Front End Grinding Sound

[Johnmolvar]

I am getting front end Grinding sound at low speed when driving straight. It happens whether I am braking or not so it is not the breaks. It happens when going straight ahead so not power steering related. At anything over 5 MPH goes away completely. Basically I only get it when pulling into my driveway or a parking spot. Any ideas?

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

Since it's VERY difficult to diagnose noises over the Internet, I've got a lot of questions to help guide your audience in hopefully the right direction.

Does the noise change when applying the brakes, or no change at all? Does it vary with vehicle speed up to the 5mph mark? You mention it makes the noise going straight, but does it also make noise when turning? I know you mention it's coming from the front, but you might try lightly applying the parking brake and see if the noise changes with the parking brake applied. It's pretty common for the parking brake shoe friction material to come loose from the metal shoes. That could cause the grinding you're hearing.

-Rod

[Johnmolvar]

Thanks for trying to help, I appreciate it. I figured out the problem. I got under the car (wow is it hard to get under most cars today without jacking or having a lift!) and found a loose part directly under the center of the car. Not sure what it is called but looks like a 3' x 2' aluminum heat shield that is installed on top of the exhaust line presumably to protect the underside of the car from the heat from the exhaust line. Anyway this part was loose and rattling at slow speeds. The Heat Shield (or whatever it is called) screws into the bottom of the car, but where it screws in rusted out completely so I couldn't screw it back in. This would require a weld repair by the dealer which would be big bucks. Instead, I took metal wire which I ran through available holes and used pliers to tighten the wire firmly into place then I cut off the excess wire with wire cutters and presto it is pretty secure, no longer rattling and will last at least 5 years (the car is 11 years old) so probably the life of the car. Hope this info helps someone some time.

[shorod]

Congrats on finding the cause, and THANK YOU for posting a follow-up on what you found!

-Rod