Did the noise start shortly after the crash? The dealer may be right about an alignment issue. It may have taken a few miles of driving before the problem started. Sounds like it would be hard to convince either the dealer or insurance to help you out here.

 

Yea, I started noticing it about two weeks after so it's interesting to hear you say that it might not pop up right away. An alignment affecting the differential? wow. Perhaps the good news is the body shop has said they'll put it on their alignment rack and should be able to dedictate if any part of the frame became misaligned in which case I've notified the insurance company of the possibility. They can't start work until the 11th because they had a hard time getting parts...

 

I was running Goodyear Eagle runflats and had the same noise. I switched to Kumho Ecsta MX non runflats and Voila, the noise is gone. It appears that the runflats treads start cupping and creat the noise. My Goodyears were cupped.

 

Took it into P&W MINI, and told them I thought it was a bad right rear wheel bearing. Turns out that was the problem. They replaced the part under warranty AND quelled a rattle in my dash, all at no charge. Fierce!
Even better, if you work in the Pittsburgh area, they'll shuttle you to and from your workplace for free. P&W is awesome! (Thought I saw the labor rate I'd have been charged for the work if it wasn't under warranty - $98/hr? Wow. . . )

 

Congrats!

 

I'm happy for Revolver1978.
My wop wop continues, however, so I continue the thread.

The bodyshop completed their work. They had it on their chassis alignment rack & found all points to be dead-on. Since the oscillations persist when under power or coasting (in or out of gear) and since frequency changes when turning left or right, they believe it to be a wheel bearing. And they (the bodyshop) don't believe it due to the collison (they dont' really care either because they do do anything but bodywork).

Now, back to the dealer tomorrow for thier diagnosis. The first time, when the dealer listened for wheel bearing noise (after putting ont their rack & spinning the wheels at 30-50 mph), they heard nothing. But the bodyshop said that was probably because on the rack with the wheels spinning in the air, there is very little load on the bearings. Does that make sense? I would think it would be a lot easier for the dealer to change out a bearing than change the transmission/differential module...

 

Bearings will make more noise under load, which is why a "test" to check for a worn bearing is to turn and listen if the noise gets louder or softer. If you turn right and the noise gets louder, it's the left wheel bearing (the one under load). You should be able to hear front to rear pretty easily too.

Do you have any friends or neighbors with another set of tires you can throw on (snows, perhaps) to see if the noise goes away? That would eliminate tires as the culprit...

 

Seems to be a lot of this going around. I've replaced both left side wheel hubs on my '02. First the rear and then about a month later the front. I'm at 42k miles. They're super easy to replace, about 30-40 mins each with the front being closer to 40 mins. They run about 160-180 bucks each.

...Les

 

DixonL2, The last time I had it in the dealership, they swapped a set different set of tires on & the noise cointinued, ruling the tires out.

Turn to the left, and the wop wop goes slower and soft (almost going away); turn to the right and the wop wop becomes louder and faster.

 

You got something wrong on the LEFT side of the car.

 

The dealer has diagnosed the problem to the differential as they suspected all along. Not collision-related - which means no fight with insurance or the dealer - Great Day!

They decided it wasn't collision-related because - get this - the tranny fluid was clear not reddish. How did THAT happen?
This car (7,000 miles) has never been serviced. Could the factory have put the wrong fluid in?

 

Probably not the wrong fluid, but maybe not enough of it. Glad they're able to help - ask politely if they'll check for trans wear while the car's in the shopw, since making that noise may have caused additional wear on the components - but at least all's still under warranty. Good luck with that - when is the repair?

 

Repair is scheduled for a week after next (allowing time for the part to get in AND my one year anniversary to hit so the oil can be changed at the same time under warranty).

The whole tranny/diff is going to be swapped out, so where might there be additional wear?

 

They're swapping the whole thing? Very cool, and cool of them to give you the 1yr service at the same time, though you shouldn't have to wait on that, sounds like you're "close enough" time-wise.

Good luck - glad they're taking care of you. That should cover any wear items unless it's a wheelbearing or CV joint, in which case you'll have the new trans/diff AND get the wheelbearings/CV joints taken care of (which is also good).

 

I know this sounds odd, but my '02 has the same "engine noise" to it. At least I think anyways.

It sounds more like a jet airplaine when accelerating- low in pitch, then increases pitch throughout exceleration. This happens only when I have the AC on. If I turn off the AC... No noise.

Maybe not related, but anyone searching this forum for propeller whining might come across this as well.

 

By chance are you married? My wife makes the same noise when I drive a bit spirited.

 

Yes, and I think you're mixing acceleration (spelled exceleration by Roeri) with exhilaration. For a MINI, the two go hand in hand.