funky problem on 97 camry

[rmadoll]

My 1997 camry with 185k miles is developing an ever worsening issue that I could really use some ideas on. Started to develop couple months ago. When taking off, the car feels like it's wobbling/pulsing which improves with speed. It feels like it would when braking with warped rotors, but when accelerating. The car has had the warped rotor feel for awhile when performing hard brakes. I can notice some hesitations/flinches when up to speed and with cruise on, but are minimal compared to the low speed feeling. Gas mileage may be down a little bit, but not a lot. So, I put the car up on blocks and watched the front wheels and rotors at idling speed. The front left barely moves and tends to stop/go while the front right spins freely and with increasing speed. The ABS light came on during the test. It never had before, did I cause it with my test, or could it be part of the problem? Also, when I manually operated the throttle, the engine compartment was fairly quiet at very low throttle but a loud hum kicked in fairly quickly when increasing it. The sound didn't come from the engine. That's where I'm at so far, any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Mike Gerber]

The left front rotor could be so warped that it is contacting the brake pads with some pressure as it is rotating. You will need to have that rotor checked for excessive runout with a dial indicator. Or you could just install new rotors (and maybe pads), since you know you need them and see if the problem goes away. It would also be helpful to know what other service the car has had.

Mike