Just to be clear, I am taking the car in to be looked at by someone with more of a clue than me on Monday, as I have to have my dimmer switch replaced anyways.
My car (2003 Focus ZX3, 90k miles) has developed a rhythmic whirring that turns into a very noticeable hum at about 60mph. It is definitely a “rotating” noise, i.e., it speeds up with the speed of the wheels. At this point the whir also develops into a vibration that shakes the whole car. My husband claims it comes from the back left wheel well while I claim that it comes from the front left wheel well. I have already ruled out a bearing failure; the noise does not have the same “growling” quality as a bearing failure and the wheel has no play and rolls correctly. We swapped out both the rear and front tires with the spare on separate occasions to rule out a tire/rim problem (the tires on the front are new).
I am not sure if this could be an alignment problem, as I have no idea if alignment problems make vibrations quite this bad. As far as causation, I have a pretty good clue about it: my husband hit a jutting curb outside a casino in Vegas, affecting both these wheels and damaging the sidewalls of both tires (but the front the most). However, as the oscillating noise did not develop throughout the duration of the trip (another 1200 miles) in addition to a few hundred more commuting miles, he is claiming in fact that this could not be the cause of the oscillation. I remain skeptical, but he points out he is arguing from the position of two years of advanced auto shop, so I’m currently avoiding the issue around him.
Anyone have a clue? Is there anything obvious I am overlooking? I’d of course like it to be a cheap fix but I have a feeling it won’t be. Naturally I’d like to be armed with all the options before I take it in.
Perhaps the best thing you could do is take it in for an alignment, and don’t mention any problems. Then they’ll let you know about things like ball joints and tie rods/ends. If you take it in complaining about front end damage, then they’ll already know you’re prepared for the worst, and may be likely to augment the amount of damage they happen to discover.
Granted, I don’t know to whom or where you’re taking it, and hence my caution.
Misalignment doesn’t cause noise (unless it’s so severe that a tire is grossly out of line, in which case there would be steering and/or handling symptoms). Misalignment doesn’t cause vibration.
Worn wheel bearings sometimes hum. They don’t always growl or exhibit play. Often a bearing noise will come and go as the load is shifted left and right, such as in turning the steering wheel slightly back and forth.
Vibration at about 60 mph is often from an unbalanced wheel. If it’s a front wheel, the steering wheel will usually shimmy. Steering wheel shimmy can also be caused by play in steering linkage parts.
Not all symptoms of collision damage show up immediately. I wouldn’t rule out a residual effect of hitting a curb. If it hits hard enough to break a sidewall or bend a wheel, it can do other damage as well.
Not being snarky - I’m an auto repair professional, and I don’t understand this. If the shop is incompetent or dishonest to where you feel you need to be one step ahead of them, why are you even dealing with them? If they are competent and honorable, then what you think, guess, or know won’t make any difference anyway. So, why?
I’m wondering about a CV joint on the axle. They can make a noise as they rotate (usually a clicking, but a hum would not be unknown) and when they go bad, they for sure can cause a vibration.
I would also like agree with Gary T about the shop. If you feel you cannot trust them, why are you going there?
I honestly did not mean to offend, but I also didn’t expect to have to defend myself for wanting information before I take my car in. Is wanting to know what could be going on so unusual? I’ve never had to take a car in for anything like this before; in fact outside of warranty work I’ve never taken a car to a mechanic for anything. I’m rather walking into this blindly.
I did look at the CV joint and didn’t notice anything visually wrong with it, but I know that doesn’t amount to much. Thanks for replies anyhow guys.
You didn’t offend at all, and I didn’t mean for you to feel you had to defend. I’m sorry if it came across that way. I was just curious, as apparently you were.
No, but all too often I’ve heard it mentioned as a way to protect against getting taken by an untrustworthy shop (I doubt it helps, but that’s another subject). The phrasing “naturally I’d like to be armed” seemed to point in that direction, and suggested to me something more than basic curiosity. I found myself wondering what the thought process was behind the desire to know, what the motivation was.
I will suggest, for the potential benefit of anyone reading this thread, that the most helpful thing to do is describe the symptoms as accurately as you can - just like going to the doctor.
Sorry if I came across snarky, but since the advent of the internet, the incidence of “I talked to my cousin’s best friend’s hairdresser’s neighbor whose sister in law has a teenage boy who dropped out of auto shop and he says it’s the bypass hose to the Metzler valve.” has been on the increase.
:rolleyes:
There are people out there in cyberland that fancy themselves as auto experts, but in reality are otto ex-spurts. The sheer amount of crap information available on the net is staggering. Particular when it comes to cars. Everyone is an “expert”. If you doubt this, just ask them, they will be happy to tell you how much they know.
I stopped hanging out at a couple of Volvo owner websites for just this reason, the idiot factor got too high.* I am afraid that the fight against ignorance has been lost on some automotive boards.
The problem becomes is that these people wind up taking their car to a shop armed and convinced that the info they have is the straight poop. When in fact is just shit. then they refuse to believe the technician (for some reason the net has more authority) and even more time is wasted.
[True story] Customer shows up at dealer demanding that the dealer load new software into their engine control module. Customer supplies the part number of this new software that they are demanding.
Technician does not recognize part number. Asks customer about it. Got it off the net was the answer. Tech mentions he does not recognize the part number. Did I mention the customer was demanding this software?
Technician goes off to research what the hell this number is. Thirty minutes later he has the answer. This part number software is to fix an idle problem that is only on 2.0L turbo diesels sold only in Italy. (This happened in Seattle BTW)
Tells customer this. Customer does not believe it. Takes customer back to shop and shows him on the order screen. :rolleyes: Neither hilarity or penis ensued.
Bottom line, massive amount of time wasted, because “he heard it on the net”[/TS]
I am guessing that Gary T has had those exact same encounters. They do get old after a while.
About the CV joints, if water got into the joint, or the grease in them dried out, they can look fine and then fail big time.
*The beauty of the SDMB is that the signal to noise ratio is lower on this type of question than just about any place else. Gary T’s advice on auto matters is worth at least $14/year, and I think mine is worth about a buck anyway.
