Pop and Whine From Frontend- WB?

In the past seven days I noticed an occasional whine in the (seeming) front end, only when turning at low speed. First guess was wheel bearings might be singing.

Today I also noticed a "pop" when turning hard right at low speed. The pop is something in the suspension/wheel, and feels very much like I just ran over an acorn or a rock. If I swerve right and left, it will reliably make the pop on each right turn, but never on a left.

I read in the tech section about the parking brake adjustment, and I will check into that also, but I just wanted to pick the brotherhood's brain until I can jack the car up this weekend, pull the wheels, and see what's doing.

Any guesses?

 

Nice list Pap.

Yeah, I'm sure I'll end up tearing half the front end off looking for it. I suppose its been 2 years since the major and its due for a once-over.

If anyone thinks of anything else I should take a peep at, let me know. It does feel like a bushing somewhere.

Thanks.

 

All great ideas, forever preserved for future thread searches!

I typically do a preflight before I take the car out and a spot check on lugs in on the list. I am PSYCHOTIC about checking my lugs and my tires, since I've already had 2 flats in the past year. Lugs are good and tight.

For the record, the whine is not continual, and only seems to occur when there is an uneven weight bias during a turn at low speeds. For example, turning and accelerating away from a stop sign in a parking lot, I will hear it sometimes. Driving at any speed over 5 mph and there is zero noise. Swerving makes the "pop" but no whine.

Could be brakes rubbing I suppose.

In any case, rest assured it is grounded until the weekend comes and I can check it out thoroughly. I'll be checking every item on the list and reporting back with findings.

 

I believe it is transmitted through the steering. Reminded me of a Pittman arm issue on an old car I had. Come to think of it, there is also a noticable shimmy in the steering when the car is cold. I chalked that up to wheel balance, or the suspension being cold (since it seems to fade after a few minutes driving), but it may be something worn out on the front end causing one of the wheels to wiggle a bit.

 

Well, here is good news.

After pulling the wheels and checking out all the bushings and seals, everything looks good. The seals are certainly showing their age, but nothing looked horrible.

I lubricated what I could, inspected the discs and brakes (looked fine) and then put it all back together.

The whine, turns out, is brake drag at low speeds. I was able to replicate it with the wheels up. I wiped down both discs with solvent (to get any of that pesky tire shine crap off of them) and they seem much better now. Wheel spin was smooth, so I'm not worrying about bearings.

Now for the embarrassing part. The "pop."

Second test lap around the neighborhood, the skies parted, angels sang and it dawned upon me that there MIGHT BE SOMETHING ROLLING AROUND IN MY TRUNK! Sure enough, the authentic 1991 can of Ferrari Fix-a-flat had loosed it bonds and was happily bouncing about in my boot.

So here's one to remind all of you that not every issue is $1,000. Sometimes they just cost a little pride.