growling/humming noise

by **toy4x4boy** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:45 pm

Last night I was out and I turned right onto a street and the car slid sideways into a curb. I was doing less than 10 mph (probably more like 5) and both the drivers side wheels hit the curb at about the same time. I pulled into a parking lot to check for damage and nothing. Looked again today, no visual damage - wheels are straight and look normal, etc. Not even any scratches on the wheels that I can see. Car drives perfect, straight and true just like before so I think the alignment is still fine too. But when I get above 45 mph there is a growling/humming noise that gets worse with speed. No vibrations, just that noise. What could I have done to my car? :cry:

All I can think of is wheel bearings but why would they have been damaged but nothing else? Any ideas?

by **SolaraT** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:05 pm

by you saying that if your going over 45mph is when you start to hear it and it gets worse. I would sugest it has to do with the bearing as you said.

by **toy4x4boy** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:32 pm

I'm hoping it's just the rear bearing. I've done front bearings on my 4x4 pickup before and I did a front hub/bearing on a Miata before, so I would imagine it's not that difficult to at least do the rear on a Solara? Being that there is nothing back there in terms of a driveline I would think it would be pretty easy? Has anyone ever done it?

by **toy4x4boy** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:30 am

I guess no one here works on their own car. :roll:

by **Mole** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:05 am

toy4x4boy wrote:I guess no one here works on their own car.

by that response, you're just digging yourself a hole.

by **toy4x4boy** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 2:27 pm

Well no one has responded, so one has to wonder.

by **Jetfixer** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 5:46 pm

I seriously doubt it has anything to do with bearings. If you hit something/anything hard enough to damage wheel bearings, you will have bent/cracked wheels first by a long shot. Check your front outer cv joints. The simplest way is to drive about 2 mph around in a circle with the steering hard over to each side listening for the growling or a clicking noise. Then drive a straight line about 10 mph and swerve the car back and forth about a half turn of the steering wheel listening for noises. (Not fast enough to cause the tires to squeal though!) The idea here is to load the joints and listen for problems. In normal straight ahead-at speed driving, the cv joints aren't deflected much. Of course, if your wheel bearings weren't properly torqued to begin with, they could be damaged before the wheels. Jack the car and try to rock the wheels from top to bottom and side to side and check for play. There should not be any looseness by hand.

by **toy4x4boy** » Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:27 am

Thank you Sweed and Jetfixer for trying to help me. Much appreciated. To the smart asses on the board, :2gunfire:

I pulled off both drivers side tires to check for damage, etc. Everything is tight, no play or anything. I did exactly what you said Jetfixer and there is no noise. The noise doesn't start till after about 40mph. It is definately coming from the drivers side as when I go around a corner to the right the noise gets louder and almost goes away when cornering to the left. I'm stumped so it's going into the dealer tomorrow.

by **toy4x4boy** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:18 pm

It was just a bad rear wheel bearing. So one wheel bearing assembly and an alignment later and I'm out over $500. Those things are expensive!!!

Website · by **noodlerooney** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 11:51 am

You took it to the Stealership? Aren’t they usually the most expensive?
Couldn’t an independent repair shop fix it or is it a Stealership item only?
IMHO, those guys should all wear masks.

by **toy4x4boy** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 12:23 pm

The part is dealer only I'm pretty sure. It was the part that was the killer, labor wasn't too bad. Plus I love my dealer, they always treat me right and never try to sell me something I don't need. In fact in the past they have actually told me ways to save money on the repair like telling me about coupons or saying we can just replace this and not the whole thing. Plus they always give me a free rental car.

by **adam2562** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:45 am

i'm pretty sure its the wheel bearin.. idid the same thing aat about 10 mph a long time ago and it was my wheel bearing... and by the way.. you have to buy the hub and bearing together.. its one piece which sux.. its expensive

by **udonoogen** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:32 am

i have a vibrating noise coming from either my engine (or my front left wheel) and my rear right wheel. i dont know what it could be ... if it IS the wheel bearing ... what are the consequences of not getting it fixed besides increased noise?

by **xavier** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:55 am

udonoogen wrote:i have a vibrating noise coming from either my engine (or my front left wheel) and my rear right wheel. i dont know what it could be ... if it IS the wheel bearing ... what are the consequences of not getting it fixed besides increased noise?

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growling/humming noise

growling/humming noise

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