Manager Forum

A customer brought this 99 Buick Regal in with a complaint of bad noise like marbles when a right turn is made. I test drove it to verify it and it is something bad. Thinking it was driveshaft I replaced both an the noise is still there. I got it apart again to check the hub/wheel bearings. They are perfectly quiet with no play no nothing. Can they still make a noise when making a turn? This car on got 70,000 miles on it. Or is the noise in the transmission? Making a left turn no noise or while driving straight there is no noise but as soon as you go to the right the noise all a sudden is there an bad.

I have had hub noise and after removing the hub it felt perfectly fine. I would've bet anything it wasn't bad but after putting a new one on it fixed it. Does the sound go away or change when you turn left or right?

sbebenelli wrote:I have had hub noise and after removing the hub it felt perfectly fine. I would've bet anything it wasn't bad but after putting a new one on it fixed it. Does the sound go away or change when you turn left or right?

Noise is only there when a right turn is made.

The backing plate wouldn't be rubbing the rotor would it?

sbebenelli wrote:The backing plate wouldn't be rubbing the rotor would it?

No backing plate on this application. Am putting together a setup so i can turn the wheel bearing/hub with a drill to see if it makes noise.

Don't discount the possibility that one of your "new" shafts is bad. I've seen noisy units straight out of the box.

Sometimes a wheel bearing will only make noise when it has the weight of the vehicle on it. I have a chassis ears for this and other noises. I have the wired on, you hook the clamps in different spots drive and you can listen to the different noises at different locations. Works great, we had problems with the wireless one at another shop I worked at so I did not get that one. It has helped many times.

ricmorin wrote:Don't discount the possibility that one of your "new" shafts is bad. I've seen noisy units straight out of the box.

Well, I thought of that as well but would we have the exact noise at the exact time as the old one?

I had a car from a used car dealer who put shafts in a subaru for noise and they said it made no difference....sounded the same. I replaced one of the 'new' shafts and the noise was gone. So.....yeah, it's possible.

Are the shafts the same side to side? You could always swap sides and see if the noise moves. Pain in the butt I know, but would establish some good information.

Do you have a chassis ears? That tool works well in isolating noises.

As a rule turn right load left, noise, left bearing bad. However at 70k I usually recommend a pair since they have a habit of failing abs under 5mph. Usually with the tire on wiggling it at 6 and 12 (real strong wiggle) any movement means a failed bearing. In the past when replacing an axle the bearing has failed at that time because it was unloaded when the axle nut was removed. Like stated above I never use reman axles anymore. New ones are priced so close to them it's not worth it. Some remans have been refitted more than once and when turned will growl. This case sounds like a bearing though. Again, I would talk about replacing both of them just to cover yourself when the other one starts to grumble because we all know the customer will claim it's the same noise.

I am not a transmission pro by any means BUT is it possible the diff could cause this? Just a thought. And I also would highly recommend a set of chassis ears. They are life savers!

Guess what? This one is fixed. After replacing both driveshafts, all tie rod ends and the right wheel bearing/hub assembly, we checked it further and found the starter drive was sliding out against the flywheel when making a right turn. After replacing the starter, the noise is gone. No I gotta figure out how to make a profit on this job.

Thanks guys for the support and feedback! Now I can sleep tonite.

Wow. That's a new one!

WOW..who woulda thunk it! Good job!

Welcome to the world of W.T.F. Been working on vehicles since early 70's and have seen all sorts of weird stuff. As a rule in situations like these I charge accordingly.

ricmorin wrote:Wow. That's a new one!

Yea, an we probably will never see something like that again. Isn't that often how it works?

Say this once on a buick I think that was from a used car dealer. they replaced all kinds of stuff finally had to ride on the engine under the hood in the parking lot to find it. Was a pain in the whoo hoo its been a few years I forgot. I think I charged them like 3 or 4 hours for all the time it took and we didn't do the starter they did. Great find

But, it reminds us all that on occasion we need to look outside the box..........................................

My friend, at times around here we call it "getting desperate". We do unconventional things then.

How did u find the starter issue. We had to rodeo the car in the parking lot while doing a dognut.