A while back, my car started making a growling noise when making left hand turns at mid to low speeds. So, I searched here, posted, and found out that is was the wheel bearing---which was later confirmed by the dealer.
Anyway, long story short, I have both wheel bearings sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. Yesterday, after I did my brakes, i decided to check the car over just to keep tabs on everything and I found that the power steering fluid was low (hadn't noticed any sign of a problem until this point as far as that goes). I add power steering fluid to get it where it needs to be and close everything up.
Now the kicker....Today I take the car out to go to the store and as I make the turn onto my street--a spot where I always got the growl---I hear nothing. I take the car around the block and make the turn again---no growl.
So now I am completely baffled and half pissed off. Could the low power steering fluid could have been what was causing the growl or was it coincidence? I spent the money to get the bearings and now the noise stops...
Any ideas????
that is weird. what you could do is jack up the car and check for play in the wheel bearings. if you really want, you can take the wheel bearings out to see how they sound, but if you're going that far you might as well just replace them anyway. i haven't personally heard a p.s. noise that could easily be confused for a wheel bearing, especially when only turning in one direction. sounds kinda coincidental to me.
power steering is a far different noise to a wheel bearing...dealer should notice. You can do a free wheel test, put the car on jack stands and throw it in drive and see if you get any vibrations
sykeeok wrote:that is weird. what you could do is jack up the car and check for play in the wheel bearings. if you really want, you can take the wheel bearings out to see how they sound, but if you're going that far you might as well just replace them anyway. i haven't personally heard a p.s. noise that could easily be confused for a wheel bearing, especially when only turning in one direction. sounds kinda coincidental to me.
That is what I was wondering, if maybe it was just coincidental. I'll drive it this week and see if I notice anything.
That same thing happened to me, and when I checked power steering fluid it was low just as you said. I filled it up and have had no noises during a turn for about 4 months now.
Under Construction
I will say one thing, if the noise does not return, I am taking the bearings back and getting my $110 back!
Depending how long you have the car you'll need them eventually!
I've seen this quite often with Ecotec J's including my own. Low fluid level is not the only cause of this noise (mine is full). Seems like some of the ecotec P/S pumps will tend to aerate the fluid (add air bubbles) especially with high engine RPM. The result is power steering groan when making sharper turns at lower speeds (most load on the P/S pump). I am a GM tech and I'm not even a little bit concerned about this issue. My current DD is an 03, had it and the noise for a year with no problems. I've only replaced one pump for this issue and it did make a difference, but not much.
yup.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
well, it's been a few days now and no noises. I had the dealer actually replace the wheel bearing that was thought to be bad less than 10K miles ago. I only have 43K on the clock.
At any rate, it seems to have corrected itself.
red04cavy wrote:A while back, my car started making a growling noise when making left hand turns at mid to low speeds. So, I searched here, posted, and found out that is was the wheel bearing---which was later confirmed by the dealer.
Anyway, long story short, I have both wheel bearings sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. Yesterday, after I did my brakes, i decided to check the car over just to keep tabs on everything and I found that the power steering fluid was low (hadn't noticed any sign of a problem until this point as far as that goes). I add power steering fluid to get it where it needs to be and close everything up.
Now the kicker....Today I take the car out to go to the store and as I make the turn onto my street--a spot where I always got the growl---I hear nothing. I take the car around the block and make the turn again---no growl.
So now I am completely baffled and half pissed off. Could the low power steering fluid could have been what was causing the growl or was it coincidence? I spent the money to get the bearings and now the noise stops...
Any ideas????
i kinda have the same issue
My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again
Just so you guys know there was a service bulliten awhile back--it's for the gretrag 5 speed, I don't know if it was when you did left hand turns, or right hand... but what would happen was doing low speed sharp turns would cause all the fluid in the gearbox to slosh to one side, leaving the gears slightly exposed, causing a noise... basically you just add fluid to get rid of it.
I figured I'd just throw it out there so you guys have all the information.
There will always be someone faster than you, but thousands slower and dumber than you.
LazyEcotec wrote:FstCavZ24 wrote:Dannyboy wrote:That same thing happened to me, and when I checked power steering fluid it was low just as you said. I filled it up and have had no noises during a turn for about 4 months now.
same here.
good thing i read this because on thursday i was going to go get some new wheel bearings.. i think ill just fill up my PS reservoir and see if that fixes it
12.33 @ 111.67 mph [Oct 2009]
Dyno'd on 08/02/09 - Mustang Dyno:
327.6 WHP 333.6 WTQ [10.1 AFR]
