Hey everyone, I have 3 main issues with my 2001 Hyundai Elantra. It has about 85,000ish miles on it. My main issue right now is the front end noise. I tried to record the sound, but with the humming of the wheel bearing (Im assuming) it wasnt picking up on the audio. My car has been humming for about 2 weeks now, and now it's humming and popping and there is some sort of grinding noise. It happens when turning the wheel left at all, even a little bit. I just replaced the brake pads, so i'm not sure if they shifted or not and it's that making the noise but I don't think it is that. It sounds like something is just falling apart, like the teeth on the wheel bearing are just shearing off.

Second issue is my Serpentine belt. When my car is cold it squeals very badly, if I rev the engine to 2.5 grand than it goes away. When i turn the wheel either way, depending on how cold it is outside than the power steering tensioner stops turning and the lights go dim.

Third issue is the misfire, I have replaced the spark plug wires already. I know its cylinder 3, but it only misfires when its cold than it stops.

I got this car for free so I haven't put much work into it.

 

Just because it was free doesn't mean it is all bad !!!!!
Suppose we take the items one at a time,
It does sound like your vehicle has a CV joint problem . I would look into that before it lets go completely and now you have a towing charge too. !

You most likely are looking at a tensioner assy. What is happening is the belt can't move and neither can the alternator. Got a little work there !

You didn't say anything about the plugs unless I misunderstood your post.
What sometimes will allow a misfire when cold and go away after warming up could be an intake manifold gasket leak around cyl #3 . When the engine warms up everything expands and it temporarily seals a vacuum leak. Just speculating, difficult to say exactly with out doing some more checks..

 

No, bad wheel bearing ... front right.
Left turns puts weight on the right side.
The belt noise ... if you can see the power steering belt stop turning then replace the power steering pulley and/or pump.
Power steering pump belt on 2001 Elantra is made tight by pry bar and tightening the set bolt.
There is no tensioner
If you don't see the belt or pulley stop then try tightening the alternator belt.
The alternator does use a bolt to adjust the tension on the belt
Just have to loosen the set bolt and use the adjustment bolt.
Don't forget to re-tighten the set bolt after adjustment.
Alternator belt goes around the crank pulley water pump.
Power steering belt goes around the water pump.

As for the misfire on cylinder 3, try spraying brake fluid on the in-take manifold.
In-take manifold is between the engine and firewall.
The misfire should go away. If it does then vacuum leak.
I had it too. The in take manifold gasket breaks and misfire when cold.
The gasket cost about $15 to $25 dollars.
The labor to do the remove and replacement cost about $200 or more.
I did it myself . It took me 3 hours and lots of back pain.
And an arm full of scraps from reaching behind engine.

Good luck

 

The right half shaft (trans-axle) is bad as noted above. The popping noise means it's very bad and can disintegrate any time soon. Don't want to be a doom-sayer but your description of the noise tells me continued driving can leave you stranded with much damage. The car was free so try to get the axle changed before it costs you much more than just the axle and labor. I just changed the half shaft on the driver side of my 2011. It cost me $62.00 (Rock Auto) delivered and I did the work. I have no idea what a shop would charge for labor.