Wheel Bearing going?

[DarrenJ]

Hi guys,


When I'm going 40mph or over and I turn to the left with the curve in the road I hear a sort of humming that's slowly becoming slightly more a grating sound.

Car has 68k miles done. I might have hit a pothole and dented the race of the wheel bearing.


Any thoughts? AM I barking up the right tree?!

 

[wayne n]

Must have been some pothole to damage the bearing race as there hard as F. Most likely a lack of lubrication or ingress of dirt\water. May also be worth checking the drive shaft and the arch liner.

 

[DarrenJ]

THanks,

Now the rubber booth cracked a while ago where it attaches to the drive shaft, but all I had to do was put a jubilee clip around it and it's still grand. Only some grease had come out, a small bit and I had it fixed before any damage was done.

The sound only gets bad and very noticeable when I'm above 40 and the roads swings left, it's then I hear the sound worse, as if the weight shifting over causes it to get worse.

 

[Muttley]

That's a classic symptom of the wheel bearing going, it's the offside bearing which is loaded more when turning left.

If you can, find a piece of quiet straight-ish road, make sure nothing is coming in either direction, and swerve the steering from side to side. The noise should get louder on left swerves and quieter on right swerves. Don't get carried away and swerve off the road!

68K is a bit early for this to happen, the bearings on my old Ibiza started to go at about 90K. Perhaps the split boot has accelerated the wear process.

The replacement bearings are relatively cheap but you need a press to fit them.

 

[DarrenJ]

Hi Muttley,

Yes noisier on left swerves. The split boot is on the passenger's side drive shift. I checked it the other day and it seems fine though, still sealed.

So you reckon it's the passenger's wheel bearing that's gone. I ordered a new bearing yesterday - 60 bob plus vat.

Thanks for this help!

 

[rizer290]

Hi mine makes the loud hummunig or rubbing bearing noise when i reverse and turn left is this the same problem or is it somthing that can be fixed???

chears

 

[Muttley]

Noisier when turning left would make it the driver's side bearing, which is on the outside of the curve when turning left and so is more heavily loaded.

 

[DarrenJ]

Brilliant!

That's what I thought. Part ordered with Seat. Was far cheaper than motor factors (73 compared to 100).

I thought it might have been the CAI I fitted making noise when I turned into the wind, but I removed it to see if it made a difference and it didn't so this should sort it.

 

[Muttley]

rizer290, a noise in reverse (but I assume not when going forward) is a bit odd. I'd not have thought you were going fast enough to make a wheel bearing hum in reverse, and in any case it should show up at higher speeds going forward first.

On your LCR I'd check the brake pads/disks first - if the disks are slightly warped or the pads not releasing completely, then it may be enough to cause a buzz.

When I had a bearing fail on an my Mk.2 Ibiza TDI, it started as an elusive hum, not always there. I'd stop the car and get out, looking for loose bits of trim, hot brakes, dodgy tires, but could find nothing.

Eventually it converted to a loud constant hum during a 600-mile round trip north, and got so bad by the end of the journey that I feared major damage: horrible vibrations and loud knocking. Even with this amount of noise, when I jacked up the front and tried the old-fashioned shake-the-wheel test, there was no discernible movement.

Yet the bearing was shot. The swerve test isolated it to one side of the car, and replacing the bearing took all the noise and vibration away.

Modern front-wheel-drive cars have extremely heavily engineered double-row roller bearings in the front hubs, and they show no appreciable movement even when totally worn out

 

[DarrenJ]

Right car back from garage

Replaced the bearing and then told me the other one needed doing. He gave me the bearing for 44 bob and put it on for 40 so I'm happy out. It's just strange that they were so bad and only 68k miles done.

Noise gone thankfully!

 

[rizer290]

rizer290, a noise in reverse (but I assume not when going forward) is a bit odd. I'd not have thought you were going fast enough to make a wheel bearing hum in reverse, and in any case it should show up at higher speeds going forward first.

On your LCR I'd check the brake pads/disks first - if the disks are slightly warped or the pads not releasing completely, then it may be enough to cause a buzz.

When I had a bearing fail on an my Mk.2 Ibiza TDI, it started as an elusive hum, not always there. I'd stop the car and get out, looking for loose bits of trim, hot brakes, dodgy tires, but could find nothing.

Eventually it converted to a loud constant hum during a 600-mile round trip north, and got so bad by the end of the journey that I feared major damage: horrible vibrations and loud knocking. Even with this amount of noise, when I jacked up the front and tried the old-fashioned shake-the-wheel test, there was no discernible movement.

Yet the bearing was shot. The swerve test isolated it to one side of the car, and replacing the bearing took all the noise and vibration away.

Modern front-wheel-drive cars have extremely heavily engineered double-row roller bearings in the front hubs, and they show no appreciable movement even when totally worn out

Yeh i thought it was odd too, its only when i reverse and turn wheel right, i have just had both rear brakes discs and pads done and they seem fine, thats why i thought it was a wheel allignment or bearing.