Wierd noise coming from front left wheel

[Mr L]

Had my elise for about six months now and recently there has been a soft claking noise coming from the front left wheel every know and then. I have a funny feeling that it might be the be a wheel baring. There is no effect to the handling or steering. Does anyone know how I can check this and possibly repair it myself?

[GreenV8S]

quote:Had my elise for about six months now and recently there has been a soft claking noise coming from the front left wheel every know and then. I have a funny feeling that it might be the be a wheel baring. There is no effect to the handling or steering. Does anyone know how I can check this and possibly repair it myself?

Hard to prove the bearing is OK, but there is a quick test that will detect some faults: Jack the car up, check the wheel rotates with no notchiness and doesn't have any play at any point. Could simply be the pads rattling in the calipers, or play in one of the bushes/damper.

Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

[Gargamel]

could be a stone caught between the caliper and the alloy.

try reversing hard then braking sharply - usually frees them up !

[Mr L]

I've had another look at this and I think that its comming from the brakes as when I apply them the noise disappears. I've booked it into Murrays to get it checked out.

Cheers.

[GreenV8S]

quote:
I've had another look at this and I think that its comming from the brakes as when I apply them the noise disappears. I've booked it into Murrays to get it checked out.

Cheers.

How much play do the pads have within the calipers?

[mikeyh]

I've had a similar problem with my Elise running Lotus Sport brakes. The symptoms you describe are identical. My mechanic looked at it and we came to the conclusion that it is the pads moving within the calipers. Irritating but not dangerous.

[Charisma]

I had exactly the same thing with my S2 Elise when it was new. Front left wheel, sound stops as soon as you slightly touch the brake pedal. I told the dealer, who had heard of the problem before. He said it was the clips that hold the pads in place, I think. It was fixed FOC, no problems since.

[anonymous-user]

I've had this one too - the pads were rattling in the front left caliper.

[FastSpider]

I have Lotus motorsport pads and they rattled on one side when I first got the car, but it stopped doing it once they bedded in a bit and had a few miles. So don't worry about it.

[melw]

I had a weird grating noise coming from exactly that place. It turned out to be the front anti-roll bar rubbing where it passes through the chassis. It's not easy to reach but a liberal dose of lube did the trick for now. Eventually I suspect the bushes will need replacing.