Rotational noise

[98gpgt]

98 GP GT. Starts at 15mph, increases with increasing velocity. Sort of a wuh wuh with wuh. Very little vibration, a tad, mainly noise. I believe it's coming from the left (driver's) front. In fact I rotated the tires (on that side of the car) as it seemed the front driver's side, at the time, was missing a weight, can't say for sure (there is none). But no change.

 

I did the wheel bearing on that side and both ball joints within last year or so. Struts front and back are likely shot, car doesn't appreciate speed bumps one bit (it bottoms out unless you take it real slow). My tie rods, inner and outer, need replacing about a millennium ago. Any of that related? Or is it likely just a bearing or cv joint?

 Also a slight burning smell when I get out of the car.

Edited October 19, 2018 by 98gpgt

[James Robert]

Does the steering pull to that side? Have you tried jacking up that corner and spinning the wheel by hand to see if anything is dragging? Does the noise change when cornering left or right?

Edited October 19, 2018 by James Robert
Another ?

[98gpgt]

No pulling, or not much. It seems a bit tight sometimes. No big change when cornering. But another thing is theres a grinding say when pulling right into a parking space. You don't hear that when the car isn't in motion - steering all the way to the right that is. Only it seems when there's pressure on the front end?

 I'm going to put it up on jackstands tomorrow and see what I can see.

Edited October 19, 2018 by 98gpgt

[walterdude]

I'd suggest looking at the brakes real close... Especially the pistons, one of them sounds like it might be hanging up a bit... Could also explain the hot smell... Sniff it out to double check which wheel is the offending one,,, it would also be running hotter than the others...

Good Luck,,,

Tom B...

Edited October 20, 2018 by walterdude

[James Robert]

2 hours ago, 98gpgt said:

No pulling, or not much. It seems a bit tight sometimes. No big change when cornering. But another thing is theres a grinding say when pulling right into a parking space. You don't hear that when the car isn't in motion - steering all the way to the right that is. Only it seems when there's pressure on the front end?

 I'm going to put it up on jackstands tomorrow and see what I can see.

Yes, like Walterdude,  I'd look at the caliper seizing up if you're smelling heat. Feel the centers of the wheels, after driving, left and right, and see if one is hotter than the other.

[98gpgt]

Yeah I had heard of that being a possibility. I had checked it over the past couple months, no difference in temperature between l and r.

[FordMan77]

What brand of wheel bearing did you install?  Did you torque it to spec?  Are the brake pins lubed up properly?  Also, if the front brake hoses have never been replaced now would be the time as they may be collapsing and not letting the fluid return causing the calipers to drag a bit.  Check the brake dust plate and make sure it's not near the rotor too.  It can drag on the rotor as well just enough to make noise.

Beyond that I'd be saving up for an entire front end rebuild.  Get new control arms so they come with new ball joints and bushings ready to go.  Tie rods too.  Then go get it aligned so you don't eat up the tires.

[Imp558]

I'd check that hub assembly. I know it's newer but the aftermarket ones aren't known for quality. 

Also, the cv shaft.

[98gpgt]

I used to spin them by hand when they were off the car, most of the time you could spot a bad one. Other then shaking the wheel or spinning, how do you check a hub? There is no top to bottom play, that much I know.

And again you check the CV shaft by yanking on it side to side?

[Imp558]

Wheel bearing: grab the wheel at the 12 & 6 o'clock position try to rock the top of the wheel in while you try to rock the bottom out, and vice versa. Any movement is a bad bearing. 

CV: drive slow, tight circles in a parking lot, a bad cv will click or clunk. 

[98gpgt]

Yeah, none of that is the case, checked all that some time ago. I shall investigate further this week. What an annoying flipping sound.

One thing I will point out though is under inflated tires seemingly can be the cause of squealing during low speed tight turns. With Westlake tires anyway. I had no idea these things Max at 44 psi, although I only got 42 in them. I hadn't even checked the tire pressure since I bought them, July I think *ducks for cover*. When I discovered they were under inflated, I had thought that was my problem, or at least hoped so. At least squealing is gone though *weeeeeh weeeeeh*.

 

Edit: just to add clarity to the above, I now have 42 psi, prior to that the tires had 26 - 27psi. And I tipped that WalMart idiot 10$. You'd think he'd make sure the pressure was right. Unless that much air leaked out in 3 or so months of driving. Doesn't seem likely. The squeak was there right after I bought them.

Edited October 22, 2018 by 98gpgt

[98gpgt]

Well I put the car up in the air. I do believe it's the first time I've ever jacked up both sides of a car. Anyway you can hear noise if you rev the engine some while sitting in the car. But if someone else does it, and you're outside listening, you can't hear much. I'm going to replace the front struts tomorrow, and see what happens.

[Pontiac6KSTEAWD]

You can hear it from inside the car and revving the engine, is that while in gear, or in park/neutral?

[98gpgt]

While in gear. Nothing when going in reverse.

And you know what else, I rev the mph up to nearly 40, then release, get out of the car, both wheels rotating at about the same speed. Then after 5 - 10 seconds, driver's side wheel stops, and passenger side turning faster! Wow. Should I even do the struts, as is this transmission related. I still suppose it could be the wheel bearing or something. But what causes the pass. wheel to speed up???

[Imp558]

The caliper is probably a little tighter on one side, or the wheel bearing is getting rough maybe, nothing too out of the ordinary there.

You're seeing the differential spin the other wheel through the spider gears is all.

Come to think of it whatever is stalling that wheel could be the noise you hear inside, that's where I'd focus my attention. 

[98gpgt]

All of which might mean nothing, as this is normal behavior for the tranny when one side binds more. Iow the differential causes the wheels to rotate at different speeds due to differences in traction. It does seem there's considerably more binding on the driver's wheel though.

 And if anyone wants a hot tip, it might be a good idea to loosen the upper big nut on the strut before taking it out. This can be done with the suitable torx bit in a normal 3/8" ratchet, and a suitable Max access socket and ratchet gripping the actual bolt. My torx bit went right through the Max access socket.

Edited November 8, 2018 by 98gpgt

[98gpgt]

My prior reply was a reply to my reply, just to clarify. I was still typing when imp's reply appeared.

 Ok, took the wheels off. Start, drive, spin, GRRRRRRRRRR. I Hit the brake. Asked assistant to get in car and repeat. No grinding noise this time. Definitely something to do with the CV shaft at this point, no?

[98gpgt]

It seems the CV shaft on the driver's side is loping some. Both sides are running kind of eccentric, but more so on the driver's side. I'm going to assume that's the issue at this point. But what got chewed up some? Hope it wasn't the splines on my tranny.

Edited November 8, 2018 by 98gpgt

[98gpgt]

Ok the noise isn't on account of the half shaft, it's still there. Car drives ok otherwise.

My tie rods, especially on the driver's side, show considerable play. I'm wondering if that has something to do with it. If you can pull on the tie rod shaft, and there's play, could that mean your steering rack could also need replacing?