Diagnose this noise!

On Holiday · 21 May 2018 at 23:03

I've had a slight groaning noise coming from the front for a few weeks now, I originally thought this was something to do with the pads/discs as it only seemed to begin after hard braking and stops when I apply pressure to the brakes, but now it's doing it shortly into a journey even after very light braking.

It generally stops when I steer left, is constant when aiming straight and only slightly decreases in volume when steering right. So I thought that would rule out it being some sort of brakes problem?

But then if I apply the brake pedal and keep the throttle on to maintain speed, the noise stops, so I'd have thought that's brakes related?

My MOT guy didn't report any play in the wheel last week and I jacked it up today and can't feel any myself.

The noise/frequency doesn't increase with speed as far as I can tell.

Any suggestions?

I'm not particularly mechanically minded enough to be confident enough to attempt to fix whatever it is myself, just gives me an idea of what to expect when I find a somewhat local garage that looks trustworthy next week.

Thanks!

Dis86 · 21 May 2018 at 23:32

Hmm. What happens if you let the wheel run neutral? Does the car pull at all?

On Holiday · 21 May 2018 at 23:33

Dis86 said:
Hmm. What happens if you let the wheel run neutral? Does the car pull at all?

Not noticeably, nope.

Likewise if I brake hard, it doesn't go off to a particular direction either.

Dis86 · 21 May 2018 at 23:34

Checked your wheel nuts?

On Holiday · 22 May 2018 at 10:56

Yeah they're fine, had coilovers fitted in the meantime too so wheels have all been off and on.

Dis86 · 22 May 2018 at 11:25

Ok my next shout would be the disc backing plates. Check that neither of the front ones are sitting close. It could be one of them has just been clipped as the coilovers were fitted.

VaderDSL · 22 May 2018 at 11:25

Does the noise happen when the front is lifted off the ground and the wheel turned?

Haze · 22 May 2018 at 12:14

Did you have the noise before you fitted coilovers?

On Holiday · 22 May 2018 at 13:22

Forgot to mention that the sound was present before coilovers were fitted but has gradually got louder over time.

The wheels don't spin freely enough when jacked up to reliably check.
I did do a full left-to-right just to rule out a steering rack/pump groan so don't think it's that.

Found a very local garage near me who also do motorsport prep, trackday rental etc and took it to them for a quick look this morning. He thinks it's the brakes so will strip down and clean up this Thursday, will update thread with the outcome then.