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Grinding noise in left front

24K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Baugher17 
#1 ·
Hello, I am new to the forum and lately have had a grinding noise in the left front of my 2008 Escalade. I'm going to take it to the shop next week and haven't been driving it this week in fear of making it worse. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this? If so what was the problem? Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Without more details, its could likely be the wheel bearing - given the age of the vehicle. But you need to provide more description of the grinding you are hearing. If it is the bearings, replace both sides and use Timken bearings. There are several posts detailing how to diagnose and replace in the forum.
 
#3 ·
Thank you. The noise is primarily when driving.
The speed doesn't matter it still does it whether I'm going slow or on the highway.
I think it is louder when going around right turns. The noise is best described as sounding like the rim is grinding on the road. That's not the case but that's exactly how it sounds.
 
#5 ·
Hi Baugher17,

Welcome to the forum! I hope you have been finding the feedback of the forum members helpful.
I am sorry you have been dealing with a grinding in the front of your Escalade and I understand your concern. When you say you are taking it to a shop, do you mean a dealership or an independent mechanic? Please PM me if you would like to further discuss the issue you are experiencing.

Have a great night,

Austin J.
Cadillac Customer Care
 
#6 ·
Very possibly the left wheel bearing. This is about a 90 minute do it yourself in your driveway repair if you have power tools, about 2 hours if you don't.

You can pay $450 at the dealer, or $71 on eBay for one that will work just fine. Won't last as long, but at less than 20% of the dealer part, if it lasts 2 years instead of 6, you still come out better (most people don't own their cars longer than 3 years anyway).

Alternately, the sound "appears" to be coming from the front left when it's actually the front HUB / knuckle that distributes the forward driveshaft from the transfer case to forward wheel motion.

1. Drain and fill fluid in transfer case, front axle hub, rear axle hub. This should be done once a year anyway. Look for any metal shavings in any of them.

2. If that turns out clean, unburnt, metal shaving-free fluid, move on to the front hubs. With the car jacked off the ground, put one hand at the 12 o'clock position on the tire and one at 6 o'clock. Try to wiggle the tire like you are trying to pull it off the car, top and bottom pushing and pulling in and out. If the tire moves or has play while doing this, even a little bit, it's your wheel bearing / hub.

Hope this helps basic diagnosis. Also, if the front wheel bearing starts to go out, you'll start intermittently getting the "Service Traction Control" message as the wheel speed sensor is an integrated part of the front hubs.

Good luck, and let us know what you find!

p.s. Mine sounded like the front right was having a problem and turned out to be the transfer case going out. CHECK THOSE FLUID LEVELS!!
 
#7 ·
I am no mechanic but I had what sounded like the same problem and it turned out to be the front wheel hub. I drive a 2008 with 85K.

I could hear a soft grinding noise like there was some sort of resistance and seemed to be consistent. Then a loud grinding noise that would appear at random and last for several seconds started to occur.

Had a mechanic look at it who said the front wheel hub was fine, only to have the problem persist. Went back a second time and I took the mechanic for a ride to listen for the noise but not a single noise was heard (just my luck). Went on my merry way when 5 miles down the road the loud noise returned with a vengeance and the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree with the Stabilitrack Service Warning. Drove straight back to the shop who replaced the front wheel hub with Timken.

Every thing is back to normal now. I even get better gas mileage. Was getting 370 miles on full tank but now back to about 395 (1 mile/gallon). Might not be related but I certainly think so.

I found the Timken front wheel hub online from $125-145 each and was close to doing the work myself. Somehow I talked myself out of it (time was the problem since this is my daily driver). Local dealer quoted me $800 to replace the (1) hub while a local shop charged me $600. I typically use the dealer but chose not to this time. Other then forking over the cash I am quite happy now.

This may not be your problem but reading about a similar issue like this one on the forum and then experiencing it myself, I wanted to share my experience. BTW this is also my first post/response on this forum. Nonetheless good luck and happy driving.
 
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