This is on my 2004 Cavalier, about 38K miles on the clock. Whenever I turn the wheel to the left, like during a hard, low speed, left hand turn, I am getting a sort of growling noise coming from the front end of the car. It almost sounds like maybe a tire is rubbing, but I know that it is not (it happens whether I have my 16s or 14s on).
The passenger side bearing was replaced about 1500 miles ago, but it did not seem to get rid of the noise.
Is there any chance that it could be the driver side bearing, or could it be something else?
Any advice?
CV joint perhaps, is the boot leaking grease?
no, not half shaft. try wheel bearing. half shafts generally give a clicking noise when they are completely shot. if the noise goes away when you turn right, it is most likely the LF bearing, but not ALWAYS the case.
I know it is not the CV joint. Those make an entirely different sound when they go bad. From what I have read/heard, it is definitely a wheel bearing. I just thought that since it has only been about 2 months since the passenger side bearing was replaced, it could possibly be the driver side or maybe some other part that I am not even thinking of.
Then I read about 1000 posts that say if it happens when I turn left, it is the passenger side bearing, so I am confused. I bought a Haynes, so I'm going to try the testing procedure and see if I can determine exactly what it is. If that comes up empty, I may take it to a local shop that will look at it for free.
I just read the other post on wheel bearings about 3 posts below this one and I'm wondering if I should have my alignment checked to make sure everything is the way it should be. I've changed wheels quite a bit on this car, going from stock 16s to 14s and back to 16s with a wider tire, so maybe the alignment is off enough that it is killing the bearing.
What do you guys think? Could it have anything to do with changing my wheels so much? The car came with 16s stock, and I run 14s in winter.
I highly doubt it is from the wheels, in order for the wheels to cause such early death in your bearings, you would have to have 20" wheels that are shaped like tacos. it is true that wheels do affect your bearings, but with that little mileage on everything, i would highly doubt it. i run 17's in the summer on a lowered suspension, and 14's in the winter. i have 100k on my original bearings (knock on wood). I would suggest you take it somewhere, even if you have to pay a small fee, it is worth it. sometimes a repair manual will tell you how to test things improperly, which may result in something like an ABS light coming on or something. The best tool to use for this is a chassis ear, which has several microphones that attach to the car using alligator clips, and you use a switch inside to hear from different microphones to hear exactly where the noise is coming from. This is what I use if it is not completely obvious which wheel is making the noise, hopefully a repair shop would do the same (although I highly doubt they would).
