So this all started about 2 months ago when I noticed an odd noise coming from my rear right wheel well anytime I had things in my trunk. I immediately went to my volvo repair guys, and after a lot of searching, they found that there was some sort of piece of metal bent (they told me what it was, but to be honest I don’t remember) that had been bent when I hit a curb merging onto a highway. They replaced the part with one off of one of their junkers, and I was on my way. The car seemed to run great that whole day, and that particular sound is now totally gone. The next day however a new noise appeared. I doubt the two are related, but being that one started the day after the other was fixed, I thought it crucial to mention. I was driving through a parking lot turning left slightly going about 10 miles an hour, when I heard this terrible sound coming from my front left wheel well area. It sounds exactly like an old dumpster door being slid open. Almost rusty sounding. I tried for about a week to recreate this sound with no success. It is now 2 months later almost, and I have noticed the noise 4-5 more times. The sound always appears when I am going below 20 miles per hour, and it seems to appear more when I’m turning left, but has occurred both going straight, and turning right. I also have noticed the sound both when I’ve first begun driving the car, and when I’ve been driving for a while. I want to bring the car in, but since the noise is so random, I’m not sure if it would help much, especially since the mechanics I go to are about 3 hours away. Has anyone ever encountered anything like this? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
The part that was replaced on the rear was probably a trailing arm and the would not be related to the current problem.
Considering the description of the noise, my guess would be either a brake pad(s) is starting to hit metal on metal or you have a failing wheel bearing.
With radio, fan, etc. off, windows down, go to a smooth parking lot and make a few slow speed slalom moves by veering left and right. Try to note if the noise appears to worsen in one direction or the other.
If you veer left and the noise becomes worse then the problem is more than likely the right front brake or wheel bearing. Vice-versa when you veer right.
A decent mechanic should be able to spot a problem with either of these things whether they hear the noise or not. Hope that helps anyway. 