Morning everyone,

First post, I've been reading the help section but no one is describing my issue to a T. Any-who, our beloved 03 TL is experiencing a problem that several mechanics have been unable to diagnose. I've heard everything from bearings to the power steering pump o-rings and no one is willing to take any more of a look than pulling the tire off.

The problem is a strange 'noise' at this point and as far as I can tell nothing mechanically is wrong with the car. The sound is very similar to that of an old washing machine on a spin cycle with an unbalanced load but turns into a grind similar to the brake dust shield rubbing when you make a right hand turn and more recently when turning left; but regardless of direction it only happens when letting off the gas.

Please listen to the YouTube clip.

Aside from the sound clip this is what I've gathered so far.

1.) It only happens after driving for 2 or 3 miles
2.) It gets worse/louder with time/mileage but seems to 'reset' after the car sits for an hour or two.
3.) It's definitely coming from the front passenger side wheel well area
4.) It only happens when you let off the accelerator
*after driving on the freeway you can hear the noise while on the accelerator only if youre going over 45mph
5.) It doesn't matter if the car is in gear or out of gear
6.) No sound if the car is jacked up and you spin the wheel by hand, regardless of orientation, tested from lock to lock
7.) We've jacked the car up on a lift and run it up to about 40MPH with no sounds emitted, again, regardless of wheel orientation and from lock to lock
8.) It's not the brakes and/or brake dust shield. Both have been taken off/replaced
9.) Neither the inner or outer CV boot is ripped or torn but I'm leaning toward the grease being worn out inside the boot and this being the cause...

Any help and /or ideas is appreciated. We're pretty sure we're going to get the axle replaced at this point but we dont want to just throw money down the drain either

TYAIA

 

Maybe replace the shocks? Definitely sounds like suspension.

 

To verify it's from the suspension, drive the car on a side street that is clear of any cars. While driving and you hear the noise, put it in neutral and turn off the engine and let the car coast (you can still use the brakes and emergency brake). Do you still hear the noise?

 

Thanks for the reply but the sound is in relation to wheel speed in terms of frequency and doesnt appear to be suspension related but I can absolutely be wrong. I'll ask the guys at the shop to look into the shocks/struts as a possible cause, thank you!

 

Yes, we've done this and the noise is still emitted with the car being in N and turned off.

One of my fears is that this may actually be coming from the transmission... but I have never heard a sound like that coming from the tranny...

 

Even then the Tranny is on Driver Side your sound is Coming from Passenger Side so I dont think its the tranny...

Are you sure 100% is not the bearing?? I replaced mine that was doing more/less the same sound... It becomes more sharp/fast @ Higher Speeds?

 

Honestly, I'm not sure at all that, that is not the problem. It's definitely gets a higher pitch and faster when you take it on the freeway but the wind in the mic was terrible so we didnt post that clip.

I wouldn't doubt its the bearings but the couple guys at the shop that I took it to said because there is no movement when they tug at the wheel with it jacked up in the air that this is not possible. However, I've read on a couple sites that this is not always true.

I'm no mechanic by far and its not that I dont want to pay for someone to fix it I just dont want to pay for someone to 'guess' and not actually fix the problem.

Thanks again!

 

First 2 things i would look at are the CV joints then Bearing. You wont get any movement out of it when they tug on it. Its pressed in the knuckle and the axle holds it together.

Not being there its hard to say for certain but i would look at them.

 

I have the same freaking noise going on!!! I've replaced the the CV boots and the bearing and still no luck. I'm led to believe its my rotors that are severely warped and are spinning crooked. To test I've had the rotors resurfaced and the noise went away about for 2 weeks, then the shimmy started to come back along with the noise. BTW, I have the same symptoms only 2-3 miles after driving, noise gets louder as miles go on ect. My noise seems to be coming from drivers side front. I've brought it to 3 shops which all told me that my rotors were done, I'm gonna replace the rotors to see if it helps if not I will start with bearing and CV boot which were all just replaced!.

Try to just re-surface your rotors and then you'll see if the noise went away or not.

Noise seems to be a weird spinning rubbing noise that is linear with speed, as I sow down a creeking comes in to play as if its rubbing on something. I might rip off the dust shield when changing rotors to see if it has any affect.

 

Thank you, I just hope my guy stays honest and dosent try to stick it to me because I cant say for certain what I need done.

 

I'd try the rotors but I cant get the damn screws out and I dont have an impact wrench.

You dont happen to have a sound clip of yours do you?

 

Not at the moment but i swear its 100% the same noise as yours! I think we may be the only 2 on AZ suffering from this problem. Do you have a shaky shimmy when stopping??? My rotors seems to shake the wheel violently at highway speeds when coming to a stop. I know that both times I re-surfaced the rotors ALL of the noises went away along with the shake for a week or two and then came back. Mechanic says rotors are poor quality (centric) or just wayy to damaged from leaving them warped for 6 months. Either way I'll give that a shot hopefully its just the rotors that are very badly crooked, waved or warped that are causing these weird ass sounds!!

 

Well, I changed the pads AFTER this all started and did not resurface the rotors so to answer your question yes it shakes a little now but didn't prior to me changing the pads.

Only reason I changed them was becuase I thought it was the 'sensor bar' on the pads telling me they were worn and needed to be replaced. To my surprise they were still about 60% on both sides and had no discoloration... like a fool I swapped em out anyway hoping it would solve the problem.

 

Holy crap did I did the same thing thinking it was the wear bars making the noise. I'm uploading my video that I found from winter. Mind you its been 5 months that i've been riding like this and its still not fixed!!

 

heres the clip:

 

I'll be damned. I'd swear its the same as well although yours sound a little more advanced but definitely where my car is heading.

HOPEFULLY I'll have some answers by the weekend or we may just end up trading in this car...

 

Thinking about it... maybe when youre resurfacing your rotors that's not what is actually making the problem go away temporarily but in fact its the removing and remounting of the rotor themselves that somehow re-seat them on the axle.... IDK, just a thought

 

True, I wont be able to get my hands on my car for another couple of weeks its in the process of being painted, Im going to order new rotors but I have a feeling the noise is gonna be back, the mechanics are completely useless and all have different opinions. It's really bothering me though I'm defantilty not rolling through the summer with this annoying noise! If you resolve your issue please update me!!

 

You just replaced CV's and Bearings - But you will do them again?! How recently did you "just" replace them if you are willing to replace them again so soon?

 

Sure will, hopefully I'll find out tomorrow for sure

 

To test the bearings for sound:

1.- Jack up the Side that you think have the problem; In your case Passenger Side.
2.- Engage E-Brake and put Something on the Rear Wheels to stop them from moving in any case.
3.- Leave the Driver Side Wheel on the Ground.
4.- Start the Car and Engage "D5"
5.- The Tire on the Air should start spinning check for the Same Sound that You hear (High-Pitched Sound or Grinding Noise).

6.- If you hear any of the above it should be the Bearing....

 

We did that twice already and no noise... I did notice yesterday with the rain that the noise started up immediately upon driving and did not take the usual 2 - 3 miles that it normally does.

I might try jacking it up in the air again tomorrow before she goes into the shop but that depends on how Im feeling at the time.

Really appreciate the input guys, if anything else comes to mind please let me know; test, ideas, thoughts, rants... all appreciated

 

So, just to keep this thread updated.

Got the car fixed today. Not only was it the bearings it was a piece of the hub assebmly that had broken off into the bearings so we had to replace both parts.

Not too bad, parts and labor was only about $340 w taxes and all.