I'm noticing a new noise like the drone of airplane engines when your onboard the plane. Not super loud, but noticeable. No excessive vibration.

The noise persists in neutral. It's not the engine. No vibration from gearshift.

I inspected the axles and the drivers side axle has some play where it enters the trans when I grasp the section indicated by the arrow.

Should this be dead tight? If not, I'm suspecting this is the culprit.

 

Wheel hub bearing does that.

 

No play in bearings.

Next time one of you is under the car, if you could grab the driver's side axle as shown (the part that enters the trans) and give it a wiggle and report back if there is any play, that would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

A little bit of in-and-out play at the transmission on the drive shaft is normal. That is the clearance for the little circlip.

Wheel bearings do not need to be loose to make noise. They can be tight and still be noisy. I would expect wheel bearings before axel or transmission issues.

 

The best way to check wheel bearing is to jack up the whole front end put the vehicle in neutral take the wheel off and rotate the hub assembly. If you hear any noise at all then replace it. A good bearing will be silent. Some resistance is normal of course but if there is a large amount of resistance it is also an indicator thst it is bad.

 

Thanks, but this is side to side play, not in and out.

I suspect that three way universal.

I'd like to hear from someone as to whether they have side to side play there.

It's more common for noisy wheel bearings to have some play than not.

 

When the CV joint starts going out, you'll hear a clickity clack noise, mostly when turning. When a bearing starts going, you'll hear more of a whirring noise that will increase with speed.

Of course, all that being said, its near impossible to diagnose sounds over an internet forum.

 

Yes, I do understand that.

Again, my hope is that someone with check to see if there is ANY side play in the drivers axle where it enters the trans when gripped as shown in the photo above.

 

Does the noise change with side-loading while driving? Like when driving on a straight section of road, when the noise is happening, with room to do so of course, turn the car slowly left to right, back and forth a few times. Does the noise change in loudness or pitch? If it does, that would indicate a hub bearing going out. And I don't think that inboard CV joint should be dead-tight in the transmission. It will have a bit of lateral movement. I will check mine ASAP, and report back. I need to put my 2011 MCS up on all 4 to do an oil change this weekend at some point anyway.

 

So if you have this light roaring noise while driving and in any gear or neutral while moving. have ruled out wheel bearings and you have 1 axle that moves in/out of the trans alot more than the other axle. My next step would be to remove that axle and inspect the bearing in the transmission.

 

Renchjeep

Thanks. No noticeable change when moving left and right.

The noise is not all that loud and some might think it "normal", but it seems to me to be new.

On Facebook, one person said there should be no play, another that some play is normal.

Again, I'm not talking about in and out or the trans. I'm talking about a side to side movements when the axle is gripped where I indicated on the above photo.

Looking forward to your report! Use jack stands. I don't want to lose you!

 

OK, I have the answer. I was at a Mini dealership to pick up oil filters and the service manager stated emphatically that there should be NO lateral movement of the axle as it enters the trans.

 

Well, mine does have some lateral movement, and I can't recall ever seeing a CV shaft of this type that didn't move at least a tiny bit laterally where it enters the transmission. I tried uploading a video here, but could not. It's not much movement, maybe 1/8 inch? If you send me a PM with your cell number, I can send you the video.

 

lipofskyphotos I have the same issue. It’s a long shot 4 years after this post but I am a newbie and unable to message you directly. Were you ever able to find the source of the noise? Mine is exactly how you describe and “feels” like the vibration is central instead of outward towards wheel bearings. Thank you in advance

 

I agree with the others on this thread who suggest that it's a lot more likely to be a wheel bearing than a munged inner CV axle joint. The inners are under much less stress, unless of course you've slammed your car, in which case they're under a lot more stress, but I'd still suspect the wheel bearings.

Spend $8 and get yourself a Harbor Freight mechanic's stethoscope, and take a listen to the wheel bearings (yes, while gently rotating the wheel back and forth).

 

It turned out that the noise was coming from the wheel bearing, even though there was no play.

Later, I had the same problem with the other wheel bearing I replaced them both.

 

Thank you!