So my '00 TL has made this faint grinding metal on metal noise that seems to be coming from the drivers side front wheel since I bought it roughly 22K miles ago. When I did the brakes about 12K miles ago it went away for a while, but has come back and is now accompanied by a loud grinding noise at low speeds/when coming to a stop. It's not the brakes I've had those checked, anyone have any other ideas?

 

Are you sure it's not the brakes. I've seen more than a few calipers go bad or the pins they slide on start to rust not allowing the caliper to slide and release.

Does the noise get louder when you step on the brakes? Any shake in the steering wheel? If yes does it get worse when braking, accelerating, turning.... Does the sound speed up when accelerating? Are you CV boots good.

 

If you positive the breaks are good have your cv's and your wheel bearings checked, how many miles are on the car?

 

a mechanics stethoscope is the tool for finding noises $4 HFT or ~$9 any parts store

how is the pad wear- inner to outer pad compared- that will tell if pins or calipers are acting up