So I came Back from Hawaii and..

[Evo Mike]

Hey guys, so i came back from hawaii and started up the car.. started fine.. and i've been driving it.. but now there's a humming noise comming from the front left side of the car when i drive (driver side not at idle).. it gets louder as driving speed increases.. so first and 2nd gear it's not bad at all.. also, it still makes noise when the clutch is in as well and the car is rolling.. Anyway, i checked pretty much all the major fluids.. including transmission fluid, rear diff fluid, and t-case fluid.. not sure what's makin the sound but the car still drives well and feels strong!

i figured someone here might have an idea as to whats going on.. is there anything else i should check? or have checked? the meet is tonight so maybe someone could take a short ride with me to get a better idea as to what i'm talking about. Any suggestions? oh yeah and a volunteer for tonight would be awesome!
thanks
mike

[doubleurx]

Taking guesses: your brother is hiding under the hood to annoy you or maybe one of your wheel bearings is toast?

[Evo Mike]

that's what i thought.. maybe one of my wheel bearings has gone bad.. but wouldn't the car drive "unusually" if that was the case? also, i dont really tear on the car alot..or drive it as hard as most of the people in the club drive theirs.. anyway.. is it worth the time to have it checked out?

[JC]

Sounds like a wheel bearing to me. Is it s a whirring type noise? No the car doesn't necessarily drive strange, mine didn't. Yes you should have it checked out.

[cody]

If it's a wheel bearing, can't you check by jacking up that wheel and seeing if it wiggles?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by cody

If it's a wheel bearing, can't you check by jacking up that wheel and seeing if it wiggles?

Or more easily, if it the LF bearing, it will be louder around right hand turns than left hand turns.

[Evo Mike]

Yes jc it sounds like a whirring or fast high pitched rubbing... Not to be sarcasric.. But my car now has a freaking supercharger! Does that sound at least remotely familiar to you JC? It is really annoying.. Anyway I tried getting on the throttle a little, and it makes the noise more at higher rpm under boost.. But at idle and reving, noise is gone.. My question is, now could the bearing go bad sitting in my garage! Please let me know guys..
Thanks alot

[Evo Mike]

Oh an additional piece of info.. Boost builds fine throughout the gears, and knock sensor indicates nice clean runs.. I don't notice so much in turns because I try not to wail into them.. But anyway.. Thanks for all the help!

[Dean]

As Scott said if it's louder turning one direction over another it will tell you which bearing it is.

To make sure it's in the drive line, at speed, put in the clutch and take it out of gear and release the clutch. Let the engine come down to an idle. if the noise follows wheel speed, not the engine speed as you coast it is drive line.

Since the car sat for a while, you may also want to make sure there isn't something in interference with the tire or drive line somewhere like a birds nest, dead rat/cat, etc. Don't laugh, I've seen it.

[Evo Mike]

Yea it follows me with speed.. When I am going along and push in the clutch, there is a "winding down" noise that stops at about 20mph.. Therefore it is driveline.. I think.. My question is, what should be done? I'll jack the car up and take off the wheel to make sure nothing is obstructing. What else should be done?

[MPREZIV]

Def. thinking wheel bearing from the description. I've seen many that don't even fail the "wobble" test, as mentioned, but make that described noise.

I'll be at the meet tonight, and as resident professional wrench turner, I'd be glad to go for a ride and take a listen if you like dude!

[doubleurx]

I still think it may be Ryan under there giving you a hard time.

[Evo Mike]

Thanks! I'll wait to go to anywhere until tomorrow.. But will check to see if there is any physical obstruction to the wheel this afternoon. =) thanks everyone! This noise is driving me nuts.. Tried turning up the radio.. But still hear it

[Dean]

You might also check for old wire hangers that might be behind the wheel. I hear those sound a lot like wheel bearings.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Dean

You might also check for old wire hangers that might be behind the wheel. I hear those sound a lot like wheel bearings.

The best part about that is that my wheel bearings were actually shot. Those guys would have been in some serious trouble had my wheel come off at Thunderhill after they scolded me for leaving a hanger in there without checking the bearings like I paid them to.

[Evo Mike]

okay i checked for any physical obstruction.. there is no wobble in teh wheel as someone mentioned earlier.. and the noise rises and falls with wheelspeed... other than that.. and all looks good.. no rubbing.. and dont smell any cooked up dead animals.. haha.. anyway i'll see what people say tonight..

[JC]

Originally Posted by Evo Mike

Yes jc it sounds like a whirring or fast high pitched rubbing... Not to be sarcasric.. But my car now has a freaking supercharger! Does that sound at least remotely familiar to you JC?

Sounds about right to me. I drove my car ~3000 miles with a whirring wheel bearing, nothing died. Of course I don't have a Mitsu.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by JC

Sounds about right to me. I drove my car ~3000 miles with a whirring wheel bearing, nothing died. Of course I don't have a Mitsu.

I put over 100 miles at Thunderhill on my car w/ a bad bearing. I went from needing new bearings to needing new bearings and a new LF hub... cost me an extra $100 or so for not fixing it right away, but I got all new lug bolts on one wheel out of the deal.

[JC]

Originally Posted by sperry

I put over 100 miles at Thunderhill on my car w/ a bad bearing. I went from needing new bearings to needing new bearings and a new LF hub... cost me an extra $100 or so for not fixing it right away, but I got all new lug bolts on one wheel out of the deal.

Actually now that you say that, I might have needed a new hub too. It was a while ago. That was an expensive incident, fucking parking stops.

[Dean]

I went from fine to a destroyed wheel bearing, hub, axle, etc, in about 10 laps at Buttonwillow.

If it just started making noise, you can drive on it for a bit on the street without hurting it. Just don't go to the track.