93 escort grinding noise from right side

First of I have a 1993 1.9L, 4 Door Ford Escort with about 150,000 miles.

The problem from my understanding, comes from somewhere on the front right/passanger side. It's a grinding noise which is louder or quieter it seems depending on the pressure exerted on the wheels. When I'm at a stop for example and try to accelerate quickly the grinding gets very loud, but as soon as the car has reached 20 or 30mph the grinding goes away. If I drive uphill the grinding gets so loud I feel like the front wheel is gonna fall off. Also because the problem seems to be connected to something with the suspension or drivetrain, the car feels like it's lacking power upon accelerating and when the grinding is louder, but has normal power when it's up to normal driving speeds.

I'm not completely sure what the problem could be, as I've tried to do rapairs on all the major suspension parts, but they have not resolved the problem, maybe because I used old parts from junk cars. I've read that it might be something with the cv joints, wheel bearings or the strut bushings, but since I've changed the cv half shaft 3 times, strut tower/assembly 3 times, and wheel spindle/knuckle/bearing 1 time, all with parts from junk yards, the problem still remains. I would appreciate anyones reply to what could be the problem, especially someone with previous experiance with something like this.

Dear Nikk, This grind only when moving?? Accelerating??

Thanks for the reply.

The grinding noise gradually developed over a period of a few months and is now I quess getting worse. The noise as I mention seems to be caused while there is pressure exerted on the wheels. The grinding is heard upon acceleration when starting from a stop, but there is also a sort a banging noise if at a stop I press on the brake, shift into drive and press the gas pedal(trying to accelarate without moving). All this noise coming as I've mentioned from the front right/passanger side.

I'm guessing, automatic transmission.. how is the fluid level, when was tranny last serviced? pcv changed lately, any disconnected vacuum lines?

check the free spin on the serpentine belt tentioner!?!

David

Could you jack that side up and check for roughness on the bearing and possible stuck piston on the brake caliper. Will the wheel rotate easily after pressing on the brake? This is baffling.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I just checked out some of the things you mentioned, and they all seem fine to me. The serpentine belt tensioner looks fine and spins without noises. All vacuum lines are good and I changed the pcv valve a few weeks ago. As for the transmission, a while back(about 6 months ago), I had to change the fluid in it because there was a tcc shudder. Of course changing the fluid fixed that, and I've been checking the fluid, it's where its suppost to be. I also changed the transmission filter at the time and there haven't been any problems or leaks, plus the transmission shifts smootly, no bumps, hesitations or misses. Also I've raised the whole front end of the car, started the engine and put it in gear to try to determine if there's any noise near the front right side, and even when reving it up I could not isolate any particular unwanted or similar sound to the one I've described. I would reason that if there is something wrong with the transmission that it would be making the noise at all times, but as I've just described and according to my tests, the noise is only present under a load (upon acceleration), for a certain amount of time.

As for the bearing, upon changing the spindle about a month ago, I optained the local junk yard's last one at the time, and saw that it was very rusty on the outside, but was spinning freely without noises and any roughness near the bearing, except for the slight lack of grease. About the possibility of a stuck brake piston, I do not believe it would be making such a noise in the first place, and indeed upon inspection the wheel spins freely when brake is disengaged and in the test where I lifted the car, upon reving up in gear after applying and releasing the brakes, the wheels are disengad smootly and spin freely without noises.

I'm still leaning towards either a cv joint or wheel bearing problem as I didn't have much confidence in the ones I purchased from the junk yard.

Any further suggestions or insights are welcome.

i had a problem possibly similar...started out very quiet...got louder...took it in..turns out it was a bad wheel barring...maybe thats it?

my car did that same thing and it was my cv axle and i changed it and it was back to normal and make sure you change your wheel bearing while your at it if you have access to a press.

Mine does the same thing, lol, but it doesn't hurt my performance and I know my cv-axle is damn near shot, so I figure it will just go away with that.