Hey Everyone,

I just signed up for the forum. I love Hondas and have 2 right now. I have never done any real maintenance on my cars, always had others do that for me. But I am trying to diagnose a problem so when I do take it in for service I don't get ripped off. Can y'all help me with this?

I have a '97 Honda Accord, 4-door, V6 with about 110,000 miles. It has an irregular squeek (almost a squeel) coming from the rear passenger side. It might be coming from the wheel area. It is not the brakes (at least I don't think it is). It occurs mostly at normal cruising speeds but is not consistent. Sometimes I can go 2 days and not hear it. Then it will start and squeel for 5 minutes then stop. It is very high-pitched, like metal on metal.

A friend said it might be a ball bearing going bad.

Anyway, any ideas. I plan to take it in for repair soon, but would like an idea of the problem and expected costs. Anybody ever have this problem or have an idea.

Thank you very much!

 

Hello New Member...
Thank Yoy for joining...I would at least pull that wheel off and take a look at it my self even if you dont know a lot about cars..look at all the pieces in the brake and bearing area and see if it looks like anything looks bad and worn out..this way you have an idea..

[sm=americanasmiley.gif]WheelBrokerAng

 

Since you say you've never done work before, I'll be the one to rain on your parade... a little anyway.

Don't reach under the car (or inbetween suspenion parts)while it's supported only with a jack. The little stocktire-changing jack is real easy to topple. Blood makes such a mess on those suspension parts, too.

A nice jack & a pair of stands isn't too much money if you plan on learning how to do this stuff.

 

chk the rear brake pads or have a shop chk it for you,, should be no charge just to request a shop to chk the brake condition..

And most definatelly , if you plan on doing any work yourself, think safety first,, I second Jim's suggestion

 

Thanks for the replies.

Regarding the brakes...I almost never hear the squeel when braking. Applying the brakes has no effect at all on the sound.

As for taking the wheel off and looking around, I'll give that a try. I am not really sure what I'm looking for, but maybe it will jump out at me.

 

Here's a picture of a rear brake. The inboardbrake pads (within #8) have a steel tab that rubs against the rotor when they're worn out. That can make the strangest kind of noises, sometimes squeals when you are not applying the braks.

 

if the pads are worn enough for the wear bar to hit the rotor, you do not have to apply the brakes for it to be noisy ,, chk the rear brakes or have a shop chk them,, especially the inner pads