JohnD

iTrader: (5)

A few weeks back I posted here about the early demise of a wheel bearing on my 03 STi with only 41k Well, after getting all four replaced as a "They'll need to be done sooner or later" exercise, the noise was still there! Now that was an expensive lesson
The symptoms were a grinding/rubbing noise on left hand corners (sweeping corners at 35mph+) A noisy bearing was diagnosed by the mech. to confirm my original thoughts.
With the noise still there I tried all sorts of things - remove part of the wheelarch liner in case it was contacting the tyre, raise the ride height on the apex, squirt grease into the CV joint etc - all to no avail! In final desperation, I dropped the undertray to have a look. OH DEAR As I've got GT spec tubular headers, I had to cut a piece of the lip of the U-shape bolted-on cross member away to clear the header at the front as it contacted and wore away the heat wrap and made an occasional vibration (a common problem with these headers, I believe?) This time I looked where the header pipes run towards the up-pipe and saw the heat wrap was worn away and a mark on the tube where it had been touching the same cross-member! So, under cornering forces, the engine moves slighty and the header contacted the cross member lip, transmitting engine vibration through the frame This, it would seem, was my wheel bearing noise!
So, all those with these headers, keep an eye and ear out for the symptoms. It can't be seen from the engine bay - you have to get underneath!

JohnD

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

Nice advice John.

Back luck too mate btw

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

I just removed the subframe

kaa273

iTrader: (1)

out of curiousity what do worn bearings sound like, i've got a noise coming from the rear (like a whirring sound)?

53

iTrader: (41)

Bummer, some nice solid engine mounts and pitchstop