Misdiagnosis Adventure
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Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Washington
Misdiagnosis Adventure
Ok, so this is my story about doing thorough research before you begin repairs...maybe it will help someone.
It is also a lesson learned that the same sounds and symptoms can be very different problems.
I will start out with the symptoms my truck had and at the very bottom reveal the problem and fix.
I have a 97 F150 with 208,000 miles on it.
Nothing on the front end has been replaced except brakes and shocks.
3 Weeks ago with temps in the 50's I replaced the brake pads and noticed the sway-bar bolt was broken on the drivers side.
This week with temps in the 20's I picked up a couple of heat pumps, put them in the back and on the way home started to hear a growling noise from the front of the truck.
I couldn't tell which side it was coming from.
It would start making a growling, howling, loud road humming noise at about 5 mph and get louder as I accelerated.
When I applied the brakes it would stop.
When I went around corners it would get louder.
When I slowed to a stop it would go from growling sound to a metallic clicking sound.
When I put it into 4 wheel drive it did not go away.
When I jacked up the wheels and spun them by hand they turned smoothly and without noise.
I checked for wiggle, play and looseness in the ball joints and everything seemed snug.
I finally concluded ( I am not an expert) it was coming from the drivers side and combined with the sway-bar bolt being broken for probably 3 months, it was probably the wheel bearings.
They did have over 200,00 miles on them, there was probably added stress from the sway-bar being broken. They did make more noise going around corners.
The clicking sound made me think of the CV Axle. I have had cv axles go out on other cars and there is more of a clunky sound going on with them when they are going out.
The growling noise sounded like the bearings so I ruled out the cv axle and concluded I would replace the entire wheel bearing assembly rather than replacing the bearings.
Day 1 of 2011 - I got out into the cold weather and removed the wheel, brakes and ultimately the wheel hub assembly.
The three bolts holding it on were tightend to 148ftlb, very corroded and almost stripped for some reason.
I learned the valuable technique of using a propane torch on the bolt head, combined with a heat blanket to protect the rubber casing on the cv axle form the flame and penetrating oil to remove these bolts.
The Wheel hub came off easily and was very rusted and nasty looking inside.
Confident I had made the proper diagnosis I grabbed the new wheel hub assembly ($150.00) and installed it.
...put everything back together and jumped in the truck to test it out.....and EVERY SYMPTOM WAS STILL THERE!
Now I started to focus on the clicking sound.
I had to be outside the truck to determine which side the noise was coming from.
I had my wife drive the truck and coast to a stop and I trotted beside it and definitely determined the noise was coming from the passengers side.
Day 2 of 2011 - Called Auto Zone and they had both the hub assembly and cv axle in stock.
Grabbed all my now familiar tools and began to remove the pasengers side wheel.
I noticed small loose aluminum shavings around the lug nuts
The bolts were really loose...
....like I probably could have removed them by hand
....like the freakin nuts were really loose
....like so loose the wheel could possibly move while driving and create shavings around the lug nuts.
....AND CREATE GROWLING, HOWLING AND CLICKING!!!
I tightened them up, took it for a drive and there was no growling, no clicking, no howling no noise at all!
I obviously did not tighten the lug nuts tight enough when I removed them in the warmer weather.
In the colder weather everything contracted enough to make the lugs loosen even more.
So my Troubleshooting Protocol now includes:
1 - Consider and thoroughly check any recent work done to the vehicle (checking ft lb of bolts & electrical connections)
2 - Ask for help in diagnosing the problem - (I knew I needed to get outside the vehicle to determine where the noise was coming from)
..And so my new year begins
It is also a lesson learned that the same sounds and symptoms can be very different problems.
I will start out with the symptoms my truck had and at the very bottom reveal the problem and fix.
I have a 97 F150 with 208,000 miles on it.
Nothing on the front end has been replaced except brakes and shocks.
3 Weeks ago with temps in the 50's I replaced the brake pads and noticed the sway-bar bolt was broken on the drivers side.
This week with temps in the 20's I picked up a couple of heat pumps, put them in the back and on the way home started to hear a growling noise from the front of the truck.
I couldn't tell which side it was coming from.
It would start making a growling, howling, loud road humming noise at about 5 mph and get louder as I accelerated.
When I applied the brakes it would stop.
When I went around corners it would get louder.
When I slowed to a stop it would go from growling sound to a metallic clicking sound.
When I put it into 4 wheel drive it did not go away.
When I jacked up the wheels and spun them by hand they turned smoothly and without noise.
I checked for wiggle, play and looseness in the ball joints and everything seemed snug.
I finally concluded ( I am not an expert) it was coming from the drivers side and combined with the sway-bar bolt being broken for probably 3 months, it was probably the wheel bearings.
They did have over 200,00 miles on them, there was probably added stress from the sway-bar being broken. They did make more noise going around corners.
The clicking sound made me think of the CV Axle. I have had cv axles go out on other cars and there is more of a clunky sound going on with them when they are going out.
The growling noise sounded like the bearings so I ruled out the cv axle and concluded I would replace the entire wheel bearing assembly rather than replacing the bearings.
Day 1 of 2011 - I got out into the cold weather and removed the wheel, brakes and ultimately the wheel hub assembly.
The three bolts holding it on were tightend to 148ftlb, very corroded and almost stripped for some reason.
I learned the valuable technique of using a propane torch on the bolt head, combined with a heat blanket to protect the rubber casing on the cv axle form the flame and penetrating oil to remove these bolts.
The Wheel hub came off easily and was very rusted and nasty looking inside.
Confident I had made the proper diagnosis I grabbed the new wheel hub assembly ($150.00) and installed it.
...put everything back together and jumped in the truck to test it out.....and EVERY SYMPTOM WAS STILL THERE!
Now I started to focus on the clicking sound.
I had to be outside the truck to determine which side the noise was coming from.
I had my wife drive the truck and coast to a stop and I trotted beside it and definitely determined the noise was coming from the passengers side.
Day 2 of 2011 - Called Auto Zone and they had both the hub assembly and cv axle in stock.
Grabbed all my now familiar tools and began to remove the pasengers side wheel.
I noticed small loose aluminum shavings around the lug nuts
The bolts were really loose...
....like I probably could have removed them by hand
....like the freakin nuts were really loose
....like so loose the wheel could possibly move while driving and create shavings around the lug nuts.
....AND CREATE GROWLING, HOWLING AND CLICKING!!!
I tightened them up, took it for a drive and there was no growling, no clicking, no howling no noise at all!
I obviously did not tighten the lug nuts tight enough when I removed them in the warmer weather.
In the colder weather everything contracted enough to make the lugs loosen even more.
So my Troubleshooting Protocol now includes:
1 - Consider and thoroughly check any recent work done to the vehicle (checking ft lb of bolts & electrical connections)
2 - Ask for help in diagnosing the problem - (I knew I needed to get outside the vehicle to determine where the noise was coming from)
..And so my new year begins
