low pitched howling sound from Santa Fe

My 2002 Santa Fe with 37,000 miles has developed an intermittent howl
from I think somewhere in the front end. The sound is like metal on
metal without lubrication. The car has been to the dealer 3 times, but
of course they never hear the noise. Sometimes it occurs when the car is
driven slowly and sometimes at highway speeds. There is no vibration.
Just the howl.

Richard

 

My 2002 Santa Fe AWD does the same thing. Any solution would be
appreciated.
Al

__
Arold "Al" Green

 

I've heard a few times a moaning or humming noise, but only driven at slow
speeds. In these cases there was some sort of vibration set up in the
front brakes. Removing the pads and coating the caliper contact points
with grease resolved the issue.

I'm doubtful we're talking about the same issue, though. In my cases, it
would always go away when the brakes were applied, even slightly.

 

That is exactly what mine does. Apply the brakes and the sound goes
away. I'm not certain that it is only at low speeds, but that is when
you can hear it.
Al

__
Arold "Al" Green

 

Interesting. I was thinking it might be the brakes, but why hasn't the
dealer checked this when I had the car in the shop with this complaint?

 

It's possible they did check. The problem is that there's nothing abnormal
seen. The first time I had this happen, I couldn't duplicate it on the
customer's first visit. On his second visit, one of us drove the vehicle
(I can't remember which) to the owner's specifications and we were able to
make the noise occur after a few miles. Even after hearing the noise, I
had little idea where it was actually coming from, and the vehicle
wouldn't do it on the lift in the air with the wheels turning.

What I then did was to call Hyundai's technical assistance line to see if
they knew anything about this. The assistant said he had a similar case
on the other side of the country, would call to see what they found, and
would call me back. He had me lube any caliper to pad contact points and
recheck. After the test drive with the customer, I knew how to make the
noise occur, and lo and behold, the noise was gone.

I've seen about three of these now, but never have I actually been able to
see any physical problem with the brakes.

 

Thank you. I'll have my local dealer check with technical assistance and
see if they can make the noise disappear.

Richard

 

I also have a 2002 SantaFe, but, i dont hear any unusual noises. Can u
better describe the 'howling noise' you hear ? If it sounds like metal
on metal...that would produce a grinding noise or a creaking sound, no ?

 

THAT'S BECAUSE DAVE'S A BLIND, DEAF, AND DUMB WEBTV ASSHOLE

 

The one I've experienced I've seen only on a few vehicles and sounds like a
very loud humming noise. If you've ever heard the loud hum from a bad Ford
idle actuator, it sounds nearly identical.

 

When new, my 2002 SF sometimes made a "moo-cow" sound
when driving slowly, as in a parking lot. Sounded like brakes to me
and I figured the noise would go away - wear in. It did. Stopped when
I got about eleven hundred miles on the clock.

S25

 

It's great how helpful these newsgroups can be, and in particular
hyundaitech. Here it is August 2006 and I search for "hyundai santa fe
grinding noise" and up pops this September 2005 message that nails my
problem!!! Of coarse I won't be 100% sure until I apply the suggested fix.

Here's my story. The wife and I drive about 2 hours at 70 mph in our 2001
Santa Fe AWD. On the return trip I begin to hear a high pitched noise. So
faint my wife doesn't notice it. We have the windows closed with the air on.
Sounds to me like a bad bearing in the rear. But I haven't had that kind of
problem since the late 60's, plus the Santa Fe only has 43,000 miles on it.
I turned the steering wheel slightly to the left and right slowly, like you
would do to warm up the tires. While swerving to the left, the noise occurs.
While swerving to the right the noise goes away. Going straight, the noise
persists. Now my wife hears the noise because I can turn it on and off. The
further we travel the louder the noise gets. Then I notice the noise also
goes away when I apply the brakes. What's weird is that just pressing down
slightly on the brake pedal makes the noise go away. My first inclination is
the noise goes away when the brake lights go on. That's how little the brake
pedal is pressed to stop the noise. But the noise sounds too mechanical to
be an electrical thing. Finally the noise gets loud enough to sound like a
grinding noise. That plus the brake pedal action makes me think it's the
wear tab on a brake pad. Even though pressing the brake pedal should make
the noise occur, not go away. Anyway, when I got off the expressway, I
bought pads for the four wheels and headed home. We lowered the windows when
we got to our street and now it really sounds like serious grinding. Jack it
up. Pop off a rear wheel. The pads look great. Go to the other wheels with a
flashlight and from what I can see, they all appear to have plenty of pad
left. Pull out a chair, sit down, and wonder now what?

So I did this search. My next step is to pull off all the pads and apply
grease to the caliper-to-pad contact points.

Pasting hyundaitech's comment below:
From 9/14/2005 @ 12:32 PM in this group
"It's possible they did check. The problem is that there's nothing abnormal
seen. The first time I had this happen, I couldn't duplicate it on the
customer's first visit. On his second visit, one of us drove the vehicle
(I can't remember which) to the owner's specifications and we were able to
make the noise occur after a few miles. Even after hearing the noise, I
had little idea where it was actually coming from, and the vehicle
wouldn't do it on the lift in the air with the wheels turning.

What I then did was to call Hyundai's technical assistance line to see if
they knew anything about this. The assistant said he had a similar case
on the other side of the country, would call to see what they found, and
would call me back. He had me lube any caliper to pad contact points and
recheck. After the test drive with the customer, I knew how to make the
noise occur, and lo and behold, the noise was gone.

I've seen about three of these now, but never have I actually been able to
see any physical problem with the brakes."