[suniltheone]

I have had my Scorpio-N Z8AT 4WD for about 8 months now and enjoyed everyone of the 15K+ KMs done on it.

About 15 days back, I noticed a clicking sound coming from the front right wheel while driving. It was barely audible when I was driving with the windows rolled up- which is 90% of the time. This started after I had been driving on some mud roads. But nothing too crazy... had not even engaged 4WD.

I took it to Mahindra Service in Pune who have had the vehicle now for 3 days without any progress on identifying the root cause.

Some noticeable features for techies amongst you who can give ideas:

1. The clicks sound like there are two hard plastic pieces being knocked against each other. Definitely no metal involved.
   
2. The click frequency increases with the speed of the vehicle.
   
3. No noticeable change in handling or steering response.
   
4. There is no visible break in the fiber components rubbing against the tire.
   
5. Nothing stuck in the tire treads that could cause these sounds.
   
6. The sound is not consistent. It disappears on its own for some time and then restarts without any apparent reason.
   
7. The service center guys cleaned out and checked the entire assembly from bearings, suspensions, brake pads etc. No change in status.

Today, I was told that they have called in some expert to investigate it further. But I am getting nervous about whether I am going to get my Ramdulari back in one piece . Any words of comfort will be appreciated.

PS: This is my first Mahindra vehicle. So, not sure what to expect.
PPS: I have a long drive planned this weekend. Fingers crossed.

[Mortis]

Originally Posted by suniltheone

...
About 15 days back, I noticed a clicking sound coming from the front right wheel while driving. It was barely audible when I was driving with the windows rolled up- which is 90% of the time. This started after I had been driving on some mud roads. But nothing too crazy... had not even engaged 4WD.
...

There could be a very simple explanation and fix for this - a stone stuck in the tyre treads !! Or it could be a screw that has partially penetrated the rubber.

[suniltheone]

Thanks Mortis- but tire treads are all clear. No answers yet on what is causing the issue. All sort of investigations by Mahindra still going on. The Mahindra expert came in today and asked the service center guys to replace the drive shaft and check.
All this is making me very nervous...

[Bsilver]

Totally there are 7 parts connected, the strut, stabilizer link, drive shaft, wheel hub bearing, steering track rods, lower arm ball joint, braking system. Out of this you told steering is fine and not facing anything. So it is eliminated.
Lower arm ball joint could go bad, but will also effect the driving when accelerating and braking, since the vehicle is handling properly, this also is eliminated. Brakes and suspension checked by ASS, so eliminated. The culprits can be a drive shaft or wheel hub bearing. But since you told bearing is checked, it has to be a drive shaft. Usually they do not go bad on a 15K kms car, but you may never know. But drive shafts will create a metal noise and not a plastic one.
There is a slight possibility that the strut mount plastic cover which is there is hitting the cowl trim piece, which would result in a plastic kind of noise. This will not happen as you gain speed as the tires usually absorb most of the impacts when you gain speed, and the result is the strut mount cover not hitting the cowl piece. Maybe wrong, but told only on assumptions.

Happy Motoring!

[sameerpatel90]

Originally Posted by suniltheone

I have had my Scorpio-N Z8AT 4WD for about 8 months now and enjoyed everyone of the 15K+ KMs done on it.

About 15 days back, I noticed a clicking sound coming from the front right wheel while driving. It was barely audible when I was driving with the windows rolled up- which is 90% of the time. This started after I had been driving on some mud roads. But nothing too crazy... had not even engaged 4WD.

I'm sorry to hear about this with your car. A good friend of mine also owns a Scorpio N aging a month over a year, a couple of months back he had a similar concern about rattling noise from front left side of the car, the sound used to be intermittent and later became a consistent whenever driving. We together visited the dealership thrice but the technicians failed to identify the source.

Taking the scene into my hands I personally inspected the vehicle, to our surprise found that the OE accessory footboard base rivets to underbody clamp were broke without any impact or external damage. Since, the accessory warranty was out the ASS denied in fixing it despite of several rounds seeking appointment with BP team, we had to get the noise arrested by taking to one of the accessory stores in the city. If you've got one of these, please do ask the technician team to check on this.

If you had recorded any audio or video, it would be helpful to understand the nature of the sound.

Hoping the OE technical support team identifies the source of noise at the earliest and enjoy your experience with this machine.

[suniltheone]

Update on the issue- the noise went away after replacing the drive shaft. The service center first tried it by replacing with a demo vehicle part. Then they put a new part on order. Overall, it was a week spent in the docks for the car.
There were regular updates from the ASC rep giving some peace of mind. But I am still not clear on why and how a part like the drive shaft failed inside of 15K kms. Uneasy feeling not knowing root cause of such failures.