Wheel bearing type noise

[green440duster]

I have a 2003 Impala with 109 K and it just started to make a whiring noise which seems to be comming from the pass side front wheel the whiring speeds up with wheel speed and gets louder when you turn to the right. So I replaced the bearing and the noise is still there. Is it not the wheel bearing? or is it the wheel on the driver side maybe??? Help I am at a loss!!

Thanks

[tractorboy]

also have a 2003 Impala, LA1. Ummm let me tell you what i did a few years back. I had a Chevy Celebrity, it had a squeek , squeek that i was sure it was a wheel bearing. Sometime i thoght it was the front sometimes the back, wait it was on the right, no left. The wheel bearing was about $300 from Chevrolet, so I wanted to make sure I got the right one. So I got a cassete tape recorder ( you could use a notebook, or anything) a mic and some painters tape. I taped the mike to each fender, befor driving with the mic at each location i would bend down and speak intothe mic taped to the fender and say "right front" or "left rear" . I went home and listened to the tape, no doubt now which one it was. Your noise , from what you are saying, sounds more like the transmission
there is also a service letter out , i think, not sure for a whinning sound fromsome Impalas, cannot remember where i saw it or what caused it.

[SpinnerCee]

My 2001 IMP makes noise down there too, but it seems to be coming from the power steering stuff -- the pump is noisy (slight whine that increases with RPM, and decreases as the fluid warms up), and when turning the steering wheel, the noise does get louder along with a slight "clunkiness" for lack of a better word -- I'm currently experimenting with different PS fluid additives to see which one helps the most -- Adding one bottle of Lucas PS additive helped the pump noise and feel a little. A PS fluid flush and refill will be my next test since it is the original fluid.

Edit:add -- The PS pump is on the passenger side, behind the strut tower, between the engine and firewall.

[Gems]

The PS pump on my '01 Impala was making noise about a year ago... Additives to the fluid only helped for a very short time... Eventually the noise got louder and louder with a corrsponding increase in steering force... The pump was bad and I had it changed... As far as your "clunkiness" feel goes it might be the famous ISS problem... But I would guess you know about that already...

[SpinnerCee]

Yep Gems, I know, I know -- but the dealer already got his $1000 bucks of biz from me for this year -- a sunroof track broke (and was fixed) and the notorious passenger side water leak, that causes the blower motor resistor to fail, case drain cleaning didn't work too well (it still leaks when it rains and the resistor died again -- I re-wired the connection to the blower motor), so I don't plan on visiting the dealer until spring.

[Gems]

I hear ya... The smartest thing I ever did when I bought my Impala was to buy the GM Major Guard protection plan with $0 deductible... It's saved my pocketbook several times already...

[richtazz]

Wheel bearing noises can travel back and forth. It could be a wheel bearing or a power steering pump. Have you checked the fluid level in the P/St pump? Do you lose boost, especially at low speeds? Have you checked the serpentine belt and tensioner/idler pulleys?

[57chevyragtop]

Originally Posted by green440duster

I have a 2003 Impala with 109 K and it just started to make a whiring noise which seems to be comming from the pass side front wheel the whiring speeds up with wheel speed and gets louder when you turn to the right. So I replaced the bearing and the noise is still there. Is it not the wheel bearing? or is it the wheel on the driver side maybe??? Help I am at a loss!!

Thanks

I have a post on hub replacement on down some in forum...though you have many more miles on yours (mine 64k) I have determined mine to be the right wheel hub bearing because it gets louder turning to the left and lesser so to the right...why... I figure the load is greater on the right when turning to the left. I saw the idea of the mic set-up posted earlier good idea I guess if you have the stuff to do that. If you didn't destroy the one you replaced you can put it back on the right and put the new one on the left. A tech I know tells me he gets the car on the hoist runs it in drive and puts a long handled wooden screwdriver metal tip to hub and wood to ear on each side to figure this out. I asked him if you could do one at a time on a jack stand, He said he would not recommend doing that. I think I agree with that thought. I am going to replace the right one when I get the part and repost. One other thing, the noise I have is best described as an airplane type sound and has no correlation to engine speed.