1998 SL2 - Snow tire noise with summer tires

We have a 1998 SL2 with 105,000 miles. We put snow tires on it last
fall for our kid's year at college. Now it's back and has summer
tires on it.

But now it sounds like there are coarse tread tires, it rumbles, with
pitch going up as speed goes up. Any ideas? It is loud enough to
need earplugs at highway speeds.

Thanks!

Have you had the alignment checked on all four wheels? Other possibility is
that it's a wheel bearing or CV joint that's going. Same noise when in
neutral and coasting? Any different on a right or left turn?

Who changed the winter to summer tires? Loose lugnuts?

"somebody" > wrote in message
...
> We have a 1998 SL2 with 105,000 miles. We put snow tires on it last
> fall for our kid's year at college. Now it's back and has summer
> tires on it.
>
> But now it sounds like there are coarse tread tires, it rumbles, with
> pitch going up as speed goes up. Any ideas? It is loud enough to
> need earplugs at highway speeds.
>
> Thanks!
>

It quiets down on left turns and is louder on right turns.

Neutral/coasting doesn't make a difference.

I will check the CV joint boots...

On Sun, 22 May 2011 15:49:02 -0400, "Oppie" > wrote:

>Have you had the alignment checked on all four wheels? Other possibility is
>that it's a wheel bearing or CV joint that's going. Same noise when in
>neutral and coasting? Any different on a right or left turn?
>
>Who changed the winter to summer tires? Loose lugnuts?
>
>"somebody" > wrote in message
.. .
>> We have a 1998 SL2 with 105,000 miles. We put snow tires on it last
>> fall for our kid's year at college. Now it's back and has summer
>> tires on it.
>>
>> But now it sounds like there are coarse tread tires, it rumbles, with
>> pitch going up as speed goes up. Any ideas? It is loud enough to
>> need earplugs at highway speeds.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>

In article >,
somebody > wrote:

> It quiets down on left turns and is louder on right turns.
>
> Neutral/coasting doesn't make a difference.
>
> I will check the CV joint boots...
>
> On Sun, 22 May 2011 15:49:02 -0400, "Oppie" > wrote:
>
> >Have you had the alignment checked on all four wheels? Other possibility is
> >that it's a wheel bearing or CV joint that's going. Same noise when in
> >neutral and coasting? Any different on a right or left turn?
> >
> >Who changed the winter to summer tires? Loose lugnuts?
> >
> >"somebody" > wrote in message
> .. .
> >> We have a 1998 SL2 with 105,000 miles. We put snow tires on it last
> >> fall for our kid's year at college. Now it's back and has summer
> >> tires on it.
> >>
> >> But now it sounds like there are coarse tread tires, it rumbles, with
> >> pitch going up as speed goes up. Any ideas? It is loud enough to
> >> need earplugs at highway speeds.
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>

It sounds like a left-hand wheel bearing. Check to see if it pulls to
the left on a level road, with properly-inflated tires.

"Orval Fairbairn" > wrote in message
news
> In article >,
> somebody > wrote:
>
>> It quiets down on left turns and is louder on right turns.
>>
>> Neutral/coasting doesn't make a difference.
>>
snip to correct top posting
>
> It sounds like a left-hand wheel bearing. Check to see if it pulls to
> the left on a level road, with properly-inflated tires.

Conventional wisdom suggests left wheel bearing if noise increases during
right turns, but YMMV. I recently had a bad wheel bearing where noise
increased when turning towards the bad side. After removing the wheel and
brakes there was no noise or looseness/play. Diagnosis was made by
elimination after replacing the other side first and confirmed only after
replacing the second side. Search Google groups for my complete repair
report posting.

Good luck, YMMV

On Sun, 22 May 2011 22:25:57 -0700, "Private" >
wrote:

>
>"Orval Fairbairn" > wrote in message
>news
>> In article >,
>> somebody > wrote:
>>
>>> It quiets down on left turns and is louder on right turns.
>>>
>>> Neutral/coasting doesn't make a difference.
>>>
>snip to correct top posting
>>
>> It sounds like a left-hand wheel bearing. Check to see if it pulls to
>> the left on a level road, with properly-inflated tires.
>
>Conventional wisdom suggests left wheel bearing if noise increases during
>right turns, but YMMV. I recently had a bad wheel bearing where noise
>increased when turning towards the bad side. After removing the wheel and
>brakes there was no noise or looseness/play. Diagnosis was made by
>elimination after replacing the other side first and confirmed only after
>replacing the second side. Search Google groups for my complete repair
>report posting.
>
>Good luck, YMMV
>

It doesn't look to difficult and the part is cheap enough:
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...6808_161523_0_

Is this something where the other bearing is almost shot, too?

In article >,
"Private" > wrote:

> "Orval Fairbairn" > wrote in message
> news
> > In article >,
> > somebody > wrote:
> >
> >> It quiets down on left turns and is louder on right turns.
> >>
> >> Neutral/coasting doesn't make a difference.
> >>
> snip to correct top posting
> >
> > It sounds like a left-hand wheel bearing. Check to see if it pulls to
> > the left on a level road, with properly-inflated tires.
>
> Conventional wisdom suggests left wheel bearing if noise increases during
> right turns, but YMMV. I recently had a bad wheel bearing where noise
> increased when turning towards the bad side. After removing the wheel and
> brakes there was no noise or looseness/play. Diagnosis was made by
> elimination after replacing the other side first and confirmed only after
> replacing the second side. Search Google groups for my complete repair
> report posting.
>
> Good luck, YMMV

You are right -- I misread the problem. Yes -- a noisy left wheel
bearing should get noisier on right turns; a bad right wheel bearing
should make noise on left turns. The car should also pull toward the bad
wheel on a straight, level road, with no crosswind.

somebody wrote:
> It quiets down on left turns and is louder on right turns.
>
> Neutral/coasting doesn't make a difference.
>
> I will check the CV joint boots...
>

It's the driver's side front wheel bearing. You can get it replaced at
a place like Les Schwab or Midas.

--
Posted with OS/2 Warp 4.52
and Sea Monkey 1.5a

somebody wrote:
> On Sun, 22 May 2011 22:25:57 -0700, "Private" >
> wrote:
>
>> "Orval Fairbairn" > wrote in message
>> news
>>> In article >,
>>> somebody > wrote:
>>>
>>>> It quiets down on left turns and is louder on right turns.
>>>>
>>>> Neutral/coasting doesn't make a difference.
>>>>
>> snip to correct top posting
>>> It sounds like a left-hand wheel bearing. Check to see if it pulls to
>>> the left on a level road, with properly-inflated tires.
>> Conventional wisdom suggests left wheel bearing if noise increases during
>> right turns, but YMMV. I recently had a bad wheel bearing where noise
>> increased when turning towards the bad side. After removing the wheel and
>> brakes there was no noise or looseness/play. Diagnosis was made by
>> elimination after replacing the other side first and confirmed only after
>> replacing the second side. Search Google groups for my complete repair
>> report posting.
>>
>> Good luck, YMMV
>>
>
> It doesn't look to difficult and the part is cheap enough:
> http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...6808_161523_0_
>
> Is this something where the other bearing is almost shot, too?
>

Not necessarily. My experience is that the driver's side lasts about
twice as long as the passenger side, probably because most of the miles
are with only a driver. The Saturn front wheel bearings seem to wear
out a little sooner than on most cars...probably because the design puts
a lot of stress on them. I get about 80,000 miles on the driver's side
and 160,000 miles on the passenger side front bearings. I've never had
to replace the rear wheel bearings so maybe that's compensation.

--
Posted with OS/2 Warp 4.52
and Sea Monkey 1.5a

"Private" > wrote in message
...
> If the OP is considering a DIY repair I recommend reading my earlier
> reports
> of this job.
>
> https://groups.google.com/groups/sea...=&as_oq=&as_eq
> =&num=10&scoring=&lr=&as_sitese
> arch=&as_qdr=&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=2011&as_ maxd=1&as_ma
> xm=1&as_maxy=2011&as_ugroup=rec.au
> tos.makers.saturn&as_usubject=wheel+bearing&as_uau thors=private&safe=off
>
> job report is here
> https://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.sa
> turn/browse_thread/thread/dbd50d8ba022a28f/c3980cf51a2fabaf?lnk=st&q
> =group:rec.autos.makers.sa
> turn+authorrivate&rnum=6&hl=en#c3980cf51a2fabaf
>
> copy & paste the URL address manually.
>


Here's a trick that works with most mail/news programs to keep links from
fragmenting.
copy the link as normal
go to target message and start with a quote "
paste the link
Add another quote " followed by a space .

This should preserve the link in its entirety.
"https://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.saturn/browse_thread/thread/dbd50d8ba022a28f/c3980cf51a2fabaf?lnk=st&q=group:rec.autos.makers.s aturn+authorrivate&rnum=6&hl=en#c3980cf51a2fabaf "

Let's see if it makes a liar out of me...