What do you think?

I get almost a constant "Howl" that is directly related to my speed and unrelated to engine speed. It almost sounds like a bad bearing, but Im not sure. Its most noticeable at highway speeds, and literally is loud as hell! Is there any way to check for a bad bearing? I remember something about spinning the wheel and checking for the sound, or resistance, but Im not sure if thats true.

Or could it just be the tires? They are Kumho 712s with about 3000 miles on them. This just started happening maybe 250 miles ago. Its really quite loud, and Ive heard others complain about road noise with them. There was a bit of noise at first, but nothing like this!!!

 

See if you can isolate the noise to one corner of the car. At speed, do quick left-right transitions and see what side the noise is more prevalent on. Then, accelerate and brake to see if the noise is front or back -- now you've found the culprit. I'd guess bearing, but you can spin the culprit wheel to see if you feel/hear grinding.

HTH

 

First, I have the Kumho 712s and I have not experienced any noise from them. Let me ask you, what do the roads / highways consist of that you use on a daily basis? (assfault or concrete. grooved or smooth.) If its not a tire thing I would look to the bearings.

 

Might have been a poor balancing job. After I had a "wha, wha, wha" sound from my car and when I changed my tires the noise was gone. Since you have new tires, they might just need to be rebalanced. The shop who did it for you should do it free of charge

 

i had exactly the same problem
i didn't know whether it was the tires or a bearing
i just knew it was coming from the rear

so i just bought a new bearing and i took the old one off and sure enough there was pitting on the race

now my car's quieter than ever

 

My friend's EF hatch did this, it was louder than his Thermal exhaust from inside the car! Should be the bearings. Jack up the car and try to wiggle the tire back and forth. If there's any movement at all it's bearings for sure.

 

Did you replace or remove your axles recently?

Mine did that shortly after (although it wasn't as loud as you say). The main hub nut was not tight enough. The bearings weren't snug, that was the culprit. Just in case that's the problem, I'd check that. It'll only get worse, until your wheel assembly falls off.

Good luck and be careful. Don't do any extraneous speeding until you get it checked out.

 

Nope, I havent replaced the axles.

I will check all of the suggestions...my thoughts were a bearing as well. I believe it is coming from the right front. It is LOUD! Thx ladies

 

After I got into an accident which involved my car going over a small curb, my car made a howling noise as well. I had my tires remounted and rebalanced and it still has the howl but it's not continuous. It's more like..."hooooowl, hoooooowl, hooooowl."

After reading this I'm a little worried. Does someone have a picture of the wheel bearing? I"m going to do the tests suggested here but I want to know what I'm looking for.

 

The bearing is just the thing inside the hub that turns. It's the part that the axle (for the front) fits into.

 

does the sound of the noise change on different road surfaces?

my tires howl at me on asphault when it is time to get new tires.

 

hah!

it is always exciting to be driving down the road and say "damn, one of my wheels is passing me"

rather dangerous though, I knew a girl, and she lost a wheel, it caught a bounce and went through someones windshield, no injuries, but it sure scared the hell out of the other driver.

 

what is the price for new bearings? can u do it at home?

 

I passed by the dealership tonight and they said it was my tires. I don't know why I keep going back there because I always feel like they're feeding me ****. The fact of the matter is, the sound wasn't there before my accident, and suddenly appeared after. I'm not trying to scam the dealership. I just wanted an assessment of the wheel bearing so that I could tell my insurance about it. I have a new rim/tire combo coming at the end of March. I hope the sound goes away when it's installed.

 

i Had the same problem before
i got a new Bearing from my local Acura dealers
it turned out that it was my TOYO T1 tires that were making the noise
check the tires and the bearing if u can
just my .2cents
hope that helps!
but ur tires are fairly new..my guess it will be the wheel bearings


[Modified by milano, 2:51 AM 3/14/2002]

 

Hey I had this same problem. I had a howling noise when I bought my teg a few months ago. I thought it might be my tires(riding on bald stockers when I bought it) But after putting on some new rims and tires it was still doing it. Shop told me to change the bearing. The noise went away and the car was so much smoother and quieter!

 

*UPDATE*
The noise has now given way to a new problem...

Coming from the same location, I now have a "click click click", always as I turn the wheel, sometimes in a straight line. I first noticed it as I engaged the clutch to downshift...the "clunk, clunk, clunk" (kind of like the sound of a stick stuck in your bicycle spokes) occured ONLY when the clutch was depressed, and was in sync with wheel rotation. It then began occuring during turns, and then on and off during regular driving in gear.

My first guess would be CV Joint, but I dont understand why it only made the clunking when the clutch was depressed at first? Does the boot need to be replaced as well if its not torn?

 

Hmm....that doesn't sound like fun. Anywho, this weekend if you have time, jack up the car and take a look under there. Get a good feel around your boots and look around the axles to see if anything's in the way.

Do your boots have a tear in them? Grease coming out or coating the boot?

 

The noise has now escalated to a metal/metal scraping on top of the clunking.
The boots are in perfect condition.

Im going to pull it apart tomorrow and see if I can find an actual mark where the scraping is occuring. The clunking feels almost like a tree branch is caught in the spokes and is banging under my left foot. I cant be too upset though, as this is the first problem Ive encountered in the lifetime of the car

 

far fetch but check your tranny fluid. i had a problem like that and it turned out to be low on fluid. also check to see if the cv shafts are sturdy..mine was wobbling on the boot that is closer to the tranny , it is suppose to be pretty much solid..that made wierd noise like ones you desribed.