i had this. it comes and goes. click, click, click with each rotation. sometimes front, sometimes rear.

it was my HUBCAPS
I folded up some cardstock, wedged it between the hubcap and wheel, roadtest, and immdeiately gone.

Good point , I lost two hub caps on the way home from the dealership I bought the HHR from and have not run hubcaps since, at least the factory plastic ones

Thanks for the response!

Thanks for the reply!
Nope... hubcap was on tight.

This is actually the next step I was going to do. Thanks for the tip!

Great News!
I happen to have a subscription to 'alldata' and was studying the noise diagnostics chart for the suspension. One of the 'points' was to insure that the axle nut was torqued to proper specifications. As you may recall, I had mentioned that upon removing the axle nut the axle itself was already loose (I'm referring to 'in/out movement 'Donbrew'... not lateral or 'slop' in the axle/hub bearing fit ).

I checked all parts and everything seems to exhibit no significant wear. The only thing was the axle was already loose in the hub. This could really only be caused if the axle nut had not actually been fully seated and torqued as it should be. My wife had the car tires rotated at a local tire shop and there had been a 'free brake inspection' performed. I'm now of the opinion that someone had removed the rotor and in doing so had failed to properly torque the axle nut when re-installing it, allowing a tiny amount of 'play' in the axle and hub.

I think this is what was causing the mysterious click that was audible when the components were cold but went away as they warmed up. The juncture point of the axle and hub was slightly moving and got hot from the friction. I had noticed on inspection of the hub 'race' that there was some 'blueing' indicating that the race had been getting hot. The race got hotter than the axle and expanded, which took out the slight looseness. This caused the 'clicking' to go away as the car was driven.

I re-installed all parts and insured everything was torqued to the proper specifications then took it for a test drive; and guess what? No more 'clicking noise!Happy ending.

There are some things to be learned from this;

1.it's far more reasonable to eliminate the simple stuff (like a poor torque, for example) before throwing down money for parts.
2. If you want the job done correctly and know that it was done correctly, get the training, get the tools, and do it yourself. In God I trust, everyone else is suspect.

Glad you found the fix. That is an odd one for sure.

Fwiw. The axle nut doesn't come off to remove the brake hardware. Don't be too quick to blame that local tire shop.

I reread my post #2 and see that I gave the torque specs and just assumed that a re torque and test drive would have confirmed the hub was good or bad.
The blue you mention from heat would warrant replacment of the hub as it should not get that hot

You do not remove the axle nut to do ANYTHING to the brakes.

Had you defined the "loose" to begin with. We all would have suggested the nut. I know that's why I asked.

The "blue ing" is from welding in the factory.

Then cool beans all fixed!!!!