low pitched groan
 

Hey noticed this after i just picked up my 91 Seville. When i am driving i notice a low level groan, it is also present when i turn left. however when i turn the wheel just slightly to the right or make right turns the sound goes away. any ideas as to what this might be.

I have a bit of a hunch that it might be a wheel bearing. any ideas?

Wheel bearing is very possible does the noise come from the left or right side of the car. Also i notice you said you had picked up your car. was it being serviced at the time and was it related to the wheels at all i.e. brakes, allignment etc.?

The car was regularly maintenanced but not regularly driven by the previous owner (my grandfather). was driven roughly 800 miles in the past 5 years, really only to the auto center every few months for oil change and routine maintenance and such. i drove it from North Carolina back up to NY. Noticed a few issues which mostly have been resolved... but this one still is on the to do list... once i figure out what it is.

The noise does come from the front left wheel... however i can rule out the brakes as i have just replaced the whole system there due to a missing lower bolt on the brake assembly. also during that time i flushed the brake lines. everything in the brake department seems to bee working well now so no real problem there. which leads me to the wheel baring or the possibility of my second guess. And because this is my first later model car ill be rough in explaining this as i have not seen it before.

When doing the brake job i noticed behind the roter and all on the drive shaft by the hub there was a gog shapped ring around the shaft... i have no idea what it is used for (my best guess would be a speed sensor or something to that nature) but i noticed that there was a ware ring on the cog in the center from what i assumed was a bolt of some sort that came out of the hub assembly (i believe.... cant quite remember) i looked at this bolt looking dodad and could not figure what it was or anything or if it had to do with the groan.

Any idea what the problem could be or what that thingamajig is?

have you checked the power steering fluid level ?




.

all fluid levels are fine... only slightly low on coolant but that would not cause the sound

How does the power steering fluid look? Clean, Dark, Burnt smelling? I would take a turkey baster and suck all the fluid out of the pump, add new fluid, drive car several miles and repeat the process a couple times. Also if that don't work Lucas makes a power steering additive that claims to restore worn rack/pinions. Advanced Auto Parts sells it for about $10 a bottle. I have never used it myself but have heard many people say it works.

stomp.... wouldn't that produce the noise turning the wheel either way??
imo... the dude is thinking right, wheel bearing...........
rickyd

i already checked the fluids about a week ago, everything is fine... im almost convinced its a wheel baring... but anyone know what that bear shaped thing is? my only other idea is that bolt/sensor might be rubbing and grinding on that side making that sound.

if one of your tires is starting to become chopped, (uneven) its a good sign that it is a wheel bearing that is bad. i'll bet its the rear passenger side. thats a guess......did you ever watch the mentalist??? lol
rickyd

Generally with hub (wheel) bearings the one that failed is on the opposite side of the turn. When car is turning weight is transfered away from the turn increasing weight on outer tires, increased load = increased noise. When noise goes away it is because weight is "unloaded" from inside tire as weight transfered to the outside tire during turning. There are occasions where the inside bearing is the failed part, but it fails into the exception opposed to the rule. CV axles tend to cause vibration or pop/snap noises vs hum/roar.