Hi all. I have a problem with my 1999 S40 se (103000 miles and going strong ). Over the last month or so I have noticed a rubbing noise coming from the rear of the car. The noise seems to get louder as I accelerate and then evens off into a dull rubbing noise, turning left or right does not seem to make it louder. It is not so much as a metal on metal noise more a plain rubbing noise as if something is rotating and rubbing on something else every rotation of the tyre. I took it to the garage and they replaced back passenger side tyre and brake pad but the noise remains the same. The car is not worth anything so do not want to spend a fortune fixing it, but my main concern is, is it safe. I have a long journey coming up of about 1200 miles, is it safe. Do not want to take it back to the garage again as it cost enough last time and still did not fix the problem. Anyone got any ideas. Thanks, Soukio.

 

Have you raised the rear of the car and spun the tire yourself? A bad bearing usually makes a grinding sound. The rear tire and brake area is a fairly simple setup. You should be able to hear where the noise is coming from.

Did you inspect the brake pads when the garage changed them? If the caliper was sticking then one pad would have shown abnormal wear. In this case changing the pads would not fix the problem.