I’ve been hearing a rhythmic, metallic ringy grinding noise coming from the driver side front end of the car that seems to be in time with wheel rotation. It happens between 5 and 40mph, worsens while the steering wheel is turned even the slightest to the right, goes away completely during left turns, reduces and becomes intermittent above 45mph, and between 0 and 5mph, as I turn the wheel to the right from any position, I hear squeaking.
I recently had the front control arm, ball joints and struts replaced. It has 140k miles. What could it be?
You might be hearing a front wheel bearing going out. To check for this, raise the tire off the ground. Grab the tire at the 6:00 and 12:00 oclock positions and try wiggling the tire. If the tire wiggles that bearing is going out.
Tester
Could be brakes also.
I think brakes are a good guess and if not the bearing or even axle joint. The brake pads have a metal piece on them so that when the pads wear down the metal part hits the brake rotor and makes a screening sound to tell you its time to service the brakes. It happens to be at the frequency that I have a hard time hearing but its pretty irritating to most people as its supposed to be.
Brakes or wheel bearing are both a good bet. If it occurs when turning right, it would likely be the left side bearing that was causing the problem. Since the sound seems to come from the left front corner, ask your mechanic to check the left front wheel bearing.
There’s a chance there is something under the car that has come loose too, and interfering with the wheel. It’s fairly easy to damage the under-engine windscreen by bumping it into curbs when parking. If that gets loose from its mooring, this symptom could result.