[00 SS]

I have an old Buick I use as a daily driver. It's an '88 Park Ave, FWD 3.8 V6, 4 speed auto. It's made an odd noise on the way in to work this morning that I can't pin point. The noise sounds like a VERY bad PS pump, you know the whine I'm talking about. It's not the PS pump, I can hear it as well as the noise in question at the same time on occasion. The noise only happens when the car is moving. The noise stops when the car comes to a COMPLETE stop, at a 1-2 MPH roll, it's still there. Also, it seems worst rolling in a straight line. Turning seems to make the noise go away, at least momentarily but not always. The noise seems to get louder the slower the goes but does not seem to change pitch with speed. The brake pedal does not affect the noise, it's the same on or off the brakes.

The front brakes were new a couple months ago and I replaced the right half shaft about 4 months ago. PS pump and harmonic balance were replaced at the same time as the half shaft. Everything else looked fine at the time I worked on it.

Since I'm in the office all day and can't go look at it until this evening, I'm stuck speculating. If you're anyting like me, you know how much it will bug me until I figure out what it is. I'm a bit stumped. Any ideas?

[Todd]

I had an 89 LeSabre beater so I'm familiar with the drivetrain setup. I'd say its either the wheel bearings or the trans. I replaced both wheel bearings while I had mine. I also had a torque converter go bad on the 440T4 trans (might be referenced as a 4T60). I had similar issues with my 91 Grand Prix (same trans/wheel bearings). With the wheel bearings, it definitely changed pitch as you turned/changed lanes. With the torque convertors, they both drove fine, just made noises at idle in drive or park. That doesn't sound like your issue. I know that those transmissions had a number of other issues. I got rid of the LeSabre when the trans died (190K miles) if thats any indication.