Hey everyone,

You guys have been great in helping me before and I appreciate it! Now another weird issue came up recently after a normal oil change/tranny fluid change. I highly doubt the 2 are associated.

So I'm driving down the interstate and notice my car is making motorcycle sound. I actually at first thought it was a motorcycle following me for a while. It sounds like it's coming from the front end for sure and I'm almost sure it's drivers side, putting my ear to the dash.

I assumed it was maybe my drivers side wheel bearing going bad. So I jacked my car up on that side to wiggle the wheel for any movement (or is that test to check for bad tie rods, not sure) and there was none.

My transmission shifts great, no slipping or anything, everything else seems fine. Another symptom is I could feel the rattle or motorcycle sound on my foot during acceleration and braking. As the car slows to get off the highway, you can tell the sound slows with it. I can hear it more the higher the speed, especially over 45mph, under 45mph its barely noticeable, if even there at all. The sound appears more above 45.

So I hope I described that as best as I could. The Civic is a 2005 LX coupe with 94,000 miles. It's had the control arm bushings replaced before also. Also while the car was jacked I checked the sway bar links and they seem good, no movement.

I wish I knew more about cars haha, once again everyone, I greatly appreciate your help and thank you very much in advance!

 

also, sorry i keep calling it a motorcycle sound but it's the best sound i could use to describe it, more like a distant dirt bike kind of sound. i'm assuming its wheel related since the sound slows down with the speed of the car.

thanks again everyone!

 

Does the sound quit if you take your foot off the gas and shift into Neutral? If it does, it's something with the engine not the wheels.

When you say it sounds like a motorcycle I think of an exhaust leak, which is easy to check. Run the engine at idle with the car parked. Temporarily block the tailpipe with a rag. It should just build up pressure quietly. If there is a leak in the exhaust system, it will make a hissing sound.

 

I have an '05 too and recently had a driver side wheel bearing go bad. Mine made more of a humming sound, kinda like a truck with huge tires.

The wheel didn't wiggle at all either. The noise did seem more intense on right hand turns but was always there.

Turned out the bad bearing caused my steering wheel to be crooked too.

 

Hey, no the sound doesn't quit when I take my foot off the gas. But when I do the that and the car slows, so does the sound with it.

Also, there is a slight hum instead of that motorcycle sound if its below 40mph. That hum has been there longer than the motorcycle noise but I ignored it thinking it's just the car getting older. Then 3 days ago, the motorcycle sound comes into play at speeds above 45mph. So maybe since I ignored it, the bearing got worse? So confused by this sound lol

 

Also, I have to see if the sound is worse on turning. I have crummy tires so the noise they make sometimes makes it hard to listen if not on a highway lol

 

At first I thought the hum was my old crap tires, I could barely hear it over the tire noise. Once I got new tires the hum became very noticeable.

If your tires are noisy it could have been humming for awhile and is now getting worse.

 

thats true. what did they charge you for your wheel bearing replacement?

 

this video sort of describes the sound i'm getting:

Bad front wheel bearing - YouTube

 

I got it done for $80 but I removed the knuckle myself and took it to Tuffy and had them press the old bearing out/new one in. It was $50 for the bearing and $28 to get it pressed.

If you take it to a shop it'll be around $200-250. Either get a bearing from the dealer or a Timken, sold at AutoZone.

The video sounds exactly like mine did.