Hello,

I noticed a few days ago a clicking or tapping noise (only heard it with the window open and in the left lane against the barrier) coming from the front driver's side. The sound only occurs when the car is moving, no noise at all when idling at a light, for instance.

I put my hand against the front wheel after getting home and the wheel hub was very hot to the touch. I am guessing that the problem might be the wheel bearing, but I wanted to get some expert opinions from the good folk on the forum.

I appreciate any thoughts you may have on this.

Thanks,
Dave

 

Compare the heat of left & right sides. It's normal for them to get hot from the brakes & just from driving.

Dragging brakes can make it real hot, but that's not so much a tapping sound.

Strangely, a stone in the tire tread can make a nice tapping sound too. Especially when the sound is reflected by the barrier...

 

JimBlake,

Thank you for your response. I didn't get much of a chance to check into the stone in the tire theory until yesterday. I didn't find one, but thought I would take the car out on an errand and see if I still heard the noise, or could better describe it since I would be going at a slower speed.

As it happens, I did hear a noise, but it seems worse than what I was hearing last time. It sounds like metal rubbing. It is not a sharp sound but more elongated, if that makes sense. I am thinking now that maybe it is brakes and plan to pull the wheel off and check it out. Interestingly I could now hear the sound without any barrier present.

If you have any other thoughts on things I should check, please let me know.

Thanks again and regards,
Dave

 

Look especially for worn-out brake pads. The outboard pad is easy to see. The inboard pad has a little metal tab that rubs on the rotor & makes a screetching sound when the pads wear down to about 2mm or so. They're not the most accurate things, so maybe it starts rubbing at 3mm??? Actually looking at the pads is better, because occasionally they can wear down unevenly, like a wedge. Thicker at one end, and worn down to metal at the other. They can make all kinds of funny sounds. At least you can rule it out by taking off the wheels & looking.

Wheel bearings can make different sounds, too. More often a howling sound, but who knows? Outboard CV joints can make clicking sounds, but normally that's while turning.

 

Check your lugnuts. They may've come loose. I've learned from experience. I was in an Integra a few years ago with some friends and we were clueless as to what the noise might've been until the wheel came off. Luckily we didn't lose control but we never did find that tire.
A year or two after that I was driving my accord and heard noise coming from the left front tire. I still hadn't connected the two until I pulled off the road and noticed that the studs were no longer sitting in the holes and were instead sitting on the inside lip of the rim. I was lucky to have been in heavy traffic and pulled off some lugs temporarily from the other tires.
A third time after getting all my tires replaced I heard noise coming from the front and pulled over, jacked up the car, tightened the lugs and was back on the road as good as normal.

 

check to see if ur rotors are warped, that would cause the rubbing and the wheel getting hot. if you have more of a clicking sound u should try to listen to the cv axel as well

 

WOW...... 3 times eh?? lug nuts coming loose is NOT a very common thing , it hardly ever happens unless they are left loose or cross threaded when installed to start with ,,and to happen to you 3 times ?? WOW.... who tightens those lugs nuts up on your car ??

 

The Integra was not my car and I was merely a passenger.
The second time was my car and I don't recall who may've tightened them but I did eventually replace damaged studs.
The third time was literally a day after having all 4 wheels replaced at a shop.

I know it isn't a common occurrence but a wheel coming off is a lot more dangerous than a stuck caliper or warped rotors. I figured the original symptoms posted were similar enough to my experience to bear mention. Left-Front tire all 3 times. The noise became louder as the lug nuts got looser. It's better to play it safe than to continue driving on your merry way and assume that it is brake related.

 

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this. I've been extremely busy and unable to get on the computer much.

The problem turned out to be a badly gouged rotor. It seems the pad had worn a gouge into it. A mechanic who saw it thought that the Honda dealer that did the last brake job probably didn't cut them and so the wear from the old pads and new pads together caused it.

Thank you for all of the advice.

Dave