Front End Noise, please help!!

dieselbro · Post by **dieselbro** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:51 am

Hey guys,
Well the other day I just noticed a strange kinding squeaky (thats if you wanna call it that) noise coming from my front end. I just noticed it after driving with my windows down. I investigated it further and it really seems to be just coming from the front left wheel area. The car has been in my family for 20 years it is a 1987 Tercel SR5 hatchback and it has 192 XXX kms, and we are the original owners. Recently when it was put back on the road we had the front left CV Joint replaced beacuse during turns and such you could feel a clunking from the front end. Anyways skip ahead to today, the noise has not gone away (wish things were that easy, hah) and I decided to film it and show you guys, seeing as most of you probably have a lot more experience then myself. Anyways so far I can rule out the brakes because during braking and coming to a stop the noise is pretty much constant until either like barely rolling (~5km/h) or a complete stop. I am suspecting the wheel bearings possibly?? Can anyone validate that?? Thats what I am assuming because the noise is the same during turns and such a it remains at higher speeds (~50-70km/h). There is pretty much no noise whatsoever coming from the passenger side.

Here is a video, see and hear for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtfqKTiwAMY

The car still drives fine and with the windows up you cannot feel or tell that anything is wrong. But its that noise, its like a fingernails against chalkboard type annoyance. Anyways, I really appreciate any insight into this matter!
cheers

jimpomm · Post by **jimpomm** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:13 am

That sounds like something rubbing on the brake rotor or the brake backing plate.A lot of times as these cars get older the backing plate gets a ding in it so it rubs on a high spot on the rotor.I would pull the front wheel and if you rotate the rotor I bet you will find your noise.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:29 am

A wheel bearing is more of a rumbling sound than a scrape, and it tends to vary in volume in corners. If its the drivers side, turning left makes it go away or lessen, turning right increases it.

It sounds like a scrape. Check your brake backing plate, as suggested above, along wit anything else that could be rubbing the tire or CV shaft, or any other rotating mass.

dieselbro · Post by **dieselbro** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:22 pm

Okay thanks for the info, I'll check into that as soon as I can. If it were any of those mentioned parts (brake rotor, brake backing plate, CV shaft) what would be the best course of action for someone who isnt really familiar with mechanics? Take it to a shop? What would seem like a fair price for this kind of repair??

jimpomm · Post by **jimpomm** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:33 pm

It's probably a very easy fix. There is just some part scraping another. You just have to bend it or cut it off. Easy check ,just jack up the front end and turn the wheel by hand. Figure out what is rubbing and try to fix it.It might also just be some rust kicking around in there and by taking off the wheel and brushing any loose debris out .Why pay for an easy fix.You can do it yourself.