GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Anyone have an idea what could be causing this?I hear a slight grinding noise coming from the front left wheel area when the car moves forward for the first time in the morning.It goes away.But then when I'm on the highway at a high speed, i can hear more of a whistling noise from the same area.Any ideas?

How many miles? Any brake service? Hit anything with that wheel? More info please.

58K milesbrakes have been squeaking for a while, but had them checked a couple months ago and was told they were fine. I'm still on all original brake pads, etc.I first noticed it a couple days ago on the highway. I didn't hit anything.

It could possibly be wheel bearings. When you're going about 40 or so mph, swerve left to right(not into oncoming traffic ). If its wheel bearings, the noise will stop when you swerve one of the ways. For instance, the noise from your left wheel area would go away when you swerve left, lightening the load on that side.

I know that after a rain, if I don't drive it 'til the next day, Mine make a little noise until the rust gets rubbed off.

At 58K, I'm still leaning toward the brakes. Might have them checked again, things can change in a couple of months.

I think it's the brakes too.My Vibe does that once in a while.The morning thing.

Quote, originally posted by kevera »I think it's the brakes too.My Vibe does that once in a while.The morning thing.Our's likewise, in the AM. We've only got 16K miles. I've pulled both front wheels and have gobs of pad left. Maybe a dust/moisture thing?

Could it be the brakes even though the noise happens when accelerating?

If the pads/pistons are not releasing smoothly due to rust/corrosion the pads could be dragging excessively when the pedal is released.

Hi Chris,I think I've posted this a few times but when I hear anything odd at a wheel, like light scraping or that typical early morning squeal but throughout the day, I check my lug's torque on the wheels. On several occasions I heard a scraping and sometimes a light squeak and thought it was my brakes. One time I took off a wheel to see if I could see any odd pad wear. That one time I noticed the lugs seemed excessively tight. After checking things out, I put the wheel back on with the proper torque, the sound was gone. This has happened several times, usually after a rotation, hearing the same or similar wheel noise. and retorquing always fixes it for me.I now remind my wheel shop to make sure the torque only to 76ftlbs. And if I hear that sound now, I probably forgot to remind them at a wheel rotation and loosening then torquing to the right amount alleviates the issue.It's believed that over-torquing can slightly distort (warp) the rotor causing it to rub on some wheel part like maybe the brake pad or brake dust shield. It's a simple fix if this is your problem.Dave

Thanks Dave. I did have them rotated 1K or 2K miles ago. And brought it back to have them tighten the lugnuts.Maybe this is the case. Thanks for everyone's help.