Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting wheel bearings

winter tires are very soft and could b the problem,they wear out extremely quickly in the summer.did u do a 4 wheel tire rotation? are they all-seasons or actual winter tires?

Mine did the same thing (noise went away when turning a certain direction) when I had a bad front wheel bearing. The noise appeared suddenly and was loud from the start.

It sounds like I should start with a new set of tires and take it from there. I bought the snow tires just out of necesity. Thanks for all your help.

I had a wheel bearing go out on my contour, sounded like a grinding/moaning noise when I turned. happened when I hit a pothole and went south from there. (this was on the front pass. side) Took it in for alignment, didn't fix it, and found it was the wheel bearing. I had it replaced and my mechanic said to avoid potholes because it is very easy to flatten one side of the bearing on these cars and cause it to wear pre-maturely. To add to the nightmare, the whole frame was knocked out of place and that was the cause for the alignment being off. Once all put back together properly, it drove like nothing had ever happened. hehe

So the place that did your alignment caught the faulty wheel bearing? If so the *******s who did my alignment completley missed, ignored, or forgot to inform me about the condition of mine. Although it could be considered my fault because I forgot to ask them about it after they were done (was on my lunch break).

I doubt you could get away with a bad wheel bearing for 6+ months. However, it's not that hard to check them yourself. Jack up the front of the car and remove the wheel/tire assembly. Grab hold of the barke disc and se if it's loose by pushing it as if you were trying to turn the wheels for a corner. Also take a look at the large nut which holds the hub assembly to the spindle. On mine the nut came loose first and was likely a precursor to failure later. Spin the brake disc and listen for noise. You should know for sure if it's the bearings or not after doing this. How many miles?

I just passed 145,000 on the odometer. I still dont burn a drop of oil, and still get 30-40 mpg! I drive fairly agressivley, and I am fairly impressed with that little zetec's longevity....so far that is. Hopefully it will last me until I can get my credit back on track(ex-wife) so I can purchase a new cobra. Did I mention I hate my ex!

I have a 97 Mystique that I bought with 38,000 on it. When I bought it it had a tire hum sound, so I replaced the tires with some generic brand and the sound went away for about 1 month. I then replaced the wheel bearings and had a 4-wheel alignment done all to no avail. I put up with the sound for a year and then replaced the tires with Michelin Pilot XGT's and now the sound has been gone for several months.