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I have a '95 900S 5 door (original owner, 39k miles) that was involved in a low speed accident in the snow last feb. I was hit in the driver's side front fender area and pushed into the curb on my right- I was going about 15-20 mph and the car that hit me had spun from the oncoming lane. There was a 4" chunk taken out of the lip of the passenger side front alloy (down to the tire bead). The fender was perfectly repaired and the following items were replaced: bumper cover, parking lamp lens, both wheel well liners, both front alloys (w/new factory wheels not refurbished), both front tires (Pirelli P6000 Sport Veloce). After inspection at Scott Saab in Emmaus PA it was determined that no front end parts needed to be replaced. When driving the car home I heard a creaking noise from the front of the car at around 50-70 mph that was not there after the accident (was able to drive the car to the dealer for repair). I took the car back to the dealer where they were able to eliminate the creaking noise but they didn't really know how they solved it. I was told the mechanic "tightened up various things" and they also caulked my front mud flaps so they didn't move any longer (I'm aware of that bulletin). When I drove the car home I noticed a subtle low frequency rumbling noise that was consistent from 60-70 mph- it seems to be from the front of the car. It is still there at faster speeds but road/wind noise drowns it out. You can somewhat feel the pulsations of the noise in the steering wheel but the wheel is not shaking or vibrating as it would with a wheel balance problem. The noise does not change when turning or accelerating, and it is still there when I put the car in neutral and coast with the engine turned off (dangerous but I had to eliminate the drivetrain as a suspect- only done on straight road in daylight with no traffic). I have also rotated the tires and even removed the under car mud flaps since I thought one was hitting the rocker panel molding (rumbling noise didn't change). All four original P4000's were replaced two weeks prior to the accident with P6000 Sport Veloces (factory size) and I even replaced the front ones again afterwards for peace of mind. The wheel balance has been checked twice and corrected. I have tried to arrange a wheel/tire swap with a 9-3 or 9-5 loaner at the dealer but they won't cooperate with that request (wanted to totally eliminate my wheels/tires as a suspect). Of course the dealer mechanics cannot hear the noise but I hear it everyday when driving at highway speeds. Does anyone have opinions regarding the source of the rumbling sound? I apologize for the length of this post but it is a frustrating problem to deal with. Of course my insurance company (Allstate) wants me to wait until the noise is bad enough to be easily heard by anyone... it has already been three months and I don't put on much mileage so that could take a long time.
Don Kostival
95 900S 2.3L 5spd 39K
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