Loud whirring noise coming from passenger left hand front wheel

[Jgz]

Hey guys, having a few issues with the D21 Terrano. There seems to be a loud, intermittent whirring noise coming from the left hand front wheel (passenger side). The noise sounds like a grinder on metal, but goes away if I drive over a bump where the wheel seems to 'click' back into place (the whole car does jerk forward a touch when it clicks back in).

 

This noise happens when i'm driving in a straight line, and is not a constant noise. It also isn't my daily car, so i'm in no rush to quickly send it in to get repaired as I can just do it in my own time.

 

My only real thought is that either a stone is stuck (tried tapping about the axle and braking system to shake things loose but only dust came out) or that one of the hubs is failing, and trying to engage despite me not actually trying to engage it.

 

Any one had a similar issue?

 

 

[Slartibartfast]

I had an auto hub crap out and try to engage while driving and it sounded like grinding gears. Scared the crap outta me. Backing up in a parking lot shut it up temporarily, and swapping that junk for manual hubs solved the problem permanently.

 

Also check your wheel bearing for play. I doubt it's that (seems like that would make noise all the time) but easy to rule out.

 

Only other thing I can think of for the grinder on metal sound is a brake sticking. Have a look at your brake pads and make sure they don't show uneven wear from something binding up.

 

 

[k9sar]

I would have guessed a brake pad loose. If the pads are worn enough and/or the rotor is damaged, you'll get a grabbing feel as well