2003 Roaring Noise

[Railroadman]

Hey I replied to a previous thread about a roaring noise in the rear of my 03 Altima. Don't know if the fellow is still a member or not. You can hear it at low speeds but after 40 it gets a lot louder and sounds like it gets louder the faster you go. Any Ideas?
Thanks Railroadman

[methodmix]

Definitely sounds like a bad wheel bearing. The next step is to isolate which one, or you may have more than one. To figure out if it's front or rear, fold down the rear seats so that you can hear sounds clearer coming from the trunk. Drive normally, and if it sounds louder than before then that means it's a rear wheel bearing; if the noise level sounds the same then it's coming from one of the front wheels.

Once you've figured out front or rear wheels, next is to isolate the specific wheel. If it's the rear wheels, you will need to place the rear end up on jack stands; also make sure that you have your parking brake and emergency brake both engaged before you jack up any part of the car; wheel stops for the tires which are always touching the ground are also a good idea. I'm assuming you have front-wheel drive and automatic transmission, so when you have the gear selector in Park, the rear wheels should spin freely. Spin the rear wheels by hand, one at a time, and listen for any strange grinding sound; you may need to spin faster to see if the noise level increases; increasing noise level would indicate a bad bearing.

If it's the front wheels, jacking up the car probably isn't necessary to isolate which wheel it is. An easier option would be to find an empty parking lot to test drive your vehicle. Drive at a speed where you first begin to hear the noise, and then turn your vehicle sharp left (make sure you are moving slow enough to do this safely and with no obstacles in the way); if the noise gets louder during the turn then this suggests that the right front wheel bearing is bad; this is because when you turn left, the vehicle's weight is shifted to the right side, putting more stress on the right wheels. Also, if the right front wheel was bad then turning sharp right at the same speed as before should make the noise go away completely; this could be a good 'sanity' check just to make sure you have isolated the correct wheel bearing. Do the opposite of the above steps to check your left front wheel bearing.

Best of luck!

[Railroadman]

Thank You Very Much for your suggestion, I am going to try to pinpoint the wheel today. I am going to post a new thread if you don't mind take a look and see if you might be able to give me some help on my latest problem.
Thanks
Railroadman