I have an 02 mountaineer it has a front end whine/growl when going straght or left but as soon as i turn right or put tension on the steering wheel to the right it seems to go away any thought also we bought this used and im not sure how the AWD works should it feel bindy on pavement like a 4wd does i know subaru AWD dont feel bindy on pavement

thanks wayne

 

The noise is probably one of the wheel hub/ bearings in front. YOu can jack it up and turn the wheel and try to figure out which one. Some think if you turn left or right, that tells you which one, but dont always work. The hub/ bearing is a unit and cost about $200 at Auto Zone or half that on e-bay. Labor is additional.
--- the AWD will give some indication of binding when in a sharp turn at low speed. You should not know much difference in highway driving.

 

thanks i will check this out soon and let you all know what i find


wayne

 

i think the old trick was if you hear the noise whwn turning left its the right bearing/hub and vice versa, but that (as said before) isnt 100%.

 

Just did one about a month ago. Auto Zone part cost $126.00 and 45 min. later finished, no more noise.

 

so im just getting back to this now and i jacked up truck and nothing feels wrong everything is tight so is there any chance its the front differential making this noise? like i said the noise almost goes completely away when you touch the steering wheel to the right. not actually turning just putting tension on the wheel to the right. my experience is with differeentials is if they are going bad the leak oil so i dont think it the diff.

thanks wayne

 

When you turn the wheel to the right you're putting the load on the left front mostly and with the noise going away it sure seems that the rt. wheel bearing is going out. It has to get really bad before you can actually feel more than a minute amount of slop in the hub assy. It will likely be okay for a long time before complete failure, just irritating with the noise which will get ever louder.
I think your best bet is to just change the rt. hub assy. Let us know how it works out.

 

if its as easy to change this bearing as it sounds some quick trouble shooting would be to swap the 2 front bearings and see if the noise flows the swap

 

That sound more like "Trouble Eliminating" and is a good idea. It shouldn't take more than an hour for the first one and the second will be about a third less time. Good luck with it and let us know how it comes out.

 

new left front bearing sounds as good as new thanks for your help guys