When It Rains, It Pours


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OK, so the wife and I dodged a bullet on the Saturn, but in taking it down to the shop, we had to switch vehicles. She drove my truck to work, and I took my Buick (which my son normally drives) to school yesterday.

I get a minute down the road and notice a sound that sounds like something is rubbing up against a front tire. Almost sounded like the exhaust developed a small hole, but when I dropped it into neutral at the stop sign and revved the engine, no sound. The "buzzing," for lack of a better term, increases with speed. It doesn't affect handling, engine performance or anything like that.

Visual inspection of the front end seems to be normal. The only thing I saw when I jacked it up was that the front shroud under the bumper is pretty loose, due, I'm sure, to the fact that my son put the car into a snow bank about a month ago.

Any ideas?

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Sounds like a bad front wheel bearing to me. CV joints don't generally make sounds unless the wheels are turned right or left. Then you usually hear a clicking or snapping sound.

You might try running the car at 40 or so mph and shift into neutral and shut the motor off. If the noise doesn't go away you will be assured the problem isn't in the engine.

Lynn

Another thought comes to mind. You said your son hit a snowbank. There is a possibility you could have a brake shield rubbing on the brake rotor. These can be bent in a snowbank quite easily.

Edited by LETMGROW
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Sounds like a wheel bearing to me too, very common. In almost 6 years I think I've seen one CV joint fail. It made a clunk or clicking noise going around a corner at slow speeds. Another way to tell if it's a wheel bearing is driving say 40-50mph, or whenever you hear the noise and veer slightly left and right, if the pitch of the noise changes guaranteed it's a wheel bearing.

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If you jack the front end up in neutral and roll the tires by hand you may hear a scraping noise if a backing plate it touching a rotor. If you do take the tire off and there's plate behind the rotor, see if you can see where it's touching and gently pry back and turn the hub until you can't hear the noise anymore.

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If you jack the front end up in neutral and roll the tires by hand you may hear a scraping noise if a backing plate it touching a rotor. If you do take the tire off and there's plate behind the rotor, see if you can see where it's touching and gently pry back and turn the hub until you can't hear the noise anymore.

Thanks Shaun, I'll try that tonight.

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No clicking, does not sound like a cv joint from your further explanation.

Hope Shaun and Lynn are right on the brake shield, pretty easy fix if it is bent. Should be able to take the wheel off and see if it is rubbing and bend it back. While you got the wheel off if it is not rubbing take and spin the rotor and see if you can hear any grinding sound at all.

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Another way to tell if it's a wheel bearing is driving say 40-50mph, or whenever you hear the noise and veer slightly left and right, if the pitch of the noise changes guaranteed it's a wheel bearing.

Bingo!

Got it up to about 40 mph just now, veered, and the sound disappears when you veer to the right.

Hope it won't be too expensive. Off to the gargae, and thanks for the help fellers.

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Wheel hub assembly and it also needs a new tie rod. Seems my son's little foray into a snowbank wasn't as innocent as originally thought. $600 estimate.

:(

Dang, kids are expensive. :D

I am not a mechanic Chris, but think if the wheel bearings were bad it could have damaged the hub and your son's run in with the snow bank been totally coincedental.

Was the tie rod bent or worn out?:confused:

But, yeah kids are very expensive.:yes:

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I am not a mechanic Chris, but think if the wheel bearings were bad it could have damaged the hub and your son's run in with the snow bank been totally coincedental.

Was the tie rod bent or worn out?:confused:

But, yeah kids are very expensive.:yes:

Haven't talked to the mechanic in depth yet William, so I really don't know.

Makes perfect sense to me though, car was running perfectly normal until the ditch incident. I'm just glad I had to use the car the other day to notice the sound. Lord knows my son never would have noticed. :rolleyes:

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I'd say if the tie rod was bent it was a result of going off the road. If it is loose then it is probably just worn out.

The wheel bearing is probably just plain worn out. This is common. Very seldom does a bearing get damaged going into a snowbank. Chances are your son is like any other kid and plays the radio at Mach 2 and couldn't hear the bad bearing.

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The wheel hub assembly a lot of times will turn out cheaper than just the bearings. Yes bearings themselves are cheaper but then there is the labor time that will kill ya on that repair. I always would price both and see which one would come out cheaper for the customer. 9 out of 10 times the whole assembly was cheaper.

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