Re: Help., Howling 5KTQ

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.pl>]

At 11:44 10.11.98 -0500, Richard Haroutunian wrote:

>I just noticed a faint humming noise in my car today... It just started
>today.  It doesn't seem to actually 'howl' like you described, Mike -- but
>it was almost like a rubbing noise.  It felt/sounded like there was
>something rubbing against one of the tires -- and I didn't notice it until
>I was in the parking garage I usually park in.  As I turned to the right to
>go up level by level -- the rubbing/humming noise seemed to increase
>rotations as I increased speed.  I pushed the clutch in and coasted a
>little -- the noise continued..  The noise also seemed to get louder and
>more intense as I turned to the right -- but it wasn't and couldn't be a
>wheel bearing noise because I just had them replaced.
>
>Any clues?  It didn't appear to be a deep howl like Mike described -- it
>seemed like something was rubbing..

I had similar problems caused by tires. I bought a set of used Goodyears
that appeared to be in almost "like new" condition. Immediately after
having them installed I noticed that they were somewhat noisy. I thought
that it's normal for that brand of tire and kept driving the car. However,
over the months the noise was getting louder and louder, up to the point
where it sounded (it was a low, rumbling sound, that would get louder on
turns) like all wheel bearings, CV joints and gearbox decided to fail at
the same time. I had both front wheel bearings replaced - no change. Then
the shop discovered that one outer CV joint was worn - replaced joint,
noise still there. When the shop suggested that maybe we should try
replacing the front bearings _again_ I decided to investigate myself and
replaced one front wheel with the compact spare. The noise dropped almost
by half! I replaced the tires and have been driving in silence ever since.
I still don't know why the tires were so noisy, there was no visible damage
to them. I suppose they might have come out of a wrecked car that run over
a curb at high speed.

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)