Mystery Squealing


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Old 07-15-12, 10:24 AM
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Mystery Squealing

My wife's 99 Malibu 3.1 132K has developed a nasty squeal.

The sound from the left rear wheel and sounds a lot like a brake squeal: metallic, high pitched and ringing. The squeal occurs under two conditions, when the car is rolling and the wheel is turned right with authority as well as when braking.

I removed the drum and saw no irregular wear. With the tire on, I tried moving the wheel from side to side and top to bottom and got no movement. My first guess is a bad hub, but how does it explain noise when braking?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Old 07-15-12, 06:56 PM
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bad hub bearing. *******************
 
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Old 07-15-12, 07:00 PM
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What about the noise when braking? I understand the noise when lateral pressure is applied, but why when does it happen when I slow down?
 
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Old 07-16-12, 09:45 AM
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because you put hub to strain.
take as much of it apart, as you can, without removing hub. Try packing bearing with some solid grease, like GM with PTFA or, at least, spray something in, if possible. If it gets better - you got your answer.
Btw, I have same noise in my Silverado. I just turn music louder.
 
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Old 07-16-12, 01:28 PM
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Ahhh. makes sense.

My wife will probably turn the radio up too.

Thanks for the consultation!
 
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Old 07-17-12, 09:04 AM
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Just for general knowledge I have seen seals get dry and make a high pitched squeel. This usually happened on the rear trans seal tho.
 
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Old 07-17-12, 09:33 AM
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Good input, but I'm convinced the issue is the hub.

I left out a detail that I now realize is important--the car was recently in a flood that was at least deep enough to reach the rear hubs. The driveway is angled so the front hubs weren't affected. The hubs are likely original and water must have penetrated the seal and caused some rust. After driving it a bit, the rust has worn away and the noise is gone.

The good news is I have some time before I really need to worry about it.
 
 

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