2007 Cobalt whinning noise when i drive it.
Asked by trscallaway May 08, 2012 at 09:12 PM about the 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt LS Sedan FWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
It started making the noise about 2 months ago and it has gotton progressively worse..had someone test drive it and they thought wheel bearing in the front, but i had someone different check the bearings and they didnt find anything wrong with them and thought maybe it was the axel instead.. does anyone know the symptoms of a wheel bearing and/or axel? anyone out there had the same issue? if i can't afford to fix it, do you think its real dangerous to be driving it? it;s the only car i have to get to work with..
3 Answers
aztec626bf answered 11 years ago
It could be a wheel bearing it's hard to say without hearing the noise. One way to tell if the bearing is bad is to go at a speed that the noise is the loudest and do slight turns back and forth, If you notice a substantial change in the noise you most likely have a wheel bearing issue. Sometimes the hardest part is determining which wheel bearing is the culprit. You should be able to tell if it's front or back from driving it then figure out which individual wheel by having wheels off of ground and looking for play in wheel bearing. It's usually not dangerous driving with a bearing going out it just depends on how bad it is and your type of driving. I have seen bearings that are very loud last a long time, but I would get to it sooner than later.
it wouldn't be from the axles, the tranny maybe or wheel bearing , most likely wheel bearing, the only way you can be sure is by driving & listening to the noise,you can't just look at them and say if they're good or bad.when the greese drys up inside the hub they start to make noise after a while it's get worst & could be dangerous. don't take any trips.
It does sound like a wheel bearing to me too. GMs are famous for having them fail. I've had lots of them go in the various GMs I"ve owned and its just part of vehicle maintenance. The good news is that if you're strapped for cash or are having trouble finding which one is the problem don't worry about it. It seems to take a very minor imperfection in the bearing to make noise. They will last almost forever and finally will start making so much noise you won't be able to stand it. Plenty of time to trouble shoot or save money for the fix. It's highly unlikely a bad bearing will ever leave you stranded.
