Joy old cars...AC blower rattle, Gas Cap hell, wheel buzzing

[DealMeN]

Actually, I seriously do enjoy driving older vehicles. With an '01 bonne, '98 jeep, and '06 saab, I'm no stranger to upkeep and maintenance. However, the satisfaction of keeping nice vehicles on the road (and no car payments) is well worth it.

So, here's the new list of Bonneville items from the last 2 months. I've searched the forum and tried several things, but these persist.

1. The AC blower has started to sound "rattly" in the last month or so. I say AC b/c that's all I've used during that time frame. The cabin filter seems clean and the AC is still cold. Could this be a blower motor starting to go?

2. Gas Cap message and associated evap engine code--like many others, I often have to clean the o-ring on the gas cap and clear this code (maybe every 6mo or so). This time around, that didn't work. I finally bit the bullet and bought a new gas cap (the correct one per O'Rielly) and then installed/cleared the code. That worked for a few days, but the "Check Gas Cap" came back, followed a day or 2 later by the Service Engine light. Any ideas this time around? Could it be the condenser before the gas tank (do our cars even have these)?

3. Lastly, I have a new buzz from what sounds like the front passenger tire area. It doesn't sound like a tire or brake noise, but is definitely associated with the wheel speed (no noise at a stop, dont really notice it until ~30mph, then gets progressively louder). Could this be wheel bearing or half-axle going out? I've done the driver side hub, but that was due to the wheel speed sensor, so i've never heard what the mechanical failure sounds like.

Thanks to the forum for feedback and all the other great advice!

[vogie01]

3. Lastly, I have a new buzz from what sounds like the front passenger tire area. It doesn't sound like a tire or brake noise, but is definitely associated with the wheel speed (no noise at a stop, dont really notice it until ~30mph, then gets progressively louder). Could this be wheel bearing or half-axle going out? I've done the driver side hub, but that was due to the wheel speed sensor, so i've never heard what the mechanical failure sounds like.

Check both front wheels to see if one of the wheel bearing is loose. Road noises can sometimes be deceiving on which side is having the issue.

[2kg4u]

For the gas cap try cleaning the neck of the filler tube where it interfaces with the gasket on the gas cap with a fine sand paper (with a rag in the filler tube to catch any particles), and put a light film of grease on this surface.

If it is a bearing, it will likely be more pronounced when you are turning as that puts the most lateral forces on the bearing. The front left bearing will make more noise when turning right, and the right bearing when turning left. Raise each front tire off the ground and push/pull at top and bottom of the wheel, and then push/pull at the sides. Side to side movement is probably a bad tie rod, up/down movement could be a bad bearing.

You should also check the rubber boots on the half shaft CV joints for any tears or signs of grease leaking out.