Metallic scratching sound when turning the steering wheel

9fxd · May 3, 2015

Hi there,

Me and my 5D Civic (1.8 petrol, MY 2012, A/T, left hand side wheel) had a long(er) trip this weekend.
I noticed a rather disturbing "metal on metal scratching" sound coming from the outside, when I turn the steering wheel left or right.
I can only hear the sound when turning the wheel at high(er) speed - 70-80km/h or faster. What intrigues me even more is that I hear it louder, the faster I go. If there's a longer curve, and I keep the wheel turned left, I hear it louder as I accelerate to exit the curve. I noticed the sound goes away as soon as I brake to reduce the speed, or when I get the wheel straight again.

The car is no longer under warranty, unfortunatelly. I have to call in and schedule an appoitment with the service garage.
Does anyone have any idea what it might be, or what should I expect? Considering the fact that the car has only 31k km on the clock and I recently had to replace the rear braking pads (I was a bit surprised by this also)... but I'm not the first owner, so I wouldn't know how the previous owner treated it.

Many thanks,

jc40 · May 3, 2015

Possibly brake pads getting low, they have a small piece of metal which contacts the disc before the pad material has completely worn out. See if you can see the pads through the holes in the wheel. If it's that, noise should become more consistent.

9fxd · May 4, 2015

You might be right.
Considering the fact that rear brake pads had to be replaced, and the fact that the noise is very similar to what you would hear from worn pads hitting the discs (metal on metal), I'm going to take the car to the service garage for replacing the front braking pads also.
It still puzzles me as to why I hear the noise only when steering.

jc40 · May 25, 2015

Did you find out what the noise was ?

Metallic scratching sound when turning the steering wheel

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