1998 Ford Taurus car groans as you go faster

Hi leicaman. Welcome to the forum. You made some good observations, especially about the turning. That is often a clue to which side has the noisy bearing when the pressed-in style is used. Most cars use a bolt-on assembly now. They usually don't change sound when turning, plus, it can be almost impossible to tell which side is making the noise. The best way is to run the car in gear on a hoist, then listen by each one with a stethoscope.

Another method is to use a "Chassis Ear". That is a set of microphones and a receiver. You clip the microphones to various suspect points, then switch between them while listening during a test drive.

Caradiodoc

You provided a lot more valuable information and observations than most people. The fact that the noise doesn't change when you put it in neutral and let the engine idle was the clincher. GM has a real lot of trouble with noisy power steering pumps. Ford and Chrysler, ... Not so much. It is somewhat common for some Fords to burp power steering fluid onto the ground when the engine is turned off. That is due to trapped air that hasn't bled out. What misleads most people is the pump will still be quiet. Most power steering systems make a loud buzzing noise when there is air in the system.

All you should have to tell your mechanic are the same symptoms you listed here. He will likely take the car on a test drive as verifying the complaint is the first step in the diagnosis. Once the car is on the hoist for the transmission service, it only takes a few extra minutes to listen with the stethoscope. Your comment about the noise not changing when you turn slightly suggests your car has the bolt-on style bearing assembly. As a former suspension and alignment specialist, I replaced a lot of bearings and in every case, it was impossible to tell on the test drive which one was the noisy one when that style was used. With the stethoscope, one bearing seemed like it could be the culprit, until I listened to the other one. THEN it was obvious which one was bad. The good bearing will rattle a little as the wheel turns because there is no load on it. The bad bearing can usually not be heard with your ear right next to it but you'll know you found it when you hear the difference with the stethoscope.

I should mention too that the wheel can not fall off and the bearing won't cause you to suddenly lose control. It is held together by the cv joint / half shaft. At the very worst, if it becomes sloppy, the brake rotor will shift position relative to the brake pads and cause some abnormal wear, but it will take a real long time for that to occur. I only saw that happen once on a student's Dodge Shadow. He ignored the noise from the bearing for over 80,000 miles until it was wobbling in and out on top, but it still never caused him to lose control. Most people wouldn't be able to stand the noise for that long. By the way, other than a little wear on the brake pads many miles from now, no other parts will be damaged by not replacing the bearing. Just your hearing might be affected once the noise becomes louder.

Caradiodoc

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