Whining Noise - Mercedes C280 elegance | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

Tue 27 Jun 2006 12:47

Whining Noise - Mercedes C280 elegance - Shiner

I have Mercedes Benz C280 elegance ( W202) bought new in 1999 and regularly serviced by MB dealers. I notice a whining noise most of the time but it disappears at speeds in excess of 75mph.My MB dealer cannot find anything wrong but I am worried . What should I do. The car's done around 40000 miles.

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Tue 27 Jun 2006 13:24

Whining Noise - Peter D

Eaplain more would be a good start. i.e. is it engine related or road speed related. Travel at speed and dip the clutch and let the engine fail to idel does it still whine. What type of whine is it, when does it start, how long has it been doing it. Do you think it is coming from the gearbox, the engine, the whells, back front, the Air con the blower. Regards Peter

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Tue 27 Jun 2006 13:57

Whining Noise - Aprilia

Yes, can you 'play' it on the throttle?

Lots of Mercs suffer from diff whine - even from brand new. Typically it varies as you ease on an off the throttle and is loudest around 55-65mph and/or when easing off the throttle in traffic around 30mph.

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Tue 27 Jun 2006 15:41

Whining Noise - Peter D

Just read my reply. Boy there are some typos in that one. Too much of a rush. Regards Peter

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Tue 27 Jun 2006 16:26

Whining Noise - Shiner

Thanks .Your answer resembles closely to the whine I hear. the car is fully automatic and the noise is loudest around 50 to 65mph. Also it's loudest when accelerating from start or around 10pmh. On the other hand it goes away when I take my foot of the throttle.Am I worrying unnecessarily? Am completely clueless when it comes to the mechanics of cars but always have them serviced promptly.

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Tue 27 Jun 2006 16:33

Whining Noise - Shiner

Thanks Peter. I am not sure it's the engine noise. My MB dealer was not able to isolate it but confirmed the noise was there but had no answer as to why it was there. The vague suggestions was it could be the gearbox .I have noticed the noise over the past 6 to 12 months but can't be sure. It's definitely not from the wheels,air con, or the road surface.

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Tue 27 Jun 2006 17:02

Whining Noise - Peter D

MB are not going to admit is the gearbox or more likely the diff as Aprilia detailed as it could look bad for them. But normally if the preload if too high in the diff cluster it whines at particular speeds not revs and you can out run it, the last one I reared peaked at 60/62 mph came in at 40 and then just appered to quiten down. As Aprilia mentions "can you play with the noise on the throttle" the diff noise I have heared you could not, but id it was the diff gears rather then the pre-load then you would be able to play with it. Regards Peter

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Tue 27 Jun 2006 20:43

Whining Noise - Aprilia

Its obviously extremely difficult to diagnose a noise over the internet! However I do suspect that this noise is due to the diff - sounds like tooth contact noise from the crownwheel and pinion. I've heard this on a lot of Mercs. The tooth contact pattern is slightly incorrect and this results is a whine which is speed and load dependent the old 190E's and the C200's used to be particularly prone to it and there weren't many that didn#t hwine a bit. There is no real solution to this - other then rebuilding the diff - and even then you would probably still hear some whine. You may find that the whine stays the same for years - or even gets better as the teeth 'bed in' to each other and the contact pattern changes slightly. Make sure that there are no leaks from the diff.

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