The Grind

[wtf lol]

This morning I was on my way to drop off the kids at school and then go to work. On my way down the road, I let off the gas to apply the brake. In that moment between gas and brake, I heard a grinding noise coming from my right front wheel. It wasn't constant though. It happened at a certain point when the wheel made a full rotation. I thought, "Oh great, I have to replace the wheel bearing." (I've already replaced the driver's side wheel bearings so I knew what the sound was, at least I thought I did). Once I hit the gas again, the noise went away.

Weird.

I let off the gas again, and the noise came back. Every time I apply either the gas or the brakes, the noise doesn't happen. It's only when I'm coasting. That doesn't seem like the thing the wheel bearing would do, does it? I don't know.

Since it all started this morning, I haven't had a chance to jack it up and check for sure. What I do know is that it's loud and pretty embarrassing to have this gross grind coming from your wheel.

I don't think it's related to the brake pads, but I'll check those to be sure.

If anyone has any insight as to what it may be, I'd appreciate it.

[sheston]

Rock wedged in between the rotor and brake shield?

Worn bushings that cause something to hit when the driveline isn't stressed?

[wtf lol]

PROBLEM SOLVED!

I jacked my car up yesterday to see what I could see. Did the standard "wheel shake" to see if the wheel bearings were bad, but the wheel didn't have any play in it. I spun the wheel to listen for any grinding or a "click", but still nothing. Since I didn't have time to look for rocks or anything wedged in there, I dropped the car and decided to find the problem tonight.

This morning on my way to drop off kids / go to work, the noise was just louder and seemed to happen a lot more often. Instead of a full rotation to hear the grind, it was now happening every half rotation of the wheel.

PERFECT!

While at work, I decided to look at other car forums to see if anyone else has had this problem. Right away, I found a Volvo forum who had the same problem as I did. The description was exactly what I was going through. I thought, "Yes! This guy gets it! How'd you fix it?"

He didn't. He spent $1,600 and still had the problem.

My hopes weren't high.

I found an Integra forum with the same issue. This guy was as confused as I was until he brought it to the shop. The mechanic said, "Someone didn't tighten these lug nuts all the way. This is your problem." The guy laughed and said he forgot to tighten them down all the way after changing his brakes.

Another forum. Same problem. Same solution. I thought that it couldn't be as simple as tightening a few lug nuts, could it?

IT WAS!

Apparently when I brought my car to the shop to get the a/c compressor clutch replaced, they didn't tighten down a few lug nuts completely. One was way loose and another was kinda loose. The other three were fine.

On my commute home, the noise was completely gone! It cost me exactly $0.00 to solve this issue.

For anyone who has this problem, before you look into bushings, bearings, or anything else, make sure your lug nuts are tightened first. It could save you a lot of headache.



TL;DR - Lug nuts were loose. Tightened them and the problem was solved.

[Nailedit187]

Always torque your nuts!

[sheston]

That's as bad as a lady at work drove 200 miles and said she heard a clunk when she pressed the brakes. I went out and looked at it. She had gotten new brakes before her trip, and they had only put on one caliper bolt!!