Thread: High pitch squeal from drivetrain & BAS tune without intercooler upgrade?

Originally Posted by crispy scapes

Hey fellow defender lovers,

For a few months now my defender has had a high pitch squeal coming from somewhere in the rear. It usually only starts occurring at higher speeds (80km/h +) and after the car has been running for awhile. It comes and goes but It's really starting to bug me and concerned it may lead to bigger issues.

What I'm thinking it might be is the universal joints on the propshaft may need more lubrication, although three months ago I did a major service and they said they lubricated them.

Anyone had this issue before? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also has anyone run the 170bhp BAS tune on a 2.2L TDCI puma without the intercooler upgrade? Thinking about getting the intercooler a few months later but would love to get the tune in time for a Tasmania trip at the end of the year. Concerned I might damage the engine with the higher temps.

Cheers,
Chris

Cant help you regarding the squeal, but running the 170 BAS without the intercooler is no worries when the outside temp is cold.
Dont know if I would run it without when its plus 25C, reduce it back to 140bhp

I had a high pitch squeal that would start when climbing the Range Road to Kuranda after driving around Cairns for a while. The noise was most significant when under power. It turned out to be a lack of oil in the transfer box. Luckily that was discovered before it had done any damage (unlike an earlier poster who had the same noise on the highway and ended up replacing the transfer box at great cost)

Does the squeal go if you touch the brakes without getting off the throttle? Also is it at any speed above 80 or certain speeds? I ask as we had a squeal from the rear, behaving as above, which the dealer blamed on the brakes, they would clean the pads etc. and it would go for a while then come back. It was worse when towing. I was never 100% convinced it was brakes, but ultimately it stopped (still, very rarely, hear a slight sound but nothing much and goes again) so didn't really get to the bottom of it. Sorry, probably doesn't help, but thought I'd share just in case.

I understood the intercooler was essential to get 170bhp?
Think I'd go the other way and do the intercooler first and delay the return.

I specificaly asked Peter at Bas the question about 170hp tune without an intercooler upgrade. He said it was fine in cool weather but don't do it in the heat. I never did upgrade past the 150hp tune because of that. My thoughts were "he is british" - what is his idea of "cool weather" probably not what we call "cool weather" here in Australia.

I have to agree with discomick. Get the IC first, then save up for the tune. I would assume that even the IC would make a mild improvement in power, and I recon it'd make a difference with long drives and heat soak or whatever it is that causes the drop in power once it all gets nice and hot.

I got the sequeal too

The rear diff and transfer box need a bit of top up

Vaguely remember just 200ml was needed and squeal gone.
Cheers

I had a squeal and ocasional vibration it was my Uni joint near the rear diff found the grease gun could not reach the nipple due to clearance between the yolks so not sure the dealer ever did it at service time. So I screwed an extended grease nipple in pumped it up then put the original one back in. Problem solved.
also fitted a Bas intercooler well worth the money lots of extra performance.