Hi

Basically over the past couple of days i have noticed a new, pretty annoying sound coming from my car when its in motion.

Its a sort of grinding/rubbing noise that sounds like its coming from under the car, you can hear it quite a bit when the windows are shut but when i put the windows down to listen you cant hear it! it seems to get worse the more people are in the car.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? the car still drives fine.. its just the noise that is concerning me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My car is a 2001 Fiat Punto Mk2 ELX.. 1.2 8v

Thanks
Ryan

my standard answer:check splash guards on front discs inside, they rust and end up rubbing on the disc, sounds like a heavy grinding noise from a very thin bit of metal

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

Im a bit of a crayon when it comes to cars/mechanics lol.

How would i go about checking this?? is it easy?? what do i do if it is this causing the problem??

Thanks Mate
Ryan

Can be seen by putting full lock on
kerbs might help

Trouble is saying its coming from the front there is alot to check

Ziggy

Ive read that it could possibly be the wheel bearing (i dont know what this is lol).. if it was the wheel bearing what would be the symptoms?? & what would happen if i continued to drive with it like it is??

Thanks
Ryan

Still have not found out what is causing this :/ the noise is constant whether in gear or not! it seems to get worse the more weight is in the car though!

I really dont know what could be causing this.

If i take the wheels off what should i be looking for??

Thanks

did you check the splash guards?

Wheel bearing is a device that allows the wheels to rotate relative to something else, e.g shaft relative to a hole.

take the front wheels off, have a look behind the discs (ie. the face not facing you), find the thin bit of metal plate, make sure it's not in bits.

Do you have a phone which can record audio/video? Record the sound and upload it here or on youtube, so we can listen.

ok, ill check them next thanks.

if it is the splash guards, is it bad?? what do they do??

Are they expensive to repair....

Floepmpie - yeah i will record it on my way home from work tonight and upload it onto youtube so you can see what im talking about.

if it was the wheelbearing what would be the symptoms??

Thanks again

While you're at it, if you have mud flaps fitted check that none of them have rub marks from tyre contact, especially the rear ones.

not bad, thin bits of metal plate that keep worst of weather off disc inside faces.
bend them out the way is the solution if they're rubbing, free and easy

Thanks for all the help...

so just to be clear im taking the wheel off... and the splash guards are on the back of the disk?

How do i know if they are in bad condition, what am i looking for?

Thanks

thaduck1 said:

Thanks for all the help...

so just to be clear im taking the wheel off... and the splash guards are on the back of the disk?

How do i know if they are in bad condition, what am i looking for?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Once the wheel is off you should be able to see a thin metal plate at the back of the disc. Check that it is not touching the disc and rotate the disc by hand to see if this causes the noise - if it is touching there will be a metallic grinding sound. Check both sides.

Matt

they lose their paint, then rust away, and fall to bits.
You should be able to recognise the difference easily