Can anyone tell me what this noise might be please?

jackieblack

I hit a pothole (full of water - looked like a puddle :mad:) on Sunday.
Since then there has been a low-pitched grinding/dragging noise coming from the nearside front of the car. There is no obvious visual damage as far I can see (but I don't really know what I'm looking for ).
My Dad said from the noise he thought it could be a shock absorber/bearing/a bush. (I don't know how serious any of those problems are )

Anyway, the car is due to go to scrappage in about 6 weeks time (our new car is 'at sea'!) so I really don't want a big repair bill at this point.

What I really need to know is whether the noise is likely to be indicative of anything serious enough to make the car dangerous to drive in the meantime.
If it's not driveable, I can manage without a car for a few weeks, although it would be a bit of a pain. If it's just an annoying noise, I'll just turn the radio up .

I appreciate it's probably impossible to diagnose, from the description of a noise :rolleyes:, via the internet but what I guess I'm looking for is an educated best guess

Thanks
:beer:

maninthestreet

Does the car pull to the left at all, either whilst driving or under braking?

shuaibf

could be the bush or the suspension bearing is damaged . casue of the speed you may have bee ngoing at mite have damaged it or was just worn and was going to go eventually

jackieblack

maninthestreet wrote: »

Does the car pull to the left at all, either whilst driving or under braking?

Haven't noticed it pulling to the left - drove home at about 20 miles an hour though!

shuaibf wrote: »

could be the bush or the suspension bearing is damaged . casue of the speed you may have bee ngoing at mite have damaged it or was just worn and was going to go eventually

Wasn't going that fast (about 35mph) It could have been worn, car is nearly 12 years old, done 48000 miles.
If it is either the bush or the suspension bearing is it still ok to drive?

shuaibf

well u can drive but will probs make it alot worse and harder to remove .A full bush set is around£90 find out if it get it replaced but as a good mechanic first i can be wrong cause i think it can fail an MOT as it came up in my Advisory Notice once dat it was worn

jackieblack

shuaibf wrote: »

well u can drive but will probs make it alot worse and harder to remove .A full bush set is around£90 find out if it get it replaced but as a good mechanic first i can be wrong cause i think it can fail an MOT as it came up in my Advisory Notice once dat it was worn

Thanks for your reply but (as stated in my original post) the car is due to go to scrappage in about 6 weeks time (our new car is 'at sea'!) so I really don't or need want a big repair bill at this point and the MOT issue is irrelevant.
I don't really care if driving it will make it worse, unless it means the car is dangerous to drive.

shuaibf

it shouldnt make it dangerous in my opioin but best to check it first incase its worse than just the bushes if it is jus leave it take a bus or get lifts and let teh car get scrapped lol

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Jack that corner of the car up, and with both hands spaced 180' around the wheel try to rock it back and forth, top to bottom, side to side.

My money is on either the wheel bearing, or the tyre.

jackieblack

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Jack that corner of the car up, and with both hands spaced 180' around the wheel try to rock it back and forth, top to bottom, side to side.

My money is on either the wheel bearing, or the tyre.

Would either of those make it dangerous to drive?

LandyAndy

TBH I would try to make alternative arrangements for the next few weeks.

fatpiggy

Wheel bearing I reckon, having had one go after I drove down a water-filled very deep pothole which just looked like a surface puddle. You could check the bushes on the shock absorber by jacking it up and taking off the wheel - that may release the bushes. Is it a French car by the way? My mechanic says their wheel bearings are total rubbish.