Left Side Drive Shaft

[dcdragshop]

How can you tell if your drive shaft is in need of replacing? I have got a 1999 Grand Prix GT 3.8 F.I. I have got the weirdest front end noise. It starts when i reach around 30 miles an hour. It starts howling and if you turn the wheel either way just enough to engage a small turn or lane change, the howl increases until you straighten the wheel out and then back to the original howl. You can kind of feel a vibration in the floor close to the engine. It does not increase when you accelerate or it goes through the gears while driving. The howl just stays the same which makes me think it is something to do with the front end or drive shaft. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Stealthee]

A CV usually wont make noise until you turn, and then its a clicking noise. A bad wheel bearing could make a howling noise.

[dcdragshop]

Thanks for your quick response. I actually have the car on jack stands now trying to figure this out. I changed the hub assembly on the right side cause I thought the majority of the howl was coming from that side. It has actually got louder since I changed that hub. I didn`t want to change the other side if it wasn`t going to fix the problem. By saying wheel bearing, that is the same as the hub that I changed, correct? I wonder if it will make a difference to change the left side hub assembly. Easy job just expensive to guess and not have it be the solution.

[Stealthee]

Yea wheel bearing and hub are the same thing in this case.

Best idea is to jack the car up on the left side and spin the wheel and listen for humming. Also you can grab the wheel at 3 oclock and 9 oclock and try to wiggle it. It there is play in teh hub itself, and not just the wheel turning back and forth, then you found your issue.

[dcdragshop]

Yeh, There is no play on either side. Even the right side I changed had no play before I changed it. I just thought it was an easy solution after reading a few post on this site about similar problems. If there is no play could it still possibly be the hub assembly? I wonder if I should change it anyway. There seems to be a little noise on the left side when spinning the wheel. If there is no play I wonder if it is the half shaft? After reading about the diagnosis and replacement of the half shaft, it sure seems like a big job if it turns out to be that.

[Stealthee]

If one of the roller bearings gets a flat spot or a piece of dirt in it it can cause the howling and not have play in it.

[dcdragshop]

One other thing I just noticed is that I can spin the left front tire when it is in park. That definately doesn`t sound right. It is in park and the key is out of the ignition and the tire spins with a little help from me. It is making some grind/howl sound when you spin it. Sounds like it is coming from further in from the hub assembly towards the drive train. Wow what a blow that is. It is probably a major problem now. I`m lost again.

[troy1]

Just to clarify, when you say left side do you mean the drivers side or Passenger side? The way you describe it makes it sound like a bad axle or hub. Would be nice if you could upload a video of the noise while driving. A bad hub usually gets louder as you turn in one direction and quieter in the other. A hub should not cause a vibration but a bad axle will.

[dcdragshop]

Yes. When I said left side, I did mean drivers side. I have changed the right side hub assembly. My main worry now is that the front tires rotate when car is in park and both sides are in air on jack stands.

[Stealthee]

Its an open differential. Its supposed to do that.