Nissan almera pulling left and making rythmic grinding noise in front

Morpheus

Hi all,

almera has been pullling left for a few weeks now, ive to get it checked out, but noticed the following:

at speeds above 60 I can feel a vibration in the steering wheel.
when driving if i let go of the wheel it would have me in the ditch to the left in a few seconds, i have to drive physically applying a small amount of pressure to keep the car straight regardless of speed.

finally ive noticed that sometimes ill hear a loud grinding noise coming from the front, right side i think, it comes and goes, but when it happens, it happens in rythm with the tyre rotation speed. when its happening ive noticed it if I turn left, but not if I turn right.

Im planning on getting balance and alignment done, but could it be anything else???

BrensBenz

I'm not an expert and will probably be shot down in flames but noises and drifting suggest a CV (constant velocity) joint. Is the noise more pronounced at full steering lock?
A damaged rubber gaitor on either of the half-shafts would be a giveaway.

Morpheus

havent a clue, but its been pulling left for a while now, i got tyres changed recently, but now that i think about it, it was pulling left for a long time before that, just not as much. its quite a strong pull, maybe 10 degrees?

BrensBenz

It's fairly easy to check the condition of gaitors: Turn steering to its limit and you should be able to see the gaitor (a rubber version of Nora Batty's stockings) between the wheel and engine. If damaged in any way, dirt gets in and damages the CV joint.
There are a lot of "complexities" in the engine bay of front wheel drive cars which could cause your problem but whenever I had your symptoms, a new CV joint was required. Hmmm, never on a Japanese car, though....?

antodeco

Did you hit a kerb or ramp at speed can you remember? Or hit a very bad pot hole? Could be a warped wishbone?

CJhaughey

Have you tried jacking the front left wheel and spinning the wheel and listening for noise?(Use an axle stand if you have one) Rumbling would indicate a wheelbearing.
Hold it at 12 and 6 o'clock and rock it and see if there is any play in and out.
It could be a wheel bearing on the way out

AzureAuto

Sounds like it could be a sticking brake caliper. Comon enough on Almeras. This would cause the wheel to lock up and pull the car to one side. The grinding noise is probably the steel backing plates of your brake pads in contact with the discs. Worst case scenario, new/recon caliper, brake pads and brake discs.

SilverBell

Get it looked at fairly fast. Jack it up yourself if you're able and rotate the wheel as CJHaughey says.

Could be a bearing on the way out, or a sticking caliper.
Does the wheel get hot after a drive?

galwaydude18

Would a hot wheel indicate a sticking caliper?

Wheelnut

galwaydude18 wrote: »

Would a hot wheel indicate a sticking caliper?

Yes.
(assuming it's hotter than the wheel on the opposite side)