My wife has a 2000 Intrepid. It makes a noise from the left front. It seems to be worse when the car is hotter. It also seems worse when you turn to the right. I changed the pads all around. I never turned or replaced the rotors. There is plenty of meat left on the pads. Not sure what the pads are made of. I drive the car to Virginia and back to CT. If it was a bearing, I thought it would have gone bad at that time. In slow traffic it was really bad. It sounded to me like a spring noise. What should I check next? Should I replace the brakes again with the rotors?

 

possible wheel bearing. does your abs light come on? maybe ( and going out on a limb here ) ball joint. I would really lean towards the bearing though. if you turn to the left and it goes away, but worse to the right it would be a left wheel bearing. I had the same thing happen to my 300m around 140k

 

Is the tire rubbing on the strut?

 

The abs light doesn't come on. The tires don't rub. If it is a bearing, how come it doesn't get worse with the long drive I did to Virginia? I thought when bearings went bad they seezed? Is this a big job for a shade tree mechanic?

 

I just replaced a front bearing in my vehicle, not a fun job with a pressed in bearing, had to take the wheel assembly to a shop to press out the old one and press in the new one. My symptoms were:

A. No noise right after changing pads, but it would return quickly, applying breaks noise went away.

B. Depending on weight distribution noise could be better or worse.

Now usually you think that when squeaks go away when pressing brakes, it is usually the brakes, USUALLY being the key word.

What happened on my vehicle was the bearing was so worn that the rotor and hub were leaning some, and this caused the rotor to run on the brake assembly, when pressing on the brakes it would force the brakes on the rotor which would align it again, so squeak would go away when brakes were pressed. Let go of the brakes and the rotor would tip again, and ride on the brake assembly. Not enough to grind yet, but enough to squeak annoyingly.

 

If it is a bearing, how come it doesn't get worse? The noise is worse when it's been driven a while. I thought bearings get worse and sieze up. The noise is the same. It's just worse when it gets on in time. You really notice it when in slow traffic.

 

Yeah, mine threw me for a loop as well. When I changed the pads the noise went away....for about 10-15 miles of driving. Put the front of the vehicle up on stands so that the wheels can be turned by hand and put the transmission in neutral(rear wheels blocked of course). Try turning both wheels by hand, is the one a bit harder to spin? If it is then take the tire on that side off and remove the caliper and hang it off to the side and put the tire back on with a few of the lug nuts and try to spin it again. If it still is much tighter than the other side, or wobbles then you will know the bearing is worn and dragging. It being a drive wheel it wont easily lock up and stop spinning since the transmission will be putting some force on it. On mine the bearing itself wasn't giving me the most of the noise, but the rotor rubbing the brake caliper hardware was. And it would just do it after the vehicle had shifted the weight on that side just enough. That is why after lifting the vehicle and replacing the pads the noise went away for several miles. It wasn't because of new pads, it was because I straightened the wheel out, and it took driving for a little bit before it would shift again.

 

The front wheel bearing on a 00 intrepid is a bolt in assembly. What did you have pressed? I have replaced a lot of them and it takes about 1/2 hour.

 

Yeah, the intrepid is a bolt on, mine was a windstar, so pressed in. But a bad bearing will cause the same issues despite how the bearing is mounted. Only difference is his will be an easy home job.