Howling 1997 Taurus

My neighbor has a 1997 3.0L Taurus 68k miles, it’s in very good mechanical condition. She said it was making a noise in the front end. I took it for a test drive the other night. There is definitely a noise I can’t place; apparently coming from the passenger side wheel for lack of a better description I would call it a howl. Not a grinding or rough bearing sound, but more a low tone inside the cab. The noise is low, but there around 30 mph disappears and reappears a louder howl 50 to 60 mph then totally disappears above 60 mph. It seems totally wheel RPM related, with will make the sound been 50 and 60 coasting or under throttle.

The car runs smooth and true, no pulling and no odd vibrations coming from the steering wheel, brakes straight with no wobble or any sign of a problem. Both front wheels are the same temperature after driving. The only hint I have is running at 55 mph I went around a left curve in the road and cornered a little harder than normal, this stopped the howl for a bit but it reappeared once the car straightened out again. Otherwise the sound is the same never changes and stays in the same speed range.

If anyone has come across this I would appreciate any hints so I know what to look for. Ill get the car when she doesn’t need it for a day and take a look see.

Your description sounds completely consistent with a faulty wheel bearing. Now you get to figure out which one. I'd be inclined to suspect the passenger front bearing since when you unloaded it around the hard corner at 55 the noise seemed to go away. You could always suggest to your neighbor that they replace both front bearings since if one is failing, there is a good chance the won't be far behind. Other than the cost of an alignment, there wouldn't be much savings though to doing them both now versus waiting for the other to fail.

-Rod

Thanks Rod, Im preparing for a bearing job.