Car Guys: I need some advice

GuardianAsher · Post by **GuardianAsher** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:08 pm

Alright, I have a 2005 Pontiac Sunfire. Some months ago it was in a front-end collision, with a curb. Previous owner was an idiot who had no right to be behind the wheel, but I digress...

Essentially, the front driver's side wheel was nearly torn off, from what I understand, but it was insured and a supposedly 'certified' shop did the $2631 in repairs to get the car working again. Some months down the line, the car begins making a 'roaring' noise when you got anywhere above about 35-40. Insurance nor the shop want to touch it. Quick trip to a mechanic and an $80 estimate and a quote of $400 later, I'm told it's a wheel hub bearing that's causing the noise. Find out you can replace the hub for $60 and about an hour of labor, so I go ahead and tackle that. And that's where I run into my new problem.

Driving in a straight line, you can almost sort of kind of feel like something is vibrating and rubbing through the steering wheel. If you make a high speed sweeping left turn, the vibration and noise become louder, still feeling like something is either rubbing or grinding together. It kind of sounds like a low, dull roar, kind of like the noise the bearing made but much quieter. Make a sweeping right handed turn, however, and the noise goes away, as does the feeling of the rubbing.

Thinking I had gotten a defective bearing, I went ahead and took it off and went in to have it swapped out. Put the new one on, same sound, same feeling.

Any ideas? If need be I have the manifest of what the shop did and didn't do when they 'fixed' the car.

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:57 pm

could be a CV joint ! or a bearing on the other side .this happen to me on my vue from driving the car over loaded on a 3000 plus trip back and forth from florida with a car load of tools .
both bearing were bad went and replaced the side i thought the sound was coming from only to find it was the other side .
better yet was one shop tryed telling me my trans was the problem .

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 6:24 am

Yeah... sounds like a CV.

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:13 am

Have a technician listen to it, in drive on a hoist (with one other person inside to accelerate to higher speeds) or using a chassis ears (on the road) to properly diagnose the cause rather than guess.