Secret Chimp

Just within the past few days, out of nowhere (seriously, I listen to my car) I've had this weird whooming whirring noise when my car is in motion. It sounds like a combination of tire noise and a really big differential. It will change pitch as the freeway bends, and if I turn my wheel enough to the left, the noise goes away completely until my wheel straightens again. (If I bear right, it goes whooOOORRM, and then WHOOOOooorm to being completely quiet if I turn left enough at highway speeds.) It doesn't really sound like a "roar" as most people describe bad bearings, or a kind of rhythmic "whomwhomwhomwhom" like I had in an old Subaru wagon, but who knows.

I'm wondering if this might be an inner CV joint because I've had a popped boot on that part of it for many months (the boot is on there, it just has a hole in it and literally makes a popping noise if I go over the right bump), and this noise just started after a recent rain. I know that OUTER joints clack, but the inner joint doesn't really do much bending, so I'm wondering if I could have bearings that are being noisy because they're just dry and change pitch as the axle has to lengthen or shorten a little as I change the wheel angle.

If it's a wheel bearing, great, I can have someone do that (I've tried to knock my hub/bearing assembly out of the knuckle to change my brakes, not going to happen with this thing). I just find it weird that this sound started out of nowhere and depends on the steering angle.

hatchyAllday

all i know is that a bad wheel bearing does change up depending on your speed, and if your turning or not. If when you turn the sound stops, it could mean a bad wheel bearing, because while your turning the weight load on that wheel is much lighter, so you won't hear the sound as much, if at all.

conker

I had similar symptoms due to a mismatched tire. As it started to wear it developed a bit of a groan that shifted under cornering load. My suggestion would be to rotate your tires, front to rear, and see if the source moves with the tire. If not, at least you can rule that out.

Secret Chimp

There aren't any cornering loads to speak of being involved here, I'm not whipping around at 110 mph lifting my front wheel when I corner or something. At night when nobody else is on the highway, I can gently shift my wheel in one direction and the noise changes (changes of hundredths of a G or less). Plus this sound came out of nowhere, and I do largely highway driving.

hondadude

Your description of noise change with steering a little in either direction is a classic description of a bad wheel bearing.

Secret Chimp

Yeah color me retarded, I jacked up the side of my car today and I can actually wobble the wheel a little.
Time to scoot in my girlfriend's Civic for now, I don't need to three-wheel it into a jersey barrier