Wheel bearing?
Discussion
I'm trying to track down an annoying noise on my car. There's a ticking/scraping noise coming from the front right at low speed. It sounds like brakes scraping, or a stone trapped behind the disk, but I've dismantled and reassembled the brakes several times and its made no difference. The brakes are clean and fairly new. I even did the same on the rear right just to be sure. I took the car out and gave it lots of heavy braking (same as I would to condition new disks before a day on track) and it's made no difference.
The noise is there when travelling in a straight line, or turning left, but not noticeable when turning right. I can't hear it at high speed above the road noise.
There's the smallest amount of play in the wheel when I jack it up and pull the bottom of the wheel out, so small I'm not even sure it's there and it might just be me trying to convince myself I've found the fault. The wheel turns smoothly and doesn't make the sound when jacked up. There's no obvious marks from anything rubbing anywhere on the brakes, wheel arch, hub etc.
Does this sound like a wheel bearing issue? Previous experience with wheel bearings has been that they whine or grumble and there's much more obvious play in the wheel. I've never had one sound like this before.
I'm hoping someone's had a similar experience, before I commit to changing the bearing. It will be really annoying if it's still there after a bearing change!
The car is a Honda Civic EP3 if that makes any difference.
The noise is there when travelling in a straight line, or turning left, but not noticeable when turning right. I can't hear it at high speed above the road noise.
There's the smallest amount of play in the wheel when I jack it up and pull the bottom of the wheel out, so small I'm not even sure it's there and it might just be me trying to convince myself I've found the fault. The wheel turns smoothly and doesn't make the sound when jacked up. There's no obvious marks from anything rubbing anywhere on the brakes, wheel arch, hub etc.
Does this sound like a wheel bearing issue? Previous experience with wheel bearings has been that they whine or grumble and there's much more obvious play in the wheel. I've never had one sound like this before.
I'm hoping someone's had a similar experience, before I commit to changing the bearing. It will be really annoying if it's still there after a bearing change!
The car is a Honda Civic EP3 if that makes any difference.
Doesn't sound like wheel bearing to me, more a label half off the drive-shaft, or possibly some rust somewhere in the hub that is brushing against the wheel speed sensor?
I saw an interesting video where someone had put their camera on the ground facing up, and slowly driven over it, gave a good view of driveshafts etc. (try not to squash your phone)
I saw an interesting video where someone had put their camera on the ground facing up, and slowly driven over it, gave a good view of driveshafts etc. (try not to squash your phone)
Do you have any vibration? I have the same issue as you have described on a BMW X5 (E70). I also have a slight vibration which feels like it's from the front once above 75mph. I don't know if that's related. I've had the front wheels balanced and the crankshaft pulley changed out and neither have made a difference.
It definitely sounds like brakes, but goes away when the wheel is unloaded like a wheel bearing noise would. Plus, doesn't change when using the brakes. I've looked over the hub and driveshaft and can't see anything there. I like the idea of using a camera, might give that a go.
There's no extra vibration I can notice.
There's no extra vibration I can notice.
I had a similar mystery brake noise appear once (not on a Honda). It suddenly appeared one morning, I barely drove a mile (just to get home), and seemed to be worse turning left rather than right. Jacked it up, wheel off, couldn't find anything wrong. Popped off the calliper so I could remove the disc, nothing. Washed everything off with brake clean as usual, and the noise disappeared after I reassembled everything. Perhaps there was a tiny piece of grit between pad and disc but I never saw it. Have you tried another set of pads just in case?
Alternatively, a few things I can think of:
1) Are your wheel centre caps removable? Putting a piece or two of gravel into a hub cap used to be a prank. Pop the wheel off and have a look in the cavities that are closed when the wheel is on.
2) Any chance your brake disc dust shield is corroded and catching?
3) Finally, a cable tie or similar holding a gaiter on to the driveshaft?
Alternatively, a few things I can think of:
1) Are your wheel centre caps removable? Putting a piece or two of gravel into a hub cap used to be a prank. Pop the wheel off and have a look in the cavities that are closed when the wheel is on.
2) Any chance your brake disc dust shield is corroded and catching?
3) Finally, a cable tie or similar holding a gaiter on to the driveshaft?
Gassing Station | Home Mechanics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff