Strange nose from front while turning in 96 Galant

Wheel bearing.

Stewart DIBBS

Sounds like a wheel bearing. If you hear it when you turn left, then it's a wheel bearing on the right side (because the right side wheels are bearing a lot more weight when turning left).

At higher speeds, it may sound like a whir, whir, whir sound.

Doug, Thanks a lot for the reply. I have got contradictory answers regarding the wheel bearing aspect: one mechanic told me that it probably is the wheel bearing, while another said it probably wasn't. I wasn't sure who to believe, so I posted it online.

Is there any way I can make sure that it indeed is the wheel bearing?

Thanks again, Avinash

Jack up the car, and try wiggling the wheel. If the bearing is loose, you will see the movement.

Take off the caliper and rotate the wheel. If there's any roughness, its the bearing.

In any case, a 96 is about due for bearings anyway.

Stewart DIBBS

Not being a mechanic, not sure. But, having just been through this about two months ago, I'm familiar with the symptoms.

My symptoms were: At higher speeds (> 30 ) I'd hear a whir, whir, whir sound coming from my front end. I noticed that if I steered the car to the right (while traveling at 30 or so mph), the sound would go away. Upon going straight again, it would come back. If I steered to the left, the sound got slightly louder. Basically, this meant that the bearing on the right was bad since when I steered to the right, most of the load was on the wheels on the left.

So try those things and listen carefully to what's happening. Determine a speed where you hear the noise, and safely steer the car to the right, then to the left. Listen to see if it gets louder and softer based on the direction of your turn.

Good luck!

I agree with Doug! I replaced my wheel bearing on my 95 Eclipse at $135. While you at it, inspect ALL the bushings especially the tie-rod and A-arm bushings.