Grinding noise at front right wheel

[Pablo555]

i have a 92 laser rs awd turbo, and lately its been making a grindig noise whenever i take a hard turn, it is coming from the front right tire, i have checked the caliper and steering knuckle, brake pads, and i dont seem to find where the grinding is coming from, i pulled the engine about a month ago to replace the timing belt and flywheel, can somebody email me with any suggestions on what to check or what to do? my email is [email protected]

 

[Turbo Talon 111]

check all the ball joint ends. it may be easier to have a shop check it on a lift but i believe you could do it yourself also. mine was making a screaching/grinding noise when i turned and i couldn't figure it out just laying under the car moving stuff around but when a shop put it on the lift they figured it out real quick. they just injected some grease through the boot with a syringe and all was good again. they didn't even charge me for it.
while you or the shop is checking you may find some other reason if it isn't the ball joints. check things such as the axle or anything rubbing metal on metal.

 

[Auto RS T]

Check the tie rod ends that go to the "arm" on the knuckle from the power steering rack. To do this just lay under the car and grab the inner tie rod off the rack near the outer tie rod and try and move it up and down, there should be no movement.

Did you make sure the axle nut was torqued and that you used a washer underneath?

To double check the rotor for rubbing look for shiny silver rings on the rotor, also are the rotors grooved or rusted? If they are rusted the rust may be getting knocked off by the pads near the inner diamater or outer diameter of the rotor, look for those silver rings.

Check balljoint like mentioned above. To check properly the control arm must be "unsprung"

Check control arm bushings for signs of wear and compare to other side of car.

Check brake dust shields for rotor clearance, normally they will make noise all the time if rubbing, but you never know.

 

[danny_l_2005]

When I had the same problem I found out that it was my lower balljoints. I took it to the dealership and they put new ones in for Free. Thank god for the Recall

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Orrrrrrrrr you might look at the wheel bearings. Raise the right front by the frame. Take the wheel and shake it back and forth. Does it have play? If so, have someone with a good light look while the other one shakes the wheel. Sometimes it's ball joints, sometimes it's tie rod ends and sometimes it's bearings. The first two are easy. The bearings are real interesting to change if you have never done them before. You would be ahead to pull the whole knuckle and have a machine shop press them in. After you have corrected the problem, take it to have it aligned. No need in wearing out your tires prematurely.

Good Luck

 

[Auto RS T]

Good point and advise Old Mitsu Tec.

My questions are :

Wouldn't the bearings make a "whurring" while driving before grinding? Or not always true? I just want to be clear that this case is not one of a kind.

How does the "whurring" noise differ, if at all between automatic and manual vehicles, if "whurring" when a wheel bearing is bad?

I changed a wheel bearing/2 studs on my friends 92 GST w/abs last week, it was definately an interesting experience.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

As you can imagine, sound diagnosis without hearing the actual noise is a crap shoot at best. I extrapolated that since he didn't see anything rubbing such as brake rotor with shiny spots, wheel with spots rubbed into it that perhaps the bearing could be construed as the possible source of the problem. I've replaced them and they are a chore to say the least. Not recommended to attempt by the novice. If you have changed them, then you too can attest to that.

Good Luck

 

[tsiturbomm]

Okay i looked under the search engine and this was the closest topic I could find near what my car does. If im driving my car on the highway, every now and then it will sound like something is grinding near my front right wheel and shake the whole car a little. I have searched and searched and cant find the cause of this. It always comes from the right side but I was doing about 80 today and heard the sound (it seemed) from both sides of the car and it vibrated the whole car badly. It will also feel wierd in the steering wheel. When this usually happens i just slow down a little and jerk the wheel hard to the right and it stops for a while. Anyone have any ideas of what it could be? It is a 95 talon awd if that helps any bit. Thanks for the replies!!

 

[tsiturbomm]

Anyone know what this grinding is??? It had stopped for a week but it came back lastnight REALLY bad, I had to stop the car and check to see if my wheels were gonna fall off it was that bad.

 

[tsiturbomm]

It came back again today and now it sounds like it is deaqd center in my car but I cant find anything that could be causing it. It shakes the car violently but not the wheel anymore.