Strange sound

[ksilvy]

Hey guys haven't posted in quite a while but try to read posts once a week.My 95' is still running ok with 130,000 miles on it and a transmission I rebuilt myself thanks to the help I got from here and Teamswift.Small problem I have an annoying sound that I only hear when turning to the left or right. I don't know if it's the CV shaft or not but it's only constant when turning.Can't duplicate it when on jackstands so I'm assuming there needs to be pressure on the suspension to hear it. It doesn't sound like the normal click,click, click that I would think is the shaft but then I haven't heard a bad one on a Geo. It does sound like it's coming from the general area of the passenger shaft though. Any ideas?

[Chromehero]

You might want to check out your wheel bearings. They seem to go bad on Metros. DOC has a post where he covers this issue. The wheel bearings will make more noise on turns: The passenger one on a left hand turn and the Driver's one on a right hand turn.

[91Caprice9c1]

A little trick I have developed to isolate a bad wheel bearing beyond a doubt is to support the car on stands, let the car idle in D (automatic) or 5th gear (manual) and with a block of wood, carefully bring each side to a stop, one at a time and listen intently for a rough bearing on the opposite side. Try not to abuse this technique as it is a little hasrh on the spider gears in the differential and the CV joints (because of the angle created with the unloaded suspension). Generally a faulty wheel bearing will be noisey ALL the time and ween and wane with the turns as Chrome has pointed out. Also, 9 out of 10 times, a CV joint will turn south as a result of a torn boot. And although it is not unheard of, it is quite rare for a CV joint to fail with the boot still intact. Also be sure to check the lower control arm bushings and shock mounts with a prybar to verify that they are not shifting around on you. And while you're down there it would be a good idea to have a look at the tie-rod ends for torn boots or exessive play and the steering rack mount bolts to be sure that all is snug, and of course that the lug nuts are tight ;-)
Shouldn't be much left after that?

MechanicMatt

[Chromehero]

Good point, MechanicMatt. Thank you for the step by step instructions. I had to deduce the wheel bearings were bad from the way they were explained in this forum. The noise made by my car is somewhat difficult to describe, but it is similar to running a car with 'mudder' tires. It is a constant low growl-like sound that gets worse when I turn to the right. I think you all have heard those 'mudder' tires. Usually they are on some off-road lifted mid-size pickup, and they can be heard at a distance making a constant low end hum. Now imagine that sound constantly -inside- the car, and that is what I have.