1998 Ford Contour "growl"/vibration when left pre

1998 FORD CONTOUR
240,000 MILES • 4 CYL • FWD • MANUAL
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GOTTAHOT1
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I have a 1998 Ford Contour, 4 cylinder, manual transmission with 240,000 miles on it. When there's any counterclockwise (left turn) pressure on the steering wheel, there's a growl or vibration coming from car - most likely the front end somewhere.

The noise is most noticeable at 40-50 mph and in fact can get quite loud.

Are there any bearings or anything that I can check? I have driven front wheel drive cars for years and have replaced worn out half-shafts, but nothing ever sounded like this.
Oct 7, 2010 at 4:04 PM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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When you turn left, you take the weight off the left side and move it to the right. Based on your description, I would say the right front wheel bearing is bad.

Check that and let me know what you find.

Joe
Oct 15, 2010 at 11:03 PM
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GOTTAHOT1
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It was in fact the wheel bearing. I bought the part and tried to fix it in my garage (knowing I would needa trip to the machine shop to press the old bearing out/new bearing in) but couldn't get the lower balljoint out of the pinch bolt! I even bent a crowbar trying to pry it out. I hope it wasn't as simple as using the fork tool to separate it. Since I already had the majority of the balljoint shaft exposed, I figured all of the hard part was done.
Dec 13, 2010 at 5:53 AM
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JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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A fork would have helped (LOL). Have you gotten the wheel bearing replaced?
Dec 13, 2010 at 6:12 AM