I have a 2009 KIA rondo with 64k miles. There is an unusual amount of noise coming from the front left side. At first I thought it may have been road noise. But the sound eventually became louder at higher speeds 60-70 mph. So I inspected all the fluids and motor mounts all are clean, not burnt odors and or bubbles. The motor mounts are not damaged. All belts are in excellent condition. There is alot of brake dust on the outside rim of the tire. Pulled the front right tire to inspect the caliper and brake pads. There is plenty of pad left and has normal wear, the rotor also has wear consistent with that of the pads. Pulled left front tire to inspect caliper and pads, thinking because of noise that the harmonics might be on the driver side. Normal wear on caliper and pads. So rotated the tires back to front, hoping maybe it was tire noise. No such luck there is still alot of noise coming from front end…its not a whining sound more a muffled tone that sounds like road noise. I don’t want to replace the calipers if I don’t have too since they are 332.00 each. Has anyone had this issue before any advice?
Might be wheel bearings. It seems early, but you might check them.
Your options seem to be the wheel bearing or a CV joint (which I believe would click at low speed during a turn). Honestly, I’d take it to KIA to have it diagnosed/fixed. I’ve had trouble before with non-brand mechanics who misdiagnose problems.
One thing you might try is comparing how hot the wheels get, one to another, after a fairly long drive with few brake applications. If one of the brakes are dragging, that wheel will get hotter than the others. Be careful so you don’t burn yourself in the process, and a stuck brake can make the wheel get really hot. What I do is hold the back of my hand near the wheel, but not touching it. The back of the hand is more sensitive to heat. Or this could be a good reason to buy one of those infared temp laser- temp measuring gadgets from harbor freight.