1998 Ford Contour "growl"/vibration when left pre

GOTTAHOT1

MEMBER
1998 FORD CONTOUR
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
240,000 MILES

I have a 1998 Ford Contour, 4 cylinder, manual transmission with 240,000 miles on it. When there's any counterclockwise (left turn) pressure on the steering wheel, there's a growl or vibration coming from car - most likely the front end somewhere.

The noise is most noticeable at 40-50 mph and in fact can get quite loud.

Are there any bearings or anything that I can check? I have driven front wheel drive cars for years and have replaced worn out half-shafts, but nothing ever sounded like this.

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
108,268 POSTS

When you turn left, you take the weight off the left side and move it to the right. Based on your description, I would say the right front wheel bearing is bad.

Check that and let me know what you find.

Joe

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Friday, October 15th, 2010 AT 11:03 PM

GOTTAHOT1

MEMBER
2 POSTS

It was in fact the wheel bearing. I bought the part and tried to fix it in my garage (knowing I would needa trip to the machine shop to press the old bearing out/new bearing in) but couldn't get the lower balljoint out of the pinch bolt! I even bent a crowbar trying to pry it out. I hope it wasn't as simple as using the fork tool to separate it. Since I already had the majority of the balljoint shaft exposed, I figured all of the hard part was done.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Monday, December 13th, 2010 AT 5:53 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS