[Forrest]

May have a bad pinion bearing...

The noise did not occur before the conversion... last drove it up to 40 summer time. Could the pinion bearing go bad between the summer and now with minimal driving?;

Did not exactly push the limits of what it can do... but here's some...
6 new items by Forrest Milner

 

[remy_martian]

I was not talking about the "noise". I was interpreting your thermal camera image.

Yes, for example a bearing can corrode in the portions not immersed in lube if it has not moved in a long time.

It may not be an issue - there's no legend showing the temperature gradations, no clue what ambient or coldest temperatures are of the other pieces, and it's hotter to the left of your cursor, right where the bearing is.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

You FLIR shows the diff at 22C, that's 71F. Not hot at all. Change the fluid if you are worried otherwise go put some miles on it!

 

[remy_martian]

The cursor is at 22C...

Temperature rise is what matters

The bearing area is hotter than the cursor location - since the sensor is saturated, we don't know the "temperature of the diff"

 

[Forrest]

I deem the diff "problem" less important than the noise.

Tomorrow the car goes into the barn for storage. Sad. Next year I'll fork over the money for a parking pass on campus - there's free charging!

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

What you're describing just sounds like the gears chattering when not under load. Just something you can't hear with a gas engine.

 

[Forrest]

Finally a nice day. I charged till it was 4.0 volts per cell today and took it for a 25 minute ride - I went 10.5 miles and averaged 35 mph when moving. I had a top speed of 53.7 mph on flat - there is good acceleration up to 45 mph.

The noise is quite loud at 45 miles per hour. So as soon as I returned I grabbed the Flir thermal camera. Ambient here is 5 or 6 C today.

Here are 8 different photos with the camera - everything looked really good! This was after 30 mins of sustained 30-40 mph driving. There's also another video clip that demonstrates the noise (rattle?) well. The noise is going the whole time except from 0:10-0:17 where I am accelerating.

I looked at all of the wheels with the camera and nothing seemed out of the ordinary - my adapter is stone cold cool, which was awesome to see!

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

Diff is barely warmer than the tires. I wouldn't be concerned.

Maybe dumb idea, but, borrow a go pro, or an old cell phone, and bolt or ziptie it to various places under the car while you drive, and see if you can see what's vibrating by noise or visuals.

It's annoying that it only shows up when driving above 35mph.

Is it there when your car is up on blocks?

Chalk the tires, put the nose into a tree just in case, jack the thing up, and have someone else rev it up with the ass end lifted while you walk around listening for sounds. No point in theory-crafting when you can quickly identify what is actually making the noise, rather than relying on where it seems to be coming from, reflected off road surface and surroundings while sitting inside the driver's seat.

 

[Duncan]

In my car the diff talks to me - makes all sorts of noise - I put that down to the facts that it is
Right next to me
No sound insulation/deadening
No engine noise

From inside my car I did not understand everybody saying how quiet it was - it seemed quite noisy
Until I stood outside and a friend drove away - THEN I could understand

 

[Forrest]

Is it there when your car is up on blocks?

It is present when on blocks. I noticed it before I took it out of the shop... Which means it isn't anything with the front wheels.

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

It is present when on blocks. I noticed it before I took it out of the shop... Which means it isn't anything with the front wheels.

Well, then get someone else to hit the pedal and you stick your face underneath and listen and feel where the vibration is coming from.

No point in guessing.

 

[brian_]

Maybe dumb idea, but, borrow a go pro, or an old cell phone, and bolt or ziptie it to various places under the car while you drive, and see if you can see what's vibrating by noise or visuals.

This might not be a bad idea.

Snowdog recently shared a video about his work on a Hummer conversion. That Hummer builder was troubleshooting some noise from the rear end and put a camera there, then caught the failure of the driveshaft to final drive connection on video... it was dramatic. On the other hand, until the whole thing fell apart, the video didn't show anything useful...

 

[Functional Artist]

If the noise only happens while the drive train is in motion
...then, that narrows it down to "that" system
...& so, it's gotta be in the motor or coupler or drive shaft, or diff or backing plated or brakes

Have you tried just turning the rear wheel (by hand) while the car is in stands & listening?

I have discovered/found many drive train &/or brake system noises with this simple test

 

[Forrest]

Lots of things to try once I get home again... sorry to disappoint with the long wait. I'll probably go home Feb 12th.

 

[remy_martian]

Good luck in school. Lots of tech layoffs these days, so hunker down and get that GPA up if you want a job at the end of your academic journey.

 

[Functional Artist]

Don't worry about us or your car
...just concentrate on your schoolin'
...we (us & your car) will be here (or there or whatever) when you have the time

 

[Forrest]

Video With Copyrighted Music (Might not be accessible in some countries) -

Video Without Copyrighted Music -

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

Hey, a shoutout! I'm famous!

... I don't see any tire smoke though...

 

[piotrsko]

Tire smoke: it's only for people that cant get all that horsepower hooked up. Or rainy day parking lots, bleach pits.... My wife is famous for saying " that poor inadequate man must be suffering so"

 

[remy_martian]

...and so much for reducing emissions 😂

And, the salmon are screwed:

Tire-related chemical is largely responsible for adult coho salmon deaths in urban streams

A team led by researchers at UW Tacoma, UW and Washington State University Puyallup has discovered a chemical that kills coho salmon in urban streams before the fish can spawn.

www.washington.edu