Hello,

My car is '05 S2000 42K miles which is still under warranty (Honda extened it till 48K when I bought it as used)

About a month I noticed that noise is coming from the right side (I think front right wheel). I did a test drive to try to determine what could cause that.
That noise is kinda like when break pads are gone, but you can hear it even when not pushing breaks. At 30-45mph you can hear it and it becomes a bit louder when use breaks. On low and high speed you can't say if its still there because either speed pretty low or on high speed other (engine, aerodynamic noise) noise are getting louder.

I checked brake pads, tried to check on high speed brakes if there is a feedback in pedal (to be sure it is or not the rotors). I tried to make a turns on 20-25mph left and right to see if it is a wheel bearing. But I still couldn't say exactly what is that.

Drove the car to dealer and asked to check suspension and breaks (also replaced the break pads). They changed the pads and said that if noise is still there they would probably change the rotors. I said fine and picked up my car and again tried to test if noise is still there, so it is.

I made an appointment again and this time they said that even rotors are fine, and it is because of the tires . I argued with them because the noise is not a just regular tires noise. And I even made them to test drive it with me, and again they said that its normal. I asked why is this coming from only one wheel, why you can almost feel it in the steering wheel(like feedback of rubbing), why it is getting louder when using breaks.
No result though.


I don;t know what to do because I'm pretty sure it is not tires. Also, the car is still under warranty, and if it is a wheel bearing (I'm pretty sure it is), so they will need to replace that, but I don't understand why they so dumb and say that these are tires where the noise comes from...
So even if I try to disassemble a wheel hub myself and see that something wrong with it, I guess I couldn't claim the warranty in that case.

So I need some advice what can I do, probably somebody had a similar noise and knows what I';m talking about, or somebody can advice how to deal with Honda dealer to make them check/repair everything. I know it is hard to diagnose by photo... but I'm frustrated and need some advice...

 

I vote for a bad wheel bearing.

 

i had a similar problem with my BMW year back ... i thought it was the wheel bearing, had the pads replaced, etc etc.....

when i eventually changed to winter tires, the noise was .... gone. changing back to summer tires, here it was again. turned out, that the tires caused the noise once they reached a certain amount of wear. it was a Pirelli tire, and they did even do a recall for this problem.

hth. cheers.

 

I bought tires in October 07 for this winter - GoodYear Eagle F1 All Season. they are like new... thats why a doubt these are tires...

 

just a thought, im new to the "S" but do we have dust covers that cover the breaks? if so i would check that.

 

Any opinions/thoughts about how to deal with warranti if it is a wheel bearing. Coz I have no idea how to prove that this is a wheel bearing.

The only thing I can do is to buy dial test indicator and check rotors with it. If everything is all right, just go to another Honda dealer and start talking to them right from the point that something wrong with wheel bearing...

 

If you find that it is the wheel bearing, then don't take it to another dealer, especially if you had to pay for the labor of the previous visits.

Just go back, tell them outright that you believe the wheel bearing is going bad and ask that you have them check it. If it is bad they should fix it under warranty, and refund any money spent in the last visits because they were unwilling to fully test for the issue.

 

its your hub going out on you. Had similar problem, thought it was the breaks too. What happened is that your rotor is at a certain angle, not parallel with your break pads, because the hub had torn your bearing apart (maybe), so it is scrapping and sqeeking. I replaced my bearing once, assuming it was just the bearing, but it was my hub so i had to replace it twice. easy job though.