Grinding noise when the trunk is loaded heavily - please advice!

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Hi!

I recently acquired a little Saxo 1.1i from 1999, which I'm currently using to commute to my university (approx. 60 km or 40 miles/day). It has been working fine so far, but yesterday something that made me worried occured:

I and the guitarist in my band was on our way to a gig, with the trunk (and the collapsed rear seats) loaded with heavy amplifiers and other box-shaped, heavy objects - I'd guess we had about 100 kg (approx. 220 pounds) in there.

As I drove away, I noticed a grinding noise (almost like the one you hear when trying to shift gears without disengaging the clutch, but definately not the same) that increased in pitch as the revs were coming up coming from behind, only to disappear as soon as I disengaged the clutch when shifting to 2nd gear.

I continued revving the enginge in second gear and the same thing happened - the same in 3rd and 4th as well. When in fifth I kept the revs constant at around 1800-2000 rpm, and the noise was almost completly gone - until there was a bump in the road. As soon as there was a bump, the sound came and went with the compression of the suspension, but as soon as I pressed the clutch pedal, the noise went away.

Any advice on what this might be? I have a few theories on my own, but I'd really like to hear yours first :)

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And oh, I think I forgot to mention that it feels like the noise is coming from behind, somewhere under the trunk. :-P

[saintsfan]

LOL at 'trunk'

[Toms112]

Your arches maybe??

I had to hammer the little lip up as it rubbed when I had people in the back or lots of heavy shit in the back.

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LOL at posting just "LOL" in a thread...

But yeah, I also thought about the rear tires and suspension - I will give the arches a good lookover when it's brighter outside to look for any spots that have been "polished" recently - thanks!

But also, considering that the noise seemed to follow the engine revs quite well, and also completly went away when the clutch was depressed, could it be a problem with the transmission? Would noise from the gearbox present from behind?

[scorp]

you disengage the engine when the clutch is depressed so it could be the exaust maybe

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I haven't had time yet to get under the car, but according to the previous owner the exhaust was completly replaced within the last months, and judging from the shiny tailpipe, he was telling the truth - and could the exhaust really produce such a high-pitched noise?

[Ashleyp]

saxos have soft suspension, fill the rear up and fell the arches on your tyres

[Bickerton]

Did the car look alot lower when loaded? As could be rubbing on arch liners, what wheels does it have on it as if non standard they may be a little too wide for the rear as drum beam is slightly narrower so with some wheels the inner of the tyres rub within the arches

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I was in such a hurry with the gig that I was stupid enough not to check the ride height, but now as you mention it, it makes perfect sense! The tires are 195 wide, and the trackwidth is almost wider than the car itself, so of course the clearence in the arches must be low!

I'll definately give that a good check tomorrow - thanks! :D

[Bickerton]

I was in such a hurry with the gig that I was stupid enough not to check the ride height, but now as you mention it, it makes perfect sense! The tires are 195 wide, and the trackwidth is almost wider than the car itself, so of course the clearence in the arches must be low!

I'll definately give that a good check tomorrow - thanks! :D

195 with certain wheels will rub on the inner edge on a drum beam 205 gti 1.9's for example, can be easily remedied with some thinish spacers, do you get any rubbing on the front at full lock ever?

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As I came home today, I went around the car and examined the arches/tires, and as suspected, I found a little polished area in the outer edges of both rear arches. There were also corresponding marks on the rear tires, so I think it's safe to say that that's where the noise came from - thanks for you help everyone!

The front wheels are fine, even when fully turned. As my problem is that my track width is to wide, rather than to narrow, I guess there's nothing I can do, except buy new wheels (or avoid loading heavy stuff in the rear)?

[Toms112]

Is the 'polished' bit on the lip in the arch?? and what are you riding on?

[Add91289]

could be a rear beam problem? are the rear wheels bent on an angle or are they streight?

[Bickerton]

What alloys have you got?
Are they rubing on the outer arch or the inner edge by the "trunk"?
As they shouldnt rub atall on the outer as will just cause alot of damager, any inner side rubbing can be remedied by using spacers

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I actually right now don't have a clue of any more specific data than that they are 15" inch tall and 195 mm wide, as I haven't had time to look at them since the previous owner mounted them. I'm however quite sure that it's the outer arch that the tires were touching, not the one at the "boot-side" (since I'm Swedish, I guess it really doesn't matter wether I pretend to be either British or American ;) )

As I haven't mounted them myself, I can't tell yet if there are an excessive amount of spacers already mounted (that wouldn't surprise me though, considering the huge trackwidth), but if there aren't any - what is there left for me to do? What damage could this cause when riding without any excessive load?

[Bickerton]

If possible could you get a pic of the wheels and get the entire tyre size
195- (profile 40, 45, 50 ,55 somehting like that) r15

As a higher profile tyre ie 50 may also be the issue, the wheels may also be the from offset ie a ford wheel etc which do need spacers, if they dont rub all the time theres no issue, if they do rub theres a chance of the tyre blowing out

[devil34uk]

could be the wheel size as my girlfriends 1.1 saxo rubs on the tyres with 2 ppl in the back n i no there 2 wide for the car as i was told when i took it for a mot by a mechanic

[devil34uk]

but it passed with no adviserys. i thought i better ad that!!!!

[Toasted]

Sorry for the late reply, have been busy as hell...

I've just spent a few moments with my saxo, and the tires are 195/45 on 15" wheels - that sounds about right, doesn't it? I'm going to switch to winter wheels sometime next week, and will then find out if there currently are any spacers mounted.

Whichever is the case, I'll have the whole winter to figure out a solution, since my winter wheels are alot narrower :p

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OK, now I've switched to my cute little 165/70 R13 winter wheels, and found that there were no spacers at all behind my alloys - the offset just isn't right for a saxo.. You just gotta love it when the previous owner was too retarted to get wheels that fit - anyone looking for a set of 195/45 R15-alloys with fresh tires, that aaalmost fit a saxo? ;)

[Bickerton]

OK, now I've switched to my cute little 165/70 R13 winter wheels, and found that there were no spacers at all behind my alloys - the offset just isn't right for a saxo.. You just gotta love it when the previous owner was too retarted to get wheels that fit - anyone looking for a set of 195/45 R15-alloys with fresh tires, that aaalmost fit a saxo? ;)

Gonne need yourself premium membership or 100 posts to se the for sale section for wheels fella, 106 owners is accessable straight off but higher chance of getting scammed

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Ah, I see - thanks! However I'm not looking to sell anything just yet, that can wait until summer, and then I'll probably do it here in Sweden. But thanks for the help from everyone in this thread! Wheels are easier replaced than a gearbox :)