Loud whiny noise

Maintenance/Repairs
1

My car started making a loud, high pitched “whooping” and “whining” noise when making corners. The pitch is medium to high and variable. It kind of sounds like wet rubber on glass (like a squeegee). The first time it happened I thought it was a police siren, like when they sound the siren in short bursts “whoop! whoop!”. But now the sound is more like a prolonged whine/groan. The sound might be coming from the steering column, but I can’t be sure. Its definitely on the driver’s side and in the front.

The sound is not related to braking. It doesn’t happen on every turn. It can happen when starting from a stop or when already in motion. It happens on both flat ground and hills. At first it seemed to happen on cold days and only in the morning. I think this might have been a coincidence since now it happens throughout the day, every day.

Any ideas?

My car is a 1993 honda accord with approximately 315,000 miles.

2

Have you checked your transmission fluid lately?

3

A bad wheel bearing(s) or worn CV joints are possible sources of the noise.

4

When you’re under the hood checking the tranny fluid, you might as well check your power steering fluid too. If you have a friennd nearby, you could even have him/her trun the wheel and see if you can tell where the noise is coming from.

The CV joints are a good possibility too. You’ll need a rack to get those checked properrly.