hawkeye18
Sorta cares
Ok, so my wife's 95 ATX has been having some... issues. One day on the way home from work, her front left wheel fell off. We don't know whether somebody was trying to steal it and only got halfway through or what, but one of the studs was snapped and the other four were stripped pretty bad. There was major vibration beforehand, and fortunately she pulled over before it actually fell off, so no major damage was done. She was also right across the street from an AAP so she and a friend of mine hammered some new studs in and all was good. Or so we thought.
After that, the car started making a weird noise. It sounded, honest to God, like a swarm of locusts was following the car. I didn't know what to make of it, and my wife was adamant that it was the wheel bearing. It started getting a little louder, and the other day it started making a horrible screeching noise. I drove it, and it sounded like the pie tin was touching the rotor, and I told her so, but she was inconsolable. She wouldn't drive it. So one of her coworkers at advance auto called around and found a shop that would replace her wheel bearing for $160, provided we supply the parts (which we had). Pretty good deal.
We take the car into the shop. I tell the mechanic to check the pie tin cos it might be touching the rotor. He takes it in, we go back to the store. We get a call 20 minutes later saying it's fixed. Turns out it was indeed the pie tin touching the rotor (score one for me!). We drive it, locust sound is still there. Granted, it's hard to hear in traffic, but he didn't charge us anything to push the pie tin back so we weren't too worried. Everybody that knows him says "if he says it's not the wheel bearing, it ain't the wheel bearing."
One of her regular customers comes in who fixes people's cars a lot and Michelle (the wife) asks him if he can drive the car and see what's wrong with it. I go with him and we come to the conclusion that the ABS sensor is contacting the ring. It sounds plausible; the PRF is about right.
I have to go to work, but michelle comes home and checks the sensor out; it's not touching anything. So we're back at square one. It's not the wheel bearing, it's not the ABS sensor. What the **** is making this noise?
We put the front of the car up on jackstands and run the wheels so I can hear what's making the noise. It sounds like it's coming from the calipers. Could the slotted rotors be making this noise as the slots pass under the pads? They didn't make that noise when installed... but it's possible. I took a video of it, you guys be the judge. I also took a shot from above the wheel to see if it's wobbling at all; the wheel might have been thrown out of balance when it fell off as the hub landed on the inside of the wheel. You can see the freshly painted calipers and brackets that got all fu**ed up
.
Anybody have any inputs? I'm tired of telling my wife her wheel bearing's not going to self-destruct. I need some backup. You be the judge...
After that, the car started making a weird noise. It sounded, honest to God, like a swarm of locusts was following the car. I didn't know what to make of it, and my wife was adamant that it was the wheel bearing. It started getting a little louder, and the other day it started making a horrible screeching noise. I drove it, and it sounded like the pie tin was touching the rotor, and I told her so, but she was inconsolable. She wouldn't drive it. So one of her coworkers at advance auto called around and found a shop that would replace her wheel bearing for $160, provided we supply the parts (which we had). Pretty good deal.
We take the car into the shop. I tell the mechanic to check the pie tin cos it might be touching the rotor. He takes it in, we go back to the store. We get a call 20 minutes later saying it's fixed. Turns out it was indeed the pie tin touching the rotor (score one for me!). We drive it, locust sound is still there. Granted, it's hard to hear in traffic, but he didn't charge us anything to push the pie tin back so we weren't too worried. Everybody that knows him says "if he says it's not the wheel bearing, it ain't the wheel bearing."
One of her regular customers comes in who fixes people's cars a lot and Michelle (the wife) asks him if he can drive the car and see what's wrong with it. I go with him and we come to the conclusion that the ABS sensor is contacting the ring. It sounds plausible; the PRF is about right.
I have to go to work, but michelle comes home and checks the sensor out; it's not touching anything. So we're back at square one. It's not the wheel bearing, it's not the ABS sensor. What the **** is making this noise?
We put the front of the car up on jackstands and run the wheels so I can hear what's making the noise. It sounds like it's coming from the calipers. Could the slotted rotors be making this noise as the slots pass under the pads? They didn't make that noise when installed... but it's possible. I took a video of it, you guys be the judge. I also took a shot from above the wheel to see if it's wobbling at all; the wheel might have been thrown out of balance when it fell off as the hub landed on the inside of the wheel. You can see the freshly painted calipers and brackets that got all fu**ed up
.Anybody have any inputs? I'm tired of telling my wife her wheel bearing's not going to self-destruct. I need some backup. You be the judge...
