This past week I have been hearing a noise coming from the passenger side front wheel well (at least that’s where I think it’s coming from). It sounds like metal rubbing on metal, but at a pace like morse code- It’s not a constant sound at all. It happens at all different speeds above ~60 mph, but it comes and goes. The faster I go, the more I hear it. The more bumps I hit, the more I hear it. I’d say I’m hearing it about 5% of the time I’m driving on the highway, but it really bothers me.

My guess is a bad wheel bearing or CV joint, since the car has been lowered on coilovers for the past 900 miles. Any guesses? Any ways to check?

I was planning on getting an alignment tonight, should I wait to figure out the problem before I do?

Thanks in advance.

 

Id say you are losing a wheel bearing, had a 93 Cutlass Cabrio did the same thing after wailing an absurd bump courtesy of PennDot. Destroyed both front wheel bearings and 1 tire.

 

It seems like every video I watch on bad wheel bearings sounds like this, but this isn't even close to what my car sounds like. Mine is really high pitched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK5HwdSivbQ

 

Maybe something as simple as a pebble caught somewhere around the brake rotor? That wouldn't be too hard to check, if you can put that end of the car up on jack stands.

 

Give it a try but if it is humming most likely wheel bearing. But wait theres more.....Check to see how much tread you have on your tires that could be it too. A lot of tires get really loud when worn out. Does it pop when make a turn? You can check everything when you pull the wheel off. Keep us posted.

 

is everything tight? If its a clunking it could be your sway bar depending if you got adjustable end links as it will be preloaded otherwise.

 

It's not a clunking. It honestly sounds like high pitched morse code coming through my radio (and yes I did turn off my radio to make sure that wasn't it lol). My tires are pretty much brand new, and I've heard the noise with 2 different sets of wheels on the car. I can't tell the difference between the "humming" wheel bearing noise and just average road/engine noise (my car is just loud to begin with).

I still have the stock end links on the car.

At first I thought it was my m7 splitter whistling at high speed but I took that off for the winter and I'm still hearing the noise.

I rescheduled my alignment for tomorrow night so I'm going to pull the wheel off when I get home tonight to triple check that everything is still tight from the coilover install and that I didn't snap/crack an endlink or something.

 

You shouldnt snap one, it will just preload the swaybar. If its high pitch metal on metal hmmm what coils did you purchase? Did you get diff. top hats/plates as well?


Check the passenger side ac line for friction marks from the cv joint, depending on how low you are the cv may be making contact against the ac line.


Im guessing you only hear it on un even pavement correct?

 

ST Coilovers. Stock top hats/plates.

And I was about 3 inches off the ground the first time I heard it. I've since raised it up to about 2 fingers gap for winter.

It's been on all kinds of pavement, but mostly the average highway road. Also mostly under hard acceleration.

 

Check the a/c line for friction marks from the c/v axle,


More info, so the noise happens while there is little to no suspension movement? try to think whether the noise happens then the suspension loads(compresses) or unloads(decompresses).

Lol sounds dumb but make sure you dont have any tools left in there, big key chains etc.

 

You hear it under heavy load? Hmmmmm that sounds like the electrical noise that you get with the turbo and motor accelerating. Video would an awesome idea to help us out.

 

Turbo noise is not intermittent so it cant be

 

also try holding the passenger head rest and see what happens. I had a high pitch intermittent noise that was coming from the passenger head rest. How loud is the noise also?

 

Thanks for all the help so far guys.

Is there any possibility that it could just be the fact that I haven't had it aligned yet? I know it's bad after so many miles but I just haven't had the time.

When I get home tonight I'm going to jack up the car right away and see if I can find anything... hopefully it's something simple.

If I can't figure it out I'll ask my neighbor to come for a ride and take a video.

 

Bigprfed22, I think you are correct. It looks like the CV joint has one small line of wear from the A/C line that's right above it. It must have made contact the two times I heard the noise. I don't understand why it would only happen at certain speeds/accelerations though. Plus, I'm not even that low anymore. I'm higher than I was with the H&R springs.

The only thing I can think of is that the higher air pressure at higher speeds/acceleration pushes the front of the car down and causes the two things to rub.

Is there any way to move that A/C line out of the way without damaging it? Hell, I should just buy the MINI ONE belt and delete the A/C all together.

Thanks again for the help, it's much appreciated as always.

 

I think so, there may be a thread around here somewhere but im not positive.

 

I have been noticing the EXACT same thing for the past two days. Sounds like morse code coming from the passenger side of my car, mine sounds like it's coming from the rear but not sure.

 

If its more of a clunking sound, could be the sway bar shifting within the bushing if you dont have adjustable links.

 

It's not a clunking noise at all. I wish I could record it but I think it'd be too faint to hear. It's almost like a dog whistle but in short random bursts.
Also, apologies but this is on an r53. I just searched the forum and found this one the best one to read off of.

 

If you look under it, if your a/c line is rubbing itll have a clear friction mark

 

It wouldn't be a brake wear indicator, would it?

Spridget

 

If your not on the brakes no, unless the pistons are that far out which would mean you have way worse problems lol

 

I'll be checking once I'm out of work. But yeah, it's only when driving. Mine is at any speed it seems like. And I just got brakes replaced three months ago.