Grinding sound when turning left

[buttchester]

When I go around a left-hand bend at speeds of above 40mph I hear a sound coming from my offside front wheel. The sound is best described as metal spinning against metal. It does not appear to affect performance or control at all.

My car is a Vauxhall Astra 1.8 16v (1999). This started around six weeks ago and had never happened before in the year that I have owned it.

I took it to ATS Euromaster and they could not find what the problem was. They confirmed that my brake disks and pads were good and there were no suspension problems.

Does anybody have any ideas what this could be?

[ugly_bob]

ball joint worn?

bearings?

[BigB]

It could be the back plate on the fromt brakes catching the disc. If it has been hit by a stone or something it can be moved so it comes into contact with the disc when turning or possibly when going over a bump. It is a thin metal shield behind the brake disc. Try bending this away a bit from the disc (only a little though).

[markja]

drive shaft is another suspect. go to a local, small garage, they will tell you what the prob is and how much to repair. do not go to quick fit/euromaster/spotty youth/main national supplier.(you stand a big chance of being ripped off according to previous posts!)

ask to have the bits that have been replaced put in a box in the boot so you know that they were the problem and that those bits were replaced. good, honest garages will have no problem with this.

[buttchester]

Thanks for your advice, guys. I really appreciate it.

I'll be taking it in to a local garage on Wednesday and I'll post an update on Thursday to let you know.

My main concern was going into a garage and having no idea what the problem could be, giving the mechanic the perfect opportunity to rip me off.

[buttchester]

I went to a local garage and they took all day to find what the problem was.

It turns out that it was just a piece of metal on the brake pad, which is there as a warning that the pad is low. The pads were not low but it had bent inwards a little bit. When travelling around the bend the bearings had just a slight give and let the disk touch the metal. Quite similar to BigB's advice.

They bent it back and charged me �30.00 for 1/2 hour labour but they did check the condition of everything so that's not too bad.

Thanks again for your help.