Front end noise

[tym1200]

Hey this is my first post here. I drive a 2000 Integra Ls, all stock. Just got it a few weeks ago.

My question is about some front end noise that has been there since I bought it. It sounds kinda like how big mud tires on a truck sound going down a road, maybe just a bit quieter. Low pitched humming. It happens from 15 mph and up. It doesnt change when turning either way. Stays the same when car is in every gear and out of gear. The ride is pretty smooth even at highway speeds. The car doesn't pull any direction either. Theres no clunking or clicking while turning. It has the stock 15 inch wheels on the front that are supposed to have 195/55/r15 tires, however the tires on now are 205/50/r15. I think the brand of tires is "Sonar". They have about 50% tread left.

Any ideas? At first I thought wheel bearings, but the ride is still smooth and the sound doesn't vary with weaving on the highway taking the load off each wheel.

[shawnhu]

If it's humming, I would tend to think that it's the tires. If it's a higher pitched noise, I would lean towards the bearings.

Looks like you've pretty much covered all of the troubleshooting that I would have done. Appreciate the details and description of your troubleshooting steps, it's rare to see someone that has actually done their homework before posting. Thank you.

Shawn

[C25A1guy]

I would also say tires, but I would also do a quick wheel bearing inspection to be sure as well (with the wheel up in the air, grab the top and bottom of the tire and try and wiggle it). If you have play, then its a wheel bearing. If not, its the tires.

[S2K2K4]

Originally Posted by tym1200

Hey this is my first post here. I drive a 2000 Integra Ls, all stock. Just got it a few weeks ago.

My question is about some front end noise that has been there since I bought it. It sounds kinda like how big mud tires on a truck sound going down a road, maybe just a bit quieter. Low pitched humming. It happens from 15 mph and up. It doesnt change when turning either way. Stays the same when car is in every gear and out of gear. The ride is pretty smooth even at highway speeds. The car doesn't pull any direction either. Theres no clunking or clicking while turning. It has the stock 15 inch wheels on the front that are supposed to have 195/55/r15 tires, however the tires on now are 205/50/r15. I think the brand of tires is "Sonar". They have about 50% tread left.

Any ideas? At first I thought wheel bearings, but the ride is still smooth and the sound doesn't vary with weaving on the highway taking the load off each wheel.

Sounds like tires to me! I've never heard of the brand before, sounds like its just a cheap all around tire.

Originally Posted by shawnhu

If it's humming, I would tend to think that it's the tires. If it's a higher pitched noise, I would lean towards the bearings.

Looks like you've pretty much covered all of the troubleshooting that I would have done. Appreciate the details and description of your troubleshooting steps, it's rare to see someone that has actually done their homework before posting. Thank you.

Shawn

Originally Posted by C25A1guy

I would also say tires, but I would also do a quick wheel bearing inspection to be sure as well (with the wheel up in the air, grab the top and bottom of the tire and try and wiggle it). If you have play, then its a wheel bearing. If not, its the tires.

I was going to say something about this too.... but now I forgot what it was. Doggone it!

[Acura2g]

I got to this post late, but my .02 is wheel bearing. Its not if they go, it's when they'll go.

[S2K2K4]

Wheel bearing would only make a noise when turning in one direction. Unless both were gone, I really doubt thats the case.

[Acura2g]

Originally Posted by S2K2K4

Wheel bearing would only make a noise when turning in one direction. Unless both were gone, I really doubt thats the case.

Who told you that BS? Thats not true in the least bit.

And both? cars have 4 wheel bearings, are you thinking CV Joint?

[S2K2K4]

Originally Posted by Acura2g

Who told you that BS? Thats not true in the least bit.

And both? cars have 4 wheel bearings, are you thinking CV Joint?

OP said the noise was coming from the front. So I wasn't considering the rear bearings. When I had a bearing go bad in my teg, only one side went bad at the time, it would make noise turning left but not when turning right. That was I was told as a diagnostic test when I worked at the shop too. Haven't seen a honda bearing sound bad all the time unless it was completely shot. Normally they don't get that bad before it gets noticed and replaced.

[Acura2g]

Wheelbearings are some of those diagnostically difficult things to pinpoint. What may seem like basic tire noise can be a wheelbearing. I've seen them not make noise, make noise, wobble, some make noise in turns, some make noise in straight lines, and some make noise under braking due to heat.

My fiances car for example. I spent about a year trying to diagnose her humming sound that would be so deafening that the person sitting next to you in the car couldn't hear the conversation. I thought since it was a small car it was road noise from the tires so I threw out a perfectly fine set of tires and went with a more "quite" tire. We put those on for about a year without improvement. I thought it was the transmission so I drained the fluid and sent it out to a lab to have it analyzed to see if the tranny was on it's way out (cheap but effective). The results came back with good results. I would grab the wheel and try desprately to wiggle it and look for that common trick to diagnose a wheelbearing and no luck. The noise was just as loud as ever, regardless of turning or driving straight.

It was until I had to replace the balljoints, rotors (hub over assembly), and tie roads did I notice resistance to spin when I tried to turn it without weight on the hub. No other symptoms except noise and the visible resistance to spin. We pressed the hub out and sure enough that wheelbearing exploded.

Lesson of the story from all that... There is no true, simple, diagnosis for wheelbearings. You have to phisically remove the weight from the hub and measure the resistance to spin. Non of the qoute/unqoute tricks can 100% diagnose wheelbearings. The hand on the wheel and wiggling it can commonly be miss diagnosed as a wheelbearing when it is truely a balljoint. I myself in my more niave years have miss diagnosed wheelbearings when in fact it was something else like a balljoint.

[S2K2K4]

Interesting. I haven't spent that much time diagnosing wheel bearings but when I have had to its been pretty simple...

[Acura2g]

sometimes it can be, certainly. But not always.