Oh 'eck 'Tank' is not at all well.......
 

About 4 miles from home, took a left turn & all of a sudden a horrid graunch/grind noise developed from, as far as I can tell the rear end.
Pitch black outside & in the middle of nowhere:loser:

I pulled over & got the torch under the car. The first thing I noticed was liquid on the lower half of the rear off-side brake 'dust plate'. So a brake fluid leak is clearly one problem! Brake fluid level was fine, as were the other fluids.

Everything else appeared in place. So with about 3 miles to run I decided (rightly or wrongly) to push on at a snails pace & pulled over for any cars approaching from the rear.

The noise seems speed related & became quite loud if I pushed it to 20mph. It also continued if I de-clutched & let him coast, so hoping it's not rear diff related from that?

My thoughts are that either one of the rear wheel bearings has gone home or the handbrake shoes have fallen to bits (although handbrake appears to be working).
I do not think the fluid leak would cause something to grind/graunch... but maybe?

I guess I should be grateful that it has highlighted the brake fluid leak before it got too serious!

Cannot do anything now till tomorrow, but any ideas on what to look out for would be appreciated:thumbs_up:

Oh blumin heck Paul ... you know me , im sorry I cant help ..... but I do hope you get it sorted .

Are you sure it is brake fluid? If the bearing has failed it is more likely that it is axle oil. I'd expect a sinking brake pedal if it is leaking brake fluid.

It is unusual for a rear wheel bearing to fail. Usually they start to whine long before they actually fail.

Is it brake fluid or oil Paul? Jack up and see if their is play in bearing. Remove wheel calliper and disc and see if noise is still there. That is unless handbrake shoes have moved or disintegrated. Rare for rear wheel bearings to go but not unknown.

Mike

Thanks all.

The honest answer is, I don't yet know if it brake fluid or oil. Will look into it further in the daylight.

The brakes seem fine & as I mentioned the fluid level appears normal. The brake fail light won't illuminate as it's erm.. dis-connected!

It's defo not been 'whining' (I am aware of the type of noise you mean), I am quite quick to notice any odd noises, this came on all of a sudden - nearly jumped out of my skin when it first began!

Ang on, might go & stick my hand under & see if I can tell..........................................

If the residue smells like cat's **** it is axle oil.......

Edit,

That word blocker is taking the urine!

Use 1 to evade the filter - P1SS.

C.A.

Right can't say it was particularly smelly & my opinion is that it is brake fluid.

Dodgy pic taken in the dark!

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k.../Brakeleak.jpg

i hate to say it ,, oil seal on the 1/2 shaft / bearing ? appears to be a bit too much from the center to point to brakes,, sorry

Oh dear Paul, the sort of job you can do without, especially at this time of year.
Makes me worried about my old car when this sort of thing happens to fellow 240 owners.

Best of luck

Doug