grinding noise

[cavergreg]

Hi all, I have a 2006 awd vibe that I bought used a couple years ago, which has not given me any trouble at all, until a few days ago, when it started making a loud grinding sound when turning left that sounds like its coming from front passenger side.Wheel bearing, I thought, so i replaced both front wheel bearings, took it for a drive and its still making the same noise. I then took it by a transmission shop, explained what it was doing, the man was fixing to leave on vacation and didn't has time to look at it but said it was most likely the transfer case. So not knowing what else to do I found a low milage transfer case an installed it, not a small task by the way, put in both front axles new while I was at it, took for a test drive and thre noise when turning left is getiing worse, so Ive spent a bunch of money and havnt fixed anything. Its getting to the point where I can even hear a slight grinding when sitting still, so, is it my transmission, and why does it get so much worse when I turn left?

[Derf]

Coming from the passenger side, check your pulleys and plastic trim for odd wear pattern. Perhaps an engine mount is on the way out, usually they only cause issue upon acceleration not steering functions. Off chance that a body bushing, mount or panel has failed in such a way that you are getting inadvertent surface contact, especially when the item(s) are tweaked during a left turn.

[ehoff121]

Welcome to genvibe!

Wow, you did a lot of work.

Are you sure it's coming from the front end? Do you have a Mechanic's Ear that you can pinpoint the source of the noise with?

Does the noise change at all when you turn at different speeds?

Are the rotors very rusty around the edges and rubbing against the (possibly bent) wheel shield?

[sideshowalan]

Could it be coming from the rear?
Does it only get loud when you turn....or does it happen when you lightly swerve back and forth?
Get louder with speed?
Go away when you put the car in Neutral? (This would have told you if the problem was the transmission or not)

Have someone hang their head out the passenger side and try to discern between front or back.
There are wheel bearings on the rear as well.

[cavergreg]

Thanks for the responces all, I've found what the noise was and have fixed it, almost embarrassed to say what it was, you can figure it out if I ask another question, how much damage might occur to the transmission if the pump was starving for fluid when turning left? Yeah, it was just low of fluid, not making any noise now

[Megladon7]

How loud was the noise?

My wife started to drive to work in her '03 manual trans front wheel drive the other day and had the wheels turned left. As soon as she let out the clutch it made a very loud mechanical racket like she had poped the clutch and stalled it. I thought maybe the passenger side drive shaft had popped out of the transfer case or perhaps the parking break was stuck on. I found that if I straightened the wheels I could pull forward with no noise, as soon as I tried to turn left, the noise started.

I've jacked it up and checked the shaft, seems fine. With the front end on jack stands I can put it in gear and both wheels rotate normally when I let the clutch out.

I'll check the fluid in the transfer case, but how would low fluid cause a problem only when turning left?

Any thought, ideas, comments appreciated as always!

[cavergreg]

Megladon, my noise was very loud,but it had nothing to do with the transfer case at all. My auto transmission was so low of fluid the pump would quit picking up when I turned left