PhalThrax

Hello,

Lately, I've noticed a dramatic increase in road noise coming from my front end. The best way to describe the noise would be as if you were driving with a tire that is very low on air pressure (a deep humming sound). The sound isn't too bad at speeds below 30 mph, but once I get up to about 40, it's noticeable. And at 60+, it's extremely noticeable. I threw it into neutral on the highway going 65 (so the engine noise was minimal), and the noise sounded as if my engine was at 3k RPM.

Initially, I thought it could be my wheel bearings. However, after searching, a lot of people have said that a grinding noise is usually associated with this, and when you turn the wheel, you hear a "whomp whomp whomp" sound. When I turn the wheel (even at highway speeds, or from a near-stop), the noise doesn't differ what-so-ever. Tire pressure is perfect, and I just had an alignment done two days ago to see if that corrected it.

My car has 27,000 miles on it. It's an 06 SS/SC. I'm going to bring it in next week to the dealership (warranty?), but was curious if anyone had any ideas so I know what to be prepared for.

Thank you very much.

Pyros777

iTrader: (4)

I was prepared to say wheel bearings until I saw you mention the symptoms are different.

If I were you I'd get under the car and generally look for anything that looks out of place like CV grease leaking out or something along those lines.

PhalThrax

I'll definitely check that out.

I'm hoping it's nothing major. Car runs perfect otherwise; turns great, handles fine, accelerates perfectly; the sound is just really annoying, haha.

The steering wheel stays straight while driving, even at high speeds, as well. There is a little bit of shaking in the steering wheel, but it may just be a mental thing (i.e: I may be emphasizing how bad it is, because I am looking for something to be wrong).

Thank you

rukkee

iTrader: (3)

Any chance you shifted or broke a belt in a front tire? Hit any pot holes lately?

Gyrocon

^^^X2! definately sounds like a broken belt. happened to my friends civic on a road trip to boston as a matter of fact!

PhalThrax

I live in Central Massachusetts... pot holes are like landmines out here (and they are everywhere ).

Not too familiar with broken belts. It could be. One other thing I noticed this morning was that the loud drong-humming sound isn't present when accelerating from a stop (until 40 mph), but when slowing down from 50 to a stop, it's present all the way until I stop the car. Just thought I would throw that out there, as well.

This car is my daily. I have an appointment Monday to get it checked out. How dangerous do you think it is to drive another, say, 100 miles until Monday? Last thing I want is for a tire/wheel to fall off on the highway ., but hopefully it can last until my appointment on Monday.

Thanks again for all of your help, everyone.

umrdyldo

iTrader: (1)

Could still be wheel bearing. My bonnevile wheel bearings got louder at higher speeds. Nothing different when I turned.

Could also be the a tire issue. Inspect all of them.

I believe I read that someone had to have their wheel bearings replaced. No idea who though.

xxxxsh4d0wxxxx

iTrader: (1)

If your wheel bearing was fucked, your gas mileage would be going to complete ****.

I know this first hand.

toolman

How is your tire wear? If your tires are getting worn out, it could be tire noise. I'm down to 3/32 on the stock Pirelli P6s on my G5GT, and they are extremely loud now. It's just a thought.

PhalThrax

Good to know. I inspected the tires, and they don't seem too bad... but there may be some dry cracking going on (I'm not too sure). I don't beat on the car at all, so for 27,000 miles, they look pretty decent.

I'll reset my gas mileage meter on the way home and check to see what I get. Usually, I am getting 29-30 mph. I'll let you know how much it is (I have a 45 mile drive home, so this should be enough mileage to determine).

Tire wear is average. Probably could do with a replacement in the next 5-10,000 miles. Still a fair amount of tread, though.

I rescheduled my appointment for tomorrow morning instead of Monday, because I really don't want to be driving the car in it's current condition. Thankfully, I only have two more trips until it gets into the shop (one trip home for the night, and the next is a 10 mile trip to the dealership). I'll keep you all updated on how it turned out.

Thank you all for the help... I appreciate it.

PhalThrax

Just an update. I dropped it off at the dealership this morning. At first glance, they said my tires have a lot dry cracking on them (which I noticed last night), and that they will probably need to be replaced very soon. They are going to take a look at the wheel bearings, as well. They didn't say if the dry cracking could be attributed to the road noise. The tread is a little low, but nothing extreme.

Dropped it off at 8:00 AM. Haven't heard back yet (almost noon now). I have two car meets this weekend, so hopefully it is back and fixed before the end of the day today.

I'll give an update once I get a call. Thanks again for all of your help and suggestions; it's greatly appreciated.

All finished. All four tires are worn down to the wear bars, and need to be replaced. Not exactly the cheapest option. They looked fine at first glance (given, I was looking in the dark), but I was apparently wrong.

Tire in the right rear has a broken belt (like some suspected ).

Monday I get them all replaced for a lovely price... *gag*

Thanks again, everyone!

FastSSinNH

Yeah, I think I may have this problem also. Im gunna try putting on a different set of wheels/tires and see if it goes away...

Gyrocon

glad you got it figured out and it wasn't anything too serious. although I guess you could call dropping 7 or 8 bills on new tires bad enough!

PhalThrax

It may be. I was surprised how quickly they deteriorated. One day, no road noise. Next day, light road noise. One more day, it sounded like I was driving on a 90% flat tire

Dealership quoted me (and prepare for this) $1450. I'm glad I used the bathroom beforehand, because I would have easily **** my pants when I heard that. I know the dealership feeds it your ass for prices, so I am going to drive the car as little as I can until I find a better deal... hopefully something under $1000.

_UnLiMiTeD_

my humming noise was the wheel bearings for my car. 60km is when it was noticeable, then my abs light came on, took it to the dealer, replaced the sensor and the wheel bearing, abs issue ifxed and the humming went away. I never had any grinding noises either, just humming

OBZ

Hmm I have this noise also.. But it is present with both my summer and winter tires. It sounds like its coming from the passenger side wheel well ???

FastSSinNH

Andrew, Tire Rack FTW!

06blackSC

I still say its the wheel bearing. Your tires may be wearing evenly but you also need to run your hand forwards and backwards on the treads. Do you feel any highs and lows or sharp edges on the tread blocks? If you do you probably have an alignment problem and the irregularly worn tires will also make noise. If it was a shifted belt, your steering wheel would be shaking like mad driving down the road. I still say wheel bearing.

As for tires, i just bought 4 brand new Nitto NT555's in 235/40/18 for $530 shipped. better deals can be had.

welchstang

I know this thread is a bit old but I'm getting a humming/grrrrrrrrrrr noise when driving my 07 cobalt. I'm thinking it's the wheel bearings as well. Are all cobalts abs??? Also how hard is it to fix wheel bearings on a cobalt ? It's my wifes dd and we just replaced the two front tires actually. The outsides of the wheels were shot. Any help guys would be greatly appreciated.

WarpedAlchemist

Low profile tires- only designed to last 15,000- 30,000 miles
*cupping causes road noise

Wheel Bearing- could be the culprit but a hint would be when you turn does the noise go away

Axle bearing- I had this go bad when I had 15,000 miles on my car

Be careful about the dealer they try to say nothing is wrong until you are out of warranty!!!

welchstang

The noise is therewhen the car is moving. Once I get to about 45+mph it's constant. I'm gonna replace the bearings I just need to know how hard it is.