Hi all,
Background: 2002 base base base outback. 194k miles.
So in the past three or four weeks I've noticed lately that there is a metalic scraping/squeaking sound coming from what seems to be the front passenger size wheel. Could be the rear passenger side, but I do not have a jack so my only testing is left to driving it and seeing what I can relate as a a pattern, etc.
So anyways, metallic squeaking or grinding that
When I picked up the car last friday, the mechanic mentioned how he heard the sound, but nowhere near as bad as I hear it because I usually drive about 30 miles at a time and the sound gets worse overtime. I asked if this was something that would take time to readjust itself, and he said most likely. Now, it's only been ~100 miles on the new caliper, and there is no pulling to the side anymore, but my fear is that maybe it's not the caliper.
I was researching signs of a bad wheel hub bearing because in the beginning of the year, I brought the outback to the same shop (which is an independent shop, family has been going there for a couple years and they are not expensive) for some other issue and they had originally thought one of the bearings on the right side was bad. Turned out the tie rod I had put on by a different shop wasn't tightened all the way, so it was coming loose. FYI, never went back to the other shop again.
But when I was looking up symptoms of a bad wheel bearing, I read that usually a wheel with a bad bearing will be much hotter than one that does not have a bad bearing, due to the increased friction. So I was driving home from work tonight (about 50 minute drive in total), and I got out and noticed the front passenger's side wheel (by where the lugnuts are) was warm, but not hot. The other wheels however were not even warm, though.
Or possibly it's my control arm/boot? I had the front driver's side replace when I got the car in August of 2014, but have not touched the passenger's side. The control arm is rusted but fine, however the boot is torn. There was no play in it however, which is why I never had it done.
I'm sort of wary that it's those things though cause the sound will go away once I start braking, pretty much immediately. I have noticed, though, that there seems to be a point in me pushing the break, maybe like 15% or 20%, that it will "catch" on the sound, and just scrape continuously, where as when just driving it has a rotary scraping sound and anything past that 20% braking power completely silences the sound. I've tried the "Reverse fast and brake hard" trick thinking maybe a rock or something got stuck between the brake or rotor or some plate as roads I usually take were just getting redone, but I could not see anything when I was shining a light through the rims. Maybe it's because I can't see it all, though. Another statement my mechanic made was when he was replacing the caliper, there was actually debris around the area so he cleaned it off, and did the same to the front driver's side wheel cause we thought there was an issue there as well, but all is well with lefty.
I'm going down to DC in a couple days soon so I'm thinking of just dropping it off and having the mechanic look at it while I'm away and just report back to me if there's anything alarming.
Just typing this up made me realize how much the outback has been a money sink :|
Thoughts? I know it's a wall of text, did not plan on that
Background: 2002 base base base outback. 194k miles.
So in the past three or four weeks I've noticed lately that there is a metalic scraping/squeaking sound coming from what seems to be the front passenger size wheel. Could be the rear passenger side, but I do not have a jack so my only testing is left to driving it and seeing what I can relate as a a pattern, etc.
So anyways, metallic squeaking or grinding that
- does not start right away, sort of builds up
- stops when braking
- usually is caused by turning to the right or centering wheel, turning left makes it stop most of the time
- frequency increases with speed (rate of the scraping/whirring)
- can be going any speed, whether it's 65 or 5, and can be heard once the car has been driving for about 10-15 minutes
- new tires put on (general altimax rt43) in july or august
- new front brakes in august (forget if I did rotors, will have to check but pretty sure I did at same time as brakes)
- new front passenger size caliper put on a week ago as the old one was so rusted it chipped and would pull to the side when braking
When I picked up the car last friday, the mechanic mentioned how he heard the sound, but nowhere near as bad as I hear it because I usually drive about 30 miles at a time and the sound gets worse overtime. I asked if this was something that would take time to readjust itself, and he said most likely. Now, it's only been ~100 miles on the new caliper, and there is no pulling to the side anymore, but my fear is that maybe it's not the caliper.
I was researching signs of a bad wheel hub bearing because in the beginning of the year, I brought the outback to the same shop (which is an independent shop, family has been going there for a couple years and they are not expensive) for some other issue and they had originally thought one of the bearings on the right side was bad. Turned out the tie rod I had put on by a different shop wasn't tightened all the way, so it was coming loose. FYI, never went back to the other shop again.
But when I was looking up symptoms of a bad wheel bearing, I read that usually a wheel with a bad bearing will be much hotter than one that does not have a bad bearing, due to the increased friction. So I was driving home from work tonight (about 50 minute drive in total), and I got out and noticed the front passenger's side wheel (by where the lugnuts are) was warm, but not hot. The other wheels however were not even warm, though.
Or possibly it's my control arm/boot? I had the front driver's side replace when I got the car in August of 2014, but have not touched the passenger's side. The control arm is rusted but fine, however the boot is torn. There was no play in it however, which is why I never had it done.
I'm sort of wary that it's those things though cause the sound will go away once I start braking, pretty much immediately. I have noticed, though, that there seems to be a point in me pushing the break, maybe like 15% or 20%, that it will "catch" on the sound, and just scrape continuously, where as when just driving it has a rotary scraping sound and anything past that 20% braking power completely silences the sound. I've tried the "Reverse fast and brake hard" trick thinking maybe a rock or something got stuck between the brake or rotor or some plate as roads I usually take were just getting redone, but I could not see anything when I was shining a light through the rims. Maybe it's because I can't see it all, though. Another statement my mechanic made was when he was replacing the caliper, there was actually debris around the area so he cleaned it off, and did the same to the front driver's side wheel cause we thought there was an issue there as well, but all is well with lefty.
I'm going down to DC in a couple days soon so I'm thinking of just dropping it off and having the mechanic look at it while I'm away and just report back to me if there's anything alarming.
Just typing this up made me realize how much the outback has been a money sink :|
Thoughts? I know it's a wall of text, did not plan on that