Typical, a few days before setting off for Le Mans, my car's stared playing up. As mechanical novice, I'd appreciate any advice…
Driving up to Silverstone yesterday, an intermittent rubbing noise stared up on the drivers side.
Jacking the car up when I got home, it appears to be from the front hub. The wheel still turns freely, but there is a definite squeak. Looking from the inside of the hub, there is some sort of felt washer which is disintegrating a bit and turning with the wheel, which it doesn’t on the other side. Nevertheless, it still appears to be providing a seal (I presume it's there to keep grit out of the hub?). I note also that the gap between the upright and the hub where this seal fits is about 1mm wider on the noisy side than the other.
The noise comes and goes and does not change when breaking, so does not seem to be a break pad binding. I can only therefore imaging that it's hub related.
Does anyone have any ideas what it is likely to be, and most importantly whether this is likely to deteriorate much on the Le Mans trip? I would normally drop the car into James Whiting's to check over, but I know that he's off this week. Is there anyone else who knows Sevens in the Maidenhead area?
Thanks - Michael.