A rumbling noise from under my ford escort!?
Answers:
I'm not an expert but i own a 98 escort ZX2 and my dad owns two escorts an 86 and 95 and it could be that your tires aren't seated properly or you could have something loose.
assuming the noise is coming from around one of the wheels, then the most likely thing would be the drive shaft, a more unlikely thing could be the gearbox itself, if the noise increases as you get faster, but does not decrease when you change gear then you can eliminate the gearbox and have the drive shaft checked, to check the drive shaft yourself, jack up the correct side of the car, lock the steering towards that side as far as it will go, grab the drive shaft and give it a wobble, if it has more than a couple of mm of travel then go get it checked out, hope this helps.
If it sounds rotational (speeds up and slows down as your car does) then it is likely to be annother bearing.
There are several bearings that translate the power from your gearbox to the wheels.
Having the wheel bearings replaced was not a bad start if there was a bad rumbling noise before as this is the bearing most commonnly needing replacement and the cheapest to fix.
The CV gaitors cover another joint with bearings inside. If the rubber boot was damaged than the bearings they are designed to protect may have worn quickly.
You may need to replace the CV joints as well. You should be able to diagnose this yourself.
If the rumbling noise is at its worsed when you are turning the wheels at low speeds, then it is the CV joints. If the noise persists when driving in the straight line, then it might be a driveshaft bearing as the writer in the prevous correctly reccomended.
Neither of these should cost more than £200 all in for a garage to fix. They should cost less really.
There is a pretty handy website below that should give you a bit more detail.
Good Luck
Special Raoul
Tire and or bearing noises are heard while you are driving on a smooth road and will increase as you increase speed.
You will hear rumbling when the car is first started but if it doesn't stop when the engine warms up and smooths out, then the exhaust is the biggest culprit.
Your exhaust is held up by big rubber bands; the rubber gets brittle with age and the loops either stretch too much or break. Then the exhaust parts start to bump around and make noises. Check it out with the car on the ground, engine off, shake the tail pipe and if you hear any funny noises, you got it. Take it to a muffler shop or fix it your self.
why dont you just take it to a garage and have it checked out?
Administer some coup de grâce.
This is a common fault on older models, it is called the road !
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