Astra noise from front

CV tend to click when on steering lock. This sounds like a wheel bearing, especially if it is louder when the weight is on that side when cornering. Is it quieter, or almost disappear, when cornering the other way? Also, check the rear bearings. I kid you not, I had a MKII Astra that ate rear wheel bearings but the noise always sounded like it was coming from the front. It never needed a front wheel bearing in 130k miles.

Costs vary. If you can find a transmission service place then go with them. A rear wheel bearing you should really have a go at doing yourself.

Sounds like wheel bearings. Check out the post 'Strange noise' in the same newsgroup, it was discussed last week.

It could be anything from a stone caught in a caliper to worn pads to loose hub nut, through bearing (wheel or gearbox) or even something else like a cambelt noise.

You really need a good mechanic to look, listen and advise.

My first look would be at the brakes (from your description)

Mrcheerful

Brakes where done recently, after the noise first appeared. New disks and pads, and it`s since passed an MOT, so I can`t see it being the brakes.

It is quieter when cornering the other way, but there aren`t many long sweeping left turns that I can take at a similar speed round here. A few round abouts, but they have traffic lights on so getting up to 50 is difficult :-)

The guy next door to me is a mechanic who normally does work on the car, but the weathers a bit grim and we`re both quite busy, so I`d rather take it to a decent garage and get it done for me, rather than mess about doing it all myself. I know it costs more, but the thought of messing about in the cold, wind and rain to save a few quid isn`t appealing to me at the moment :-)

If it is quieter the other way it may be telling you it is quieter when the weight comes off the faulty side.

When you corner left the inertia of the car as the momentum tries to carry it off on the tangent makes the car want to lean onto the outside of the corner i.e. if you turn left weight goes onto right and vice versa.

Only problem you find here is you cannot easily be sure which bearing is faulty/failing. If the osund seems to come from the front it can easily be coming from the rear. That was the case on my car. I swore blind it was front right but it was rear right. And if you change one rear bearing you really may as well change the other. Dependent on the age/mileage of the car it could just be that time to change them all.

If yu do replace them yourself (sounds like you aren't going to) be sure you get good advice regartds packing them with grease, I hear a shoddily packed set will fail quite soon.

Yeah I understand that. I actually mean long sweeping right turns - it is when turning left that the noise is apparent. When turning right it seems quieter, but it is difficult to find a decent road to do this on locally, the right turns are either not sharp enough, or can be taken at 25 rather than the 50-60 that the left turns can be taken at.

M reg, done in the region of 110-115k miles. Not sure of the exact figure as the panel was changed shortly before I got the car. Still got the old panel so I know the rough mileage, but since I`m not planning on selling it on I`m not bothered about the true mileage being shown anywhere.

Yeah, it`s a bit more complicated than I`d like to do myself, and with the weather being so grim at the moment i`d rather give someone else the money to do the job for me. I know it costs more, but there comes a time when it really is better to let someone else do it for you :-)

I would still look at the brake first, followed by the wheel bearings

To add to the other suggestions, try checking the tightness of the driveshaft to hub nut. I had a loud creaking noise coming from the front n/s of my Celica GT4 on l/h lock. I couldn't find any apparent cause, but it was so bad that I decided to stop using the car until it was sorted. Everything appeared to be in good nick. C/v joint and bearings appeared to be sound. No excessive play or roughness. After repeated checks, in desperation I decided to change the driveshaft. It was only when I went to undo the driveshaft nut I realised it was't as tight as it should have been. Not loose enough to feel or see any movement which is why I hadn't found it sooner. Torqued it up to the recommended figure, and the noise disappeared. Mike.

Seconded, sticky pistons wear pads incredibly quickly & stones get stuck in calipers & disc shields at any time.