Howitzer Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) Hi! I have a 2012 Dodge Journey R/T that has a howling noise in what sounds like the front drive train (it is noticeable when decelerating from road speed to slower speeds). The noise reminds me of when as kids we put hockey cards in the spokes of our bikes. Any ideas what it could be? Wheel bearing? Seal? Edited June 11, 2021 by Howitzer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Is it following engine speed.? Lots of stuff spinning on the awd Journey. Has the front PTU ever had the fluid changed before ? Brilliant engineering having no dipstick to check level of 75w90 oil. Have to dump it out to confirm level then refill the correct amount, 800 ml I believe. Clean the fur off the magnetic drain plug. it’s most likely a front wheel bearing. But it could also be awd component related. Some Mechanics have vibration monitoring equipment to confirm bad bearings. AWD makes it a bit trickier to do a DIY analysis. Sometimes with wheel off the ground and taking wheel at 9 and 3 o’clock position you can confirm which side has excess play from wear. Other wise it’s removing awd drive shaft ( after match marking yoke location) then running car with one wheel in the air at a time. The louder spinning wheel in the air will be your bad bearing. Good luck. Careful not to ruff up your abs sensors if you change a wheel bearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howitzer Posted June 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 Yeah I'm thinking it's a bad wheel bearing too... 30 minutes ago, John/Horace said: Is it following engine speed.? Lots of stuff spinning on the awd Journey. Has the front PTU ever had the fluid changed before ? Brilliant engineering having no dipstick to check level of 75w90 oil. Have to dump it out to confirm level then refill the correct amount, 800 ml I believe. Clean the fur off the magnetic drain plug. it’s most likely a front wheel bearing. But it could also be awd component related. Some Mechanics have vibration monitoring equipment to confirm bad bearings. AWD makes it a bit trickier to do a DIY analysis. Sometimes with wheel off the ground and taking wheel at 9 and 3 o’clock position you can confirm which side has excess play from wear. Other wise it’s removing awd drive shaft ( after match marking yoke location) then running car with one wheel in the air at a time. The louder spinning wheel in the air will be your bad bearing. Good luck. Careful not to ruff up your abs sensors if you change a wheel bearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted June 11, 2021 Report Share Posted June 11, 2021 (edited) If mil light is on scan for codes first. Sometimes bad bearing will trigger abs fault code for that wheel. The extra play in bearing causing it. Give the c/v shaft boots on the bad bearing wheel a real close look if the mileage is high. Only adds a few minutes to change shaft at same time if it’s needed. New non oem shafts not too pricy. Some people change wheel bearings in pairs. A hand held temp sensor might also isolate problem bearing being hotter. Having weight on one wheel and strong jack stands, spinning wheel will isolate the source if awd shaft removed. PIA how ever. Edited June 11, 2021 by John/Horace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howitzer Posted June 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2021 12 hours ago, Locosiete said: Usually when i hear noise like that it's a CV joint. Does it do it more or less when you turn? If not would also lean toward wheel bearing. Also have you confirmed if noise is same when when in neutral when coasting or decelerating? If it greatly reduces when in neutral then lean towards alternator or pulley bearings. Noise can sometimes be hard to narrow down when you can only hear while moving. Unless you can run like a cheetah ??? The noise appears to be intermittent but it doesn't appear to happen only when turning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted June 12, 2021 Report Share Posted June 12, 2021 I will climb out on the proverbial limb and take a stab at guesstimating that it could be a bent brake dust shield. Easy enough to check if you have a jack and stands to remove the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howitzer Posted June 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2021 We jacked up each front wheel and turned the wheels (shifter in neutral) - both wheels seemed to turn the same without any noticeable grinding. When we tried moving each wheel by holding the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock (and at 3 and nine o'clock), we couldn't notice any wear in the wheel hub. So I'm still puzzled where this howling sound is coming from... ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howitzer Posted June 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 4 hours ago, 5rebel9 said: I will climb out on the proverbial limb and take a stab at guesstimating that it could be a bent brake dust shield. Easy enough to check if you have a jack and stands to remove the wheel. We have open spoked rims so I might be able to see the brake dust shield, hopefully its an easy fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probak118 Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 (edited) Howitzer, My 2012 SXT FWD with 127,000 kms did not have any play in the wheels, but had low volume howl, and no noticeable temperature difference. Perhaps just not at that point yet to feel play in hub bearing when when performing the 3 and 9 test. Changing both front bearings solved issue, then could hear slight rear noise …..changed both those too; no more noises LOL Edited June 13, 2021 by probak118 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howitzer Posted June 13, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 1 hour ago, probak118 said: Howitzer, My 2012 SXT FWD with 127,000 kms did not have any play in the wheels, but had low volume howl, and no noticeable temperature difference. Perhaps just not at that point yet to feel play in hub bearing when when performing the 3 and 9 test. Changing both front bearings solved issue, then could hear slight rear noise …..changed both those too; no more noises LOL Our Journey is AWD so it will differ somewhat in wheel bearings from the FWD. I sure hope I don't have to change out all four wheel bearings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howitzer Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 On 6/13/2021 at 10:50 AM, Locosiete said: You don't have to change all 4 unless all 4 need replaced. If possible jack up front and rear on jack stands and have someone put in gear and slowly accelerate and slowly brake to see if you can recreate the sound. This way you can walk around to see where noise is coming from. Otherwise you run the risk of replacing many parts unnecessary, i just chalk it up as preventative maintenance when i have lol, it can get expensive and still not resolve your problem. Otherwise what i do when i am stumped or think it's beyond my level of knowledge is go to a shop and let them put it up on their lift to see if they can confirm what it is. If their quote is fair i will let them do it Otherwise i just have them rotate tires or change oil. No point in wasting their time since they need to make money. That way i am not that guy that just comes in and wastes their time. I called a mechanic I know and he says his shop would run the wheels in gear while the vehicle is up on the hoist. They put their hand on the coil spring of each front wheel to test for vibration. He said I could put the vehicle on four jacks stands and do the same thing. He says that a long handled screwdriver put on the hub (handle to the ear) will find the bad wheel bearing (while running in gear at slow speed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted June 15, 2021 Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 The bearing hub is spinning, on the spindle that holds the hub is where sound should travel. C/V shaft runs through the spindle so so their noise will also transfer. . I use an engine stethoscope, worth about $15 from Princess Auto/Harbor Freight. As the bearing gets worse the sound keeps increasing each week with the extra play. Eventually it’s obvious which wheel it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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