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Loud Humming noise while driving

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willeh

Be Gentle I'm New Here
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
4
Alright, i have this really loud noise coming from the front end when i drive.
It gets noticeable above 20km/h, but kinda disappears after 120km/h...

Now, the sound is kind of a humm, and it gets pretty loud around 80 (50 mph) it goes with wheel speed, not engine speed (when i put the car in neutral and coast, it continues, and it just gets higher pitched as i go faster)...

It is there when i drive in a straight line, and when I corner left, but kind disappears (for a few sec) when i corner right.

I know its not tire noise because it does the same thing on dirt as it does pavement.

I think that it may be a front wheel bearing, or cv joint?

1998 Contour, 2.0L 5-speed
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the sound you are describing is almost positively indicative of a front wheel bearing. the bearing is likely the front passenger side as the noise goes away when you turn right and UNLOAD the weight off that tire.

Verify (possibly) by lifting that side of the car and grabbing the tire at 12 and 6 oclock and pivoting in and out. if you get any wiggling, you definitely have a wheel bearing issue, though a failing bearing CAN AND WILL fail without making noise OR allowing any play in the tire!

Edit: check out the Duratec Maintenance forum, and read the "read me first" thread for a how-to on bearings, and a list of all possible repair options.
 
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What are the concequences of not getting this fixed ASAP? its a long weekend, and I have to work tuesday morning, so i'll need to put atleast 100 miles on it before i can get it in/get parts
 
well, if your wheel bearing fails... your wheel could fall off :D

My old pre98 I drove for about 2K miles on a bad wheel bearing. I didnt know it had a bad bearing until about a month after I bought it when I got my licence and started driving it more. If its not extremely loud, then you have a little bit of time yet, but thats something I would fix ASAP. Plus its a pretty easy DIY if you just buy a new hub with the new bearing inside.

Autozone lists and Timken Assembly for $41 and you could probably replace it in a couple of hours.

http://www.autozone.com/R,APP113772...partType,00895/shopping/partProductDetail.htm
 
Dont buy autozone junk, its worth it to get oem on stuff like that Aftermarket is hit or miss, you could get one bearing thats better then oem but the next one in the batch could fail in 3 months, my recommendation is ford oem, if your anywhere near michigan call John @ Village Ford parts depot, tell him your problem and Ryan from Westland Car Care said he'd beable to hook u up @ a good cost.
 
You guys are forgetting that the bearing has to be pressed in with a 10 ton press.

Send the knuckle to stazi and he will replace them with OEM new parts for 59 bucks.
 
You could use a 10 ton press to do the job. I have one and it didn't budge the bearing when I did mine. I choose to use a Dremel tool cut off wheel on the bearing race. I cut about 90% way through the race and it then poped out with a tap from a hammer & drift. This took 2-3 wheels and about 30 minutes. I did use my press to install the new bearing.

I plan on doing the other bearing soon before it needs it. I have to do LCA's anyway (2 bolt) so I'll have things apart as it is.
 
willeh said:
Alright, i have this really loud noise coming from the front end when i drive.

Now, the sound is kind of a humm, and it gets pretty loud around 80 (50 mph) it goes with wheel speed, not engine speed (when i put the car in neutral and coast, it continues, and it just gets louder as i go faster)...

It is there when i drive in a straight line, and when I corner left, but kind disappears (for a few sec) when i corner right.

I know its not tire noise because it does the same thing on dirt as it does pavement.

I think that it may be a front wheel bearing, or cv joint?

1998 Contour, 2.0L 5-speed
progress.gif
Click to expand...

I am having the exact same symptoms as this guy had. I replaced the right front wheel bearing and it didn't fix the problem. Is it possible that it is a transmission bearing or maybe a rear wheel bearing (Source of sound doesn't seem to be in the rear) is the source of the noise?

At highway speed (55-65mph) I can get the hum/buzz to disappear completely on a long right veer in the road.

any Ideas?

97 Contour SE V6 MTX
 
Kinda what i was thinking, There is absolutely no wheel bearing play in any corner of the car. Will a wheel bearing make noise before getting sloppy?

If I hadn't just bought new tires last fall, I'd say it sounds exactly like tire howl except when slowing to a stop, where it definitely sounds like metal scraping on metal.
 
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