travis

I'm sure that someone here can help me diagnose this noise. I hate "help me fix my car" posts as much as the next guy, but since this seems like something easily identified I figured I'd try here.

Background: Mine is the only R I have ever driven, or even ridden in on the street (everything makes noises on the track). As a result, I don't have a good idea of what kind of road noise/tire noise I can expect. For the first year of driving my car, the tire noise was just "noisy." However, for the past 4-6 months, slowly but surely, a distinct noise has presented itself for diagnosis. Now that it's clearly getting worse, it's time to do something about it before I join the ranks of crushed R's in freak accidents (okay, not really freak, I just don't know the problem yet ).

The noise: As best described over the internet, it sounds like a "wub-wub-wub-wub-wub-wub" at higher speeds in long, sweeping turns. At first, I was sure I had flatspotted a tire, since I first noticed this very, very subtle noise coming back from an autocross event. It did it only while slowly drifting right, not straight or left. However, I have now had three sets of tires on this car for various reasons since the first set (yok inter., V700s, RE10, Azenis) and the noise persists...and is getting worse. So it's not the tires. I notice it while coasting, accelerating, and under braking. There is no vibration in the steering wheel, brake pedal, or shift ****, specifically. However, as I increase the angle of the turn, there is a general vibration in the floor of the car. Unlike when it started, the noise is now present when going straight, and it is much worse when turning in both directions. I really only notice it at higher speeds (45+), but that could be because I can't feel it at slower speeds. There is no metal-to-metal contact sound, or crunching, like you would expect from a CVJ going bad, and my boots appear okay (no grease explosions, and no obvious cracks or tears, although I haven't had it on a lift). The wheel bearings feel tight, in that I can jack up a corner, shake the tire/wheel, and it feels firm. The brake calipers fit fine, and they are not loose. I have not done an alignment for the past 1.5 years, so that's still up in the air, but I don't think that's it. My tire wear is what you'd expect from a lot of competition time, with no strange patterns indicating really bad alignment. Finally, the car feels fine. It doesn't dart or drift, stops and goes good as new, and is still point-and-shoot when it comes to turn in. It's just this damn noise, and now this vibration. The vibration feels like a flat spotted tire, or as if you had glued a pencil to the tread and it made a little thud every time it hit the ground. Something is wrong, or it wouldn't be getting worse. What I first chalked up to "R" noise is now something else.

Thanks for reading all of this. I just tried to answer all the potential first questions I could think of. I'm hoping that if I just say it to someone else, they'll see something obvious that I'm not seeing. Any help, direction, or straight up answers would be greatly appreciated. I've searched through as much as I can on this board, but most everything doesn't apply to me.

Thanks again!


[Modified by ITR#231, 12:00 AM 1/8/2002]

Louie

An axle maybe? Sometimes the boots don't have to be torn and you can still have a bad axle.

Try this: while cruising at about 45mph juggle the throttle. Does the vibration get worse when you accelerate? How about when you let off from a high criuse speed?

If the innner joint is bad i found that juggling the throttle can produce a vibration.

OutLaw MR

It sound to me like it could be either wheel bearings or trans main bearings,
jack the front of the car and set it on stands,have someone run the car in gear,
then get underneath with a long screwdriver or stethtoscope place it near axle and listen for noise on both sides if you still can not hear it place it on trans casing by
the drive axles,hope this helped.good luck

travis

Thanks for the info, guys. From what I'm hearing from everyone, it sounds like one of the bearings. How the noise started is certainly indicative of a bad bearing. If a bearing is bad for a while, will it begin to make noise when turning both right and left, or does it sound like both are bad (either from the start, or now)? I'm comfortable replacing them, but that's a lot of time and effort if it's not the problem. Would a mechanic be able to pin down this noise if I were to give them a ride? All I need is a diagnosis, and I can go from there. I know it's hard to do over the internet, so thanks for your help guys!