Car Rotational Noise

[frugalman]

I have a 2003 Honda Accord EX 4 cyl auto with 139,300 miles on it.  It has a bad rotational noise and has had it since about 50,000 miles on the ODO. I'm hard of hearing so I can't say whether it is from the front or rear.  I mentioned the 50,000 miles, because the odd thing is, when I put new tires on every 50,000 or so, it gets quiet for a while, then a few thousand miles later starts getting noticeable again.  I changed my tires at about 100,000 so this set has 39,300 miles on them.

Do any of you Mustachians have any ideas what could be causing this?

[Chris]

When does the noise occur: breaking, coasting, or accelerating? Does the speed affect it?

[the fixer]

Would you say it's a loud or quiet noise? Rumbling, or grinding/scraping?

I have a Honda Element that has started making a rather quiet grinding noise from the wheels. It's most obvious when I put the car up on jack stands and spin any of the wheels. I haven't fixed it yet, but I think it's this: http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=805431&postcount=10

The thread that came from goes through other possible issues, like differential problems (only applies to AWD vehicles), brake shoe problems, and worn out wheel bearings. If you're buying really cheap tires it might just be excessive rolling noise.

If it's a quiet grinding noise, borrow or buy a pair of jack stands, jack the car up one end at a time while chocking the wheels still on the ground, then try spinning each wheel to see if you can determine if it's coming from the wheels themselves or not. To get the wheels to spin freely, you'll have to release the parking brake (thus why you need to chock the front wheels!) and put the car in neutral. I'm a little biased but I think this is a likely explanation (depending on what it sounds like) because you have a Honda, and the guys who replace your tires might be cleaning off some corrosion for you that just builds back up after a little while.

[grantmeaname]

A really quick test before you do the fixer's suggestion: start the car in park, open the hood, and try and see if you or a friend with better directional hearing (mine's not great either) can hear where it's coming from. If it's not under the hood, you've ruled out the belts, fans, engine, and the like, and you should try the wheels. But looking under the hood is way quicker than jacking the car up one half at a time.

[HumanAfterAll]

My guess is wheel bearings. 

Does the noise increase with vehicle speed, or engine speed?  As you accelerate, does the noise come and go, or just build steadily?

[frugalman]

Thanks for all the thoughts so far.  Noise is fairly loud.  I can hear it pretty good at a steady 30-40 mph.  At 65 it's probably drowned out (to me) by the highway and wind noise.  It increases with vehicle speed, not engine RPMs.  It's definitely not belt or engine oriented.  It seems to increase when turning right at say 20-25 mph.  No  increase if I am turning left.

[Aloysius_Poutine]

I'd look for an obvious rub around the tire, or re-grease the bearings.

[gangr]

When the sound is being made do you feel any vibration in the steering wheel, gas pedal, or brake pedal?

[frugalman]

No obvious vibration in steering wheel.  I'd just say it's bad tires except for the history of it coming back after I put new tires on it every 50,000 miles.. it's not deafening loud or anything but loud enough that if I wanted to sell the car, the buyer would be going "what's that?"

[gangr]

Have you had the following done: the alignment checked, wheels checked for bent rims, tires checked for uneven wear, and tires and wheels checked for proper balance? After that, I'd do what other have said and check for bad wheel bearings and move on to check for uneven brake wear (including sticking calipers), and steering/suspension/drive component problems like a bad CV boot.  I'd start with the driver side first.

[AlexK]

I had a geo metro that made a noise, and and the noise went away when turning left. It was the front wheel bearings. They had no play and made no noise when spun by hand with the car jacked up but after replacing them the noise was gone. Took 3 hours and about $60 in parts.

[adam]

I was going to say check the CV boots and joints but I think you would have had a catastrophic failure by now if it was really one of those going bad.