Hey! I'm having an annoying issue with my -96 850 wagon. As i accelerate there's a rather loud knocking sound that starts slowly as speed rises and at 100 km/h it's like a machinegun. Idle or revving there's no noise.
From drivers seat it sounds like it's coming from right side tire direction but i got my father and brother both on ride and they said it'd come from the drivers side near dashboard. That's convenient considering my odometer stopped working about the same time as the noise started.
We also checked if there's anything loose or in need of change at right side tire bearing etc. but everything was fine.

I've just recently put winter tires of I think S70 and had to remove the pin-like bolts from the centre hubs but i doubt that's causing it?
Even though the odometer is electric so there's no more moving parts than those small plastic gears could it be causing such a noise? I really need to put music rather loud to block the sound. Also i think is relevant that the noise started barely hearable to annoyingly loud.
Any opinion is appreciated,thanks!

 

how do the axles look? boots intact no grease leaks? does the sound change when turning and do you hear/feel anything when making a slow turn like pulling out of a parking spot (checking for CV and axle UJ noises)
do the axles have any play going left/right etc? Have you pulled the wheels in the air and pushed/pulled for feel of the bearings/hubs?

 

Look for wheel weights hitting the brakes. Look for any area of the plastic fender liner that could flap in the wind.

 

We checked the right side wheel,brakes,hub etc. and everything seemed fine. Nothing was loose or out of ordinary. I haven't noticed any change when turning. I'll check the left side some time this week.
I'll check that this week. At right side there was no signs of anything colliding.

Do you know if there's any easy way to disconnect the odometer to see if the problem is there? Unfortunately I can't find any related fuse or relay.

 

If you're thinking it's the odometer I think drive the car past a friend and let them tell you if there's any sound at all outside the car. If it's anything mechanical, it should be much louder outside the car.

I know that's crude but it has other benefits.

 

not sure why you suspect the odometer. Usually those disconnect on their own :-) theres two plastic gears that age and when a tooth cracks off the odometer will stop turning over, they may bump slightly but you won't really hear a sound. There are some vids on Youtube on how to fix the odometer but its pretty straight forward - To remove the cluster from the dash - there are seven or eight screws that hold down the dash cover including one on the side by the drivers door, and one or two in the vents (you'll need to pop out the vent grills). work your way over to the glove box area. You can then prop up the drivers side of the cover all the way to the glass, reach behind the cluster to undo the connectors, turbo vacuum line for the boost gauge if you have one, then pop the retaining clips and the cluster can be shimmied out. You can then disassemble the cluster on a bench. I think the only special tool required is a T8 torx driver. You can then access the odometer and you'll see the two nylon gears to replace (FCP, IPD and eBay all sell kits). BTW, this is a great time to also refresh all the backlighting bulbs in the cluster.

 

We tested and the sound can be heard from outside even in low speed.

I jacked front left up today and there was no loose play vertically but however quite a bit horizontally which seemed to come from steering balljoint next to break disc. It seems weird to make such a constant sound no matter if turning or going a straight road?

I recorded a video where I'm accelerating to 80 km/h if you reckognize that noise.