Just a day later I am back.

I was driving for about 30 minutes until I turned the car off for a couple minutes, and when I got back in and going again I started to hear this terrible grinding noise from the front end. It sounded sort of circular, but irregular as well.

For some context a couple days I got my harmonic balancer replaced. When it went bad, it was really loud and had a loud metallic bang to it when it kept bouncing off of my steering rack. Then a few months ago I replaced my wheel bearings because the ones in the rear started making loud high-pitched screeching noises.

This sounded more like metal grinding away, almost as if I was scraping something on the ground (Its not this, I've checked and nothings loose or hanging). Also, it doesn't sound specifically when I hit bumps like something hanging would, because it would then be bottoming out. Its more polite sounding than when the harmonic balancer went, and, unlike the balancer, it sounds I am accelerating or coasting, I just need to be above ~10mph. It does not seem to sound when I am braking. I hear it going straight and turning both ways. I may be wrong but I'm pretty confident that its in the front.

I've replaced these items: All 4 upper/lower ball joints, all 4 wheel bearings, all 4 shocks, all 4 anti-roll bars, all 4 rotors and brake pads, the transmission fluid, and the differential fluid (and I added the friction modifier). If it helps, its a 6mt '00 convertible built in August '99 with 81k miles.

This has been a nightmarish month of ownership. Even if it is the Harmonic Balancer, I'm not sure if I want to drive it 70 miles back to get it replaced under warranty.

 

Damn man. Sorry you're having this bad luck and sorry I cant help. Someone will be able to point you in the right direction. I know it's frustrating.

 

Just to be clear, you don't hear it when under 10 mph?

 

Yeah hopefully this is an easy fix or something.

But yeah I don't hear it at slow speeds, nor do i really hear it on braking, unless I do something else like steer or hit a bump on the road.

 

I just looked around my engine bay for a moment and could this be coming from my steering? I started my car up to take a look and after I turned it off I noticed my power steering reservoir area is shiny like it was wet. Taking a white paper towel it was just a layer of black dust. I just uploaded a video to youtube of me just pointing my camera around, if someone could take a look at it and give me some more insight as to what I'm looking at and if this is the source of the noise, I'd really really really appreciate that. I'll also upload some screenshots from the video.

Here's the video:
Here are some screenshots from the video:

Wet top of the power-steering system

Engine mount for the pulley

On top of the reservoir

Harmonic balancer

Underneath system


Again, I appreciate any advice.

 

If you don't hear it while the car is not moving I think you can rule out the harmonic balancer (and everything else run by the belt). That spins when the engine is running. It spins faster with more rpms.
Rock caught between a pad and rotor?
If you're testing, can you start the car, turn wheels back and forth and hear nothing out of the ordinary?
Slow circles at full lock moving left, same to the right? Any noise?

Check the level of the power steering fluid? The wetness doesn't look bad for an 80k+ mile car. Could have leaked long ago but it does look like some of it is fresh because it's not covered with dirt yet.

 

Looks like a PS Pump failing.

 

Now that im back from Cancun I found something





Probably only thing I can do is get a new knuckle. If something else goes I will just sell it and get a corolla or something.