Whining noise under load

[hedonist]

Had some fun in the mud today, first outing for us in the Samurai after picking it up last weekend. And first time at 4x4 without a club in Aldermaston.

Noticed a few issues after covering it in mud and ending up in some water that was just a little deeper than it looked (it nearly splashed over the bonnet at one point).

Firstly the starter motor is dead, so we'll be changing that shortly.

And now there's also a whining noise in pretty much every gear which gets louder with speed. It stops when pressing the clutch. A quick search revealed that it could be that we got a load of dirty water into the diffs maybe? Right now the Samurai is completely stock as far as we can tell, so it won't have any breather hoses fitted yet. Guess we'll be doing that too.

Unless you guys have any other suggestions / advice regarding what the noise could be?
From what the guy who sold it to us said, it hasn't seen much use over the past 5-6 years at all. Possibly today was the first time in ages (or ever) that the 4wd was used, and obviously the first time that we know of that it ended up in deep water.

Thanks

[ScottieJ]

Firstly I would not drive it until you've changed all the transmission oils and diff oils, they will die pretty quick if there is water in any of them, you can always just pop the drain bungs out for a moment to get a sample and check the state of the oil, if its still clear and looks good then leave it, it its thick an froffy/grey then drain it and change the oil.

Personally I would avoid any deep mud and water until you have at least a snorkel and transmission/diff breathers fitted. Last thing you want to do is cause some expensive damage by hydro locking the engine or water contamination to the oils.

Also flush out your bellhousing, remove the lower plate and then use a hose to flush it out via the timing hole on the bellhousing.

There's also a chance it could be the clutch release bearing? They whine if they go dry.

[SJ Greg]

sounds too me like clutch release bearing i have the same fault does it go when clutch is pressed or doe it get louder?

[andyrew]

doe the noise stop when you let off the throttle?

could be the Tbox bearing. mines noise but stops when clutch is dipped or just free rolling

[hedonist]

Thanks so much for the advice! We'll check the state of the oil as suggested asap.

Meanwhile I just wanted to add: when pressing the clutch or letting off the accelerator the noise stops. Also, with the transfer box in neutral going through all the gears, there is no noise.

[Edweird]

It's a transfer box bearing then I think.