Folks, need help in diagnosing the sound. The car is 99 Legacy Wagon, manual transmission, 184K miles. It sounds like "whoom, whoom, whoom..." at low speed (10-15 MPH). Sort of grinding, appears mostly as if from the front, driver side. Less pronounced when going straight on flat surface. Slightly less pronounced when making LEFT turn. More pronounsed when the road tilts left or during RIGHT turn. In other words when there is more pressure or load on the left side. At higher speeds all those sounds become sharper, almost like banging, especially when the road makes very gradual RIGHT turn. Almost disappears when the road makes very gradual LEFT turn. Almost equally loud and sharp when making a sharp turn either LEFT or RIGHT at medium (20-30 MPH) speed. I was conned into replacing transmission (shame on me). It was a used trans., did not change anything, just a rip-off. I replaced both front axles myself (from CV axles - rebuilt) - no change. Is it the wheel bearing? How to check for sure? Is it the drive shaft? I hate changing parts, although given the mileage, the axle replacement was probably not a total waste. Much appreciate any advice.

 

Alex

Please search for torque binding as someone described similar problem recently.

sounds like wheel bearings to me.

Wheel bearings get my vote. I had the "whoom-whoom" noise on a bad front bearing.

colorblind posted a bit ago how his garage checks wheel bearings. You might look for that thread.