a good run to dry it all out, as long as you didn't get water in the engine and bend the valves it's usually alrite.

 

[Bozmeister]

It didn't breach us this time thank god. We had already lost our last station to the sea in 2013, but lucky we moved all our assets out before this happened.

I have a feeling this noise might be due to the gearbox, I would drop the oil sooner rather than later. I'll have a think on what else the noise could be and get back to you.

 

[JakeyCUK]

Think I'll park her at home tonight and leave her be until the weekend, I'll post my findings, I mean she's running, and running well but after the replies it's probably better safe than sorry!

What station are you at Boz? What's your role there? o>

 

[Bozmeister]

Hemsby, independent non-rnli, crew member on both boats and assistant engineer

 

[JakeyCUK]

Awesome, same setup as Southport then I'd imagine! Been busy? We've just had a large scale search and rescue for a missing plane that's crashed 3 miles offshore

 

[JakeyCUK]

Progress! Firstly, the gears felt spongy because of sponge lol, sound deadening was fouling the gear linkage under the car, all sorted now. We could not get to the bottom of the whirring noise until I accidentally turned ON the AC and the noise completely disappeared. After trying this a few times it was clear that when the AC was off the car sounded awful, really whirring and I could also head a tinkling metallic noise. Video here, sorry for talking over it but the last couple of seconds you can really hear the difference and the metallic noise, aka "that's that chinking as well"
Air filter was spotless and plugs are dry, car is now running a lot better so I just need to solve this final issue

Thanks all

 

[Gavin.]

Sounds like a knackered bearing/pulley on the auxiliary belt system that.

 

[JakeyCUK]

Thinking the same just not quite sure which, idler or tensioner :S

 

[Dan@SJM]

Does it go with the ac being switched on/off?

 

[JakeyCUK]

Does it go with the ac being switched on/off?

The whirring noise and metalic sound stop when the AC is turned ON :up:

 

[Dan@SJM]

Ac compressor clutch.

 

[JakeyCUK]

Ac compressor clutch.

Spot on thanks Dan! Do you think this could have gone when the water hit the car or just a coincidence? Any idea if these are sold separately or do I need to buy the whole compressor?

Again, thanks a lot pal, after re-googling it that's definitely it!

 

[Dan@SJM]

It's a whole compressor really. It has to come off so no point in replacing just the clutch in my experience (as new ones are bloody expensive when you can get a used compressor for next to nothing)

 

[JakeyCUK]

It's a whole compressor really. It has to come off so no point in replacing just the clutch in my experience (as new ones are bloody expensive when you can get a used compressor for next to nothing)

Brilliant, found a few on eBay for around £25 so that's a lot better than I first thought. Do you think I should keep the AC on while driving?

 

[Dan@SJM]

Yes. 100%

 

[R3k1355]

Whats it mean if it makes a whirring noise when the AC is on then?

 

[Dan@SJM]

That it's not the ac compressor.

 

[JakeyCUK]

Yes. 100%

Ok I'll keep it on until fixed! This is the follow right?

 

[Dan@SJM]

Yes looks good from here