I have a thread on naioa about this, but I'm just looking for more opinions as things are running slow over there.
There's a noticeable grinding/growling noise, dependant upon wheel speed and under load. With the throttle up, the grinding/growling noise is mostly replaced by a noise that sounds like air blowing out of a vent at hi speed (but there's no air), but that only holds true for speeds over 30. That noise, however, does spike if I shift from D to N, so it's not entirely speed dependant, but mainly is. Throttle on/off toggles these noises, and coasting at speed with the engine off does not eliminate the noises.
We came to the conclusion that my drivers side wheel bearing was bad (due to noticeable play). I replaced that today, verified no play in both wheels, and took it back out. Problem came back. The noise becomes more noticeable as the car is driven more, and actually gets to the point where it competes with road noise.
I took it back home, put the front end in the air, and stuck it in drive. The noise is there, audible from the outside (worse on the passenger side than drivers). Applying the throttle makes the noise worse, and once the speedo reads around 30, that air-blowing noise is audible from that side, and it's very loud (in fact, it sounds far worse than just air blowing around), throttle off, etc.
Here's a video I made. The tires have barely enough clearance to not touch the pavement (else they would've smoked and possibly took the car off the stands). You can hear the grinding much more easily on the passenger side, and you can hear the other noise once it gets up to speed.
2004 Impala Indy SS noises - YouTube
I'm at a loss. I would love to hope the passenger side bearing is bad too, but there is no play in that wheel, unless it can go bad and not have any play. I'm all up for additional ideas.
