No. Forgot to mention the loading. I had, all told, perhaps 600 pounds of
gear people and dog. Negligibly more than when I left last week, despite a
week of eating and drinking.

The sound seems to emanate from the front end. THe vibration can be felt in
the floorboards and gear selector but not so much int he steering column.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jim Felder <felder@knology.net>
Date: Nov 25, 2006 9:38 PM
Subject: Re: Unidentifiable sound
To: mordo <helmut.blong@gmail.com>
Cc: vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com

Are you heavily loaded? I'd have the tires checked whether you are
heavily loaded or not. I drove from NY to Alabama with a load of
household goods, and it definitely made my rear tires louder, so much
so that they had to be replaced.

Jim

On Nov 25, 2006, at 8:24 PM, mordo wrote:

> I've just completed 880 miles on my 90 Carat and almost all was
> well...except.
>
> Yesterday, driving around Corolla, NC the bus was running great and
> I was
> having a great time. Today, prior to leaving for Baltimore, I
> checked fluids
> and the tensions of the belts, etc. Almost immediately on the road
> I noticed
> an unfamiliar sound and felt its corresponding vibration. My first
> thought
> was front wheel bearing as i had recently had them repacked by a
> questionable mechanic. At my first stop, I checked the temp of the
> wheels.
> Nothing abnormal there.
>
> My next thought was tire noise. I thought perhaps treads had become
> distorted from bad alignment or some such. No, they're fine and
> they aren't
> abnormally warm either. Then my thoughts went to transmission as
> all other
> systems are operating normally. Coolant temp normal, transmission
> shifting
> smoothly, etc. So, I don't think its transmission.
>
> As I became more fixated on the noise, it of course seemed to get
> louder and
> the vibration at my feet greater. I'm baffled. The noise is like
> the sound
> of offroad tires ont he pavement. It begins to be audible at about
> 25 mph
> and grows louder as speed increases. I still am thinking it might
> be wheel
> bearings but I figure if they were bad enough to make that kind of
> noise,
> they'd be smoking hot or comppletely kaput after 350 miles at
> highway speed.
>
> Any thoughts, citizens of the list? There were no unusual events to
> associate the new noise with am I am stumped.
>
> --
> mordo
> 1990 Carat
>

--
mordo
1990 Carat