"Rubbing" sound when wheels turn
 

Hello! I'm a new member and have a question about my 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. I've had it a little over a year, and it's got about 13K miles on it. I love this car, and average about 30.8 mpg. I live in SoCal and usually just drive "in town" but occasionally go "down the hill" about 25-30 miles. I don't do a lot of freeway driving.

About 2-3 months ago I've noticed a slight "rubbing" or "squeaking" sound when the wheels are turning--usually when I'm driving slow in traffic or in a parking lot. It's almost like there's something on the inside of a tire that "rubs" against something when the tire rotates. Has anyone else experienced this?

I haven't taken my MMH to the dealer yet to have this checked out, because I wanted to get some info on it first. We did get the prepaid service package/extended warranty, and did the 10K service about 4 mos. ago.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

-Melissa

Re: "Rubbing" sound when wheels turn
 

I don't know if it's your exact problem, but in the service item checklist I noticed, for an '09 MMH AWD, see an adjacent thread, this is listed for the 5k, 10k, and 20k services:

"...check wheel end play and turning noise"

Oddly enough, someone in that thread said: "There is no reason to pay a dealership to do those inspections for you, ... as most don't even do it anyway and just give you a paper that says everything is okay." I don't fully agree with this, I have seen many auto service shops do this (dealers and independents, non Ford, I'm talking Dodge and Nissan), and some not. In my experience most do, I've both watched them do it, and seen simple proof they did (ex, how would they they know a drive-train joint has play without pulling back a cover and inspecting it).

So even if you did have the inspections done, go back in and have someone look at it. You're better off catching a problem when it's small, and before a breakdown.

Re: "Rubbing" sound when wheels turn
 

I have a 2008 Escape Hybrid and I don't have this sound. Although I have seen where a leaf or other type of debris can get caught in the rim or on the brake caliper and cause a similar sound.

If this is something that happens constantly (i.e. you can point it out to a technician when the time comes), I would take it to the dealership since you should be fully covered under the 3yr/36,000mi bumper-to-bumper type warranty.

Re: "Rubbing" sound when wheels turn
 

Hello Mel2001,
I have something similar on my 2008 FEH. It has been happening on and off. I hear it sometimes in dry, warm weather such as today, or even when it is cold and damp.

When I make left turns I can hear this rubbing sound, but mine is in the form of a high pitched squeaking noise. I am not sure what that is, but it's not a constant squeak, it's more of a "squeak...squeak...squeak", so I thought it might be rubbing against something. This noise does not happen at the same time I apply the brakes, it happens after I let go of the brakes and "in the turn". It squeaks for a little bit, then audibly goes away as I straighten out.

I took it into the dealer for my regular service last Saturday (just over 8,000kms), and since they couldn't replicate the sound, they mentioned they could not look at it further. They did scan their database and they mentioned they could not find any article that resembled this issue. The maintenance was an oil change and tire rotation. They also checked brakes, etc as part of the maintenance, and those looked fine.

When I drove it after the maintenance, I didn't notice it squeaking anymore. However today I noticed it while turning left again, and even a little when I turned right.

I even was able to reproduce the noise turning a circle at the end of a cul de sac that is near my house, then I pulled into my drive way.

I decided to try to record the noise with my camera phone, so I stopped the vehicle (put in park) in my driveway, got the phone ready, backed out, drove to the cul de sac, circled in it, but no sound!

Hopefully someone has some ideas, as the first time I brought it into the dealership (prior to my maintenance), I was able to reproduce the sound with the mechanic sitting beside me.

However, they said they didn't have time that day as they only booked me for a preliminary estimation of what the problem could be. And just my luck when I took it in for maintenance, they booked some extra time to try to find out what the noise was from, but was not able to reproduce the sound.

One time after the snowfall a few months ago, it even made the squeaking noises while I went straight, not just in a turn (but the squeaking while going straight hasn't happened since then). The faster I drove, the smaller the gaps between the squeaking noises, that's why I thought it might be rubbing on something.

Thanks.

Re: "Rubbing" sound when wheels turn
 

Sounds like a steering ball joint is worn, or it could be a defective wheel bearing - if you jack the wheel up off the ground and put it on an axle stand, you can then shake the wheel with a hand top and bottom, and then side to side.

Re: "Rubbing" sound when wheels turn
 

This thread is 5 years old. He's probably fixed it by now.

Re: "Rubbing" sound when wheels turn
 

Or the wheel fell off. ;)