I have a 2003 Honda Civic coupe that is making a interesting noise. When making a hard left turn with some speed, an intermittant rubbing noise is coming from the rear right tire and wheel. I cannot duplicate that noise turng right at any speed.
One more fact, the right rear and left front tires lose 5-10 psi of air a week. They were filled yesterday, so they should be around 30 psi still (door sticker recommendation). New tires put on last summer by previous owner- not sure if they were losing air at that rate before the new treads or not. Any thoughts?
P.S. I plan on buying a used wheels to replace current ones to hopefully remedy the losing air situation!
When you turn left, it puts more pressure on the right side of the car, and can cause a wheel bearing on the fritz to make a noise. Often it is a kind of soft whooshing sound, a sort of rrrr ---- rrrrr —rrrr kind of noise. It will get louder I expect. I don’t think the tire leaks have anything to do with unless unless the wheel bearing has become so loose that the wheel is hitting something, but if so you could probably see the damage on the sidewall. I think the tire leaks are a different problem, maybe the valve stems are leaking or just need tightening. Are the valve stem cap on?
The valve stem caps are on, I had to go out and purchase some when I bought the car as the previous owner did not have any on. The previous owner has had the car in once after the new tires were put on to check out the tires for a sign of air leaking and they didn’t find anything. I think before I buy new rims for it I will have someone rule that out again, and I will have them look into the valve stems as well.
Thats exactly the noise I am hearing from the wheel. Should I take the car into a local garage for this possible bearing issue or should I make an appt with the Honda dealer?
Any good inde mechanic should have no trouble with the wheel bearing. It’s a classic.
Since you had to buy new caps, if this were my car, before getting new tires, I’d clean out the valve stems first, see if that fixes it. Dirt can get inside and cause it not to seal. Try this: Pump up the tires, then you can make up some soapy water (or some good sticky spit works almost as well) and put a dab on the valve stem opening (take the cap off first), and see if it forms a bubble. That means it is leaking.
If it is, you should remove the entire needle-like thing. You need a special tool. Clean it off, then reinsert. If that doesn’t work, then buy a new needle-thingy. If that doesn’t work, you can have the entire valve stem replaced, but that requires removing the tire.