3.5 L Honda '04 VUE AWD. 88K miles. Literally as I come to a stop (< 5mph), I hear a moan and/or groan near, I think, front left. No lights, no codes. Where should I start? Thanks in advance.

 

Start by looking at your brake pads. Check to see if one of them is worn more than the other and post back what you find.

 

Do you hear any similar sound when pulling away from said stop?

 

Higher speed: no noise. Only when I am stopping. No noise on "pull away".
May try the : one guy driving. one guy riding on the hood today)) Johnny

 

New pads. What about the ABS sensor/s?? Already checked wiring connections.

 

It is under the hood, not lower near brakes or sensors. Plan to put entire VUE on jack stands and do multiple stops. Will start to remove anything in the way of hearing it. Any more ideas from the gurus?? THX.

 

Upper strut mount?
Suspension bushing (control arm e.g.)

You may find that you don't hear the noise without the weight of the car on the suspension if it is a suspension part that is usually under load.

I'm thinking the groan is the weight transferring to the front of the vehicle and there is play somewhere in the suspension. Possibly a motor mount.

Have you tried accelerating to 10 MPH, then braking VERY gently and bringing the vehicle to a stop, without the usual nose down pitch that occurs at

That's my best input -- I'm not a Vue expert so these are all very general suggestions

 

Check for tears in your C/V boots. They make low speed noises initially when they start to go bad. And 80k miles is typical when they start to go bad. There's only so much up there that can make noises like that.

If it isn't brakes, it might be suspension.
If it isn't suspension, it might be steering.
If it isn't steering, it might be drivetrain.
If it isn't drivetrain, it might be bearing.
If it isn't bearing, it might be tires.
If it isn't tires, it might be cat.
If it isn't cat, it might be you.
If it isn't you, it might be aliens.

You never know!

 

Hay everybody. I solved my groaning. All 4 ABS sensors were dirty enough to the point the probes could NOT send a message to the ABS control module which I found directly underneath the fuse panel under the hood. The groan was internal in the module. GM techy from Iowa had never heard of this issue with a VUE, but several Silverado PU models had it over the years.

 

Probes? See, I was right.....aliens!