Calling all keyboard mechanics!

September 8, 2021 11:45 AM

What is this scraping sound coming from my front wheel?

I have a 2017 Honda Fit. I just took it on a short trip to the pharmacy and back and noticed a continual scraping sound coming from the area of the front right wheel. My tires look fine. The scraping occurs only while the car is in motion and increases in volume with acceleration. It's a soft, steady, scraping that sounds a lot like radio static. It stops when I brake. Any ideas on what the problem may be?

FWIW, I took it on a fairly long excursion (2 hours) just a day or so ago traveling at freeway speeds and it was fine.

posted by Jess the Mess to Travel & Transportation (14 answers total)

There may be a plastic shield under the engine that has come loose and is dragging on the pavement. If you look under the front of the car, do you see anything hanging down?
posted by zombiedance at 12:11 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

How many miles are on it? How long has it been since you had the front brake pads & rotors replaced?
posted by jon1270 at 12:15 PM on September 8, 2021

There's also a plastic wheel well liner that can come loose and scrape. The easiest way to see it is to turn the wheel to an extreme angle and then look into the wheel well to see if the plastic panel is loose and rubbing on the tire. Mine came loose after hitting road debris. I trimmed off the loose part with heavy shears and my mechanic told me it was a non-urgent fix.
posted by quince at 12:16 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

Get your brake pads looked at.
posted by SPrintF at 12:33 PM on September 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

There is a...thing...that is part of the brakes that is designed to come into contact with the rotor as your pads wear down, indicating the pads are close to shot. It is intended to make a sound that some might interpret as a "scraping". You will only hear it when moving, and it will increase in regularity as speed increases. It stops when you stop.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:34 PM on September 8, 2021 [4 favorites]

Thorzdad, isn't that more of a high-pitched squeal?

On the other hand, this could be some debris caught in the brakes -- so having a mechanic look at it won't be free but might be the shortest path to an answer.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:41 PM on September 8, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far, y'all.

-not seeing anything hanging down when I look under the front of the car
-not seeing anything weird hanging out of the wheel well when I turn it extremely right
-I bought the car used in Jan 2019. It currently has 31,000 miles. I am ashamed to say I have no idea when the brake pads were last changed. Since I've had it I've taken it to Valvoline twice when the repair light came on and they changed the oil and did some other minor upkeep. Other than that I've had no issues apart from having to have the tire light turned off at the dealer once.
-there is a higher than usual chance that I ran into some debris without knowing it as the streets in my town are really messed up due to recent weather
-to clarify, the sound stops as soon as I hit the brake pedal. Does that not necessarily mean it isn't the brakes?

I appreciate the help. Just trying to get a little more educated on what the issue may be before I go to the mechanic and spend money on it, if you know what I mean.
posted by Jess the Mess at 1:23 PM on September 8, 2021

The usual guess is "CV Boot", given this is a small FWD car. And at 31K miles, it's about time they get checked, joint lubed, etc.

All of which requires the car to be jacked up and the wheel(s) taken off for a full inspection.

FWIW, a "CV boot" is a plastic-y cover that covers the "constant velocity" joint that links the engine axle to the wheel. The boot itself is pretty cheap, $20 at Napa Auto Parts. If you don't fix it, dirt and whatnot can foul up the CV joints, then it's several hundred for the parts ALONE, plus labor.

A torn CV joint boot can be scraping on something, and the braking and turning of the wheel can re-align the broken boot temporarily so the noise goes away, only to come back later.

This is what it looks like, roughly.
posted by kschang at 1:33 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

You have a piece of debris, probably a piece of wood mulch or a stick, stuck between your brake pad and brake rotor.

I have had this exact problem on a Toyota Matrix (slightly larger hatchback) after driving through flooded streets.

Mulch and floating wood debris was bobbing about in the drainage from flooded roads and I drove through some with the floating debris at just the right height to get caught in the caliper assembly.

You need to take it to a mechanic or shop that can do brakes and have them check it out. In my case it took about two minutes after getting the car up on the lift, they pried out the debris and there was no damage to the caliper pads or rotor.

Your car is less safe to drive now and will not stop as designed as the high-friction brake pads are not squeezing the brake disc rotor- the pads are squeezing the debris and that is squeezing the rotor. Find a shop that you can get to at low speeds not on highway. Your three other brakes should be working fine.

Of course if could be something else.
31,000 miles is still young for brake pads if you are a cautious and mostly highway driver. I have driven front wheel drive cars with damaged CV joints and it sounded like a repeated clunking/clicking not a constant hiss.
posted by sol at 2:58 PM on September 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

I’m baffled by suggestions that this is anything other than the brakes. If it stops when you step on the brakes, then the odds of the problem being located away from the brake mechanism are extremely slim. It’s not a plastic part dragging on the wheel or pavement, and it’s not a CV boot, because those would be completely unaffected by the brakes. The CV joint (inside the boot) is subjected to different stresses when braking, but as noted this isn’t the typical presentation for CV joint problems. It might be debris lodged in the brakes, or it might be a brake pad wear indicator, but it’s the brakes. Have them checked.
posted by jon1270 at 3:42 PM on September 8, 2021 [9 favorites]

Agree with Sol. We had this exact thing happen after we drove over loose gravel. The car started making noises just like yours, and our mechanic saved us serious cash that we were prepared to drop overhauling the brakes.
So I’m not saying it’s not your brakes, but if you’re lucky it’s just debris.
posted by msali at 8:22 PM on September 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

Have you driven in reverse since you started hearing this? Like backing up into a parking spot? If not, do so, and if it's gone afterwards it was indeed a bit of debris like jon1270 suggested. There may be some scratching on the brake disk, but unless the car is now braking unevenly, like pulling to the right, that isn't something to worry about; just ask for the state of the disks and pads at the next service. If the noise stays, or you notice uneven braking, get the brakes looked at.
posted by Stoneshop at 1:19 AM on September 9, 2021

Since the sound stops when you break I'm going to guess that you may have a brake pad that is dragging. The when the brakes are released the pad is not returning to a fully released position and is still touching the rotor but not putting pressure on it. This would cause ware to the the pad and rotor. Get it checked.
posted by tman99 at 6:16 AM on September 9, 2021

Another vote for brakes. The indicationor are that it varies with wheel speed and goes away when in use. Brakes can go at as low as 25 thousand miles. Replace both sides at a time - your back do less work and might be fine.

A CV joint generally protests the loudest when you turn the car under load.
posted by zenon at 10:06 AM on September 9, 2021