[dave-the-diver]

Since the front prop fell off a few weeks back, I'm a bit more paranoid about odd noises, and I've got another one.

Starts to get audible from about 40 - 50mph.

Turning left, all quiet.

Straight ahead, slight rumble.

Turning right louder rumble with some vibration felt through car.

Seems road speed dependent, and present in all gears and neutral. Sharpness of turn does not seem to change pitch.

This seems to me to point to a wheel bearing, but which one? Spent several hours last night with the car on a ramp trying to pinpoint source, but could not be sure. Certainly no movement in either front wheel bearing and think I can hear a bit of a noise, but have not managed to convince myself that the noise is not coming from the opposite bearing or the diff.

Logically, with the noise loudest on a right hand turn, I would expect the problem to be the left bearing, but at £100 a pop for the bearing, I would like to be sure!

Admittedly, I was convinced it was going to be a front bearing so did not check the rears. Will be doing that tonight.

So, any thoughts or pointers? Which bearings tend to go, front or back? Have done a fair bit of towing, which might accelerate wear on back?

I know this sounds daft, it really should be possible to pinpoint the source of the noise, but honestly, it's not that easy!

David

 

[Keijo]

Rumbling noise that is affected by steering usually points to the front CV joints.
You can check them manually by jacking the car up at the front and rotating the wheels with the steering at neutral and at each full ock position.
If a CV joints is on the way out you should be able feel the clicking and variable drag as you rotate the wheel.
If it is a bearing, it is more difficult to feel.
The CV joint is the most likely possibililty, but not necessarily your problem.
I have tracked down a faulty front wheel bearing by jacking up the entire car( all 4 wheels), running the car in gear and listening to each bearing with my screwdriver stethoscope.
This test requires grat care however, proper stands and utmost care not to get tangled up with the rotating wheels.
Safety first.
The faulty bearing was easy to find by the rumble being very evident, but also the extra drag caused by the faulty wheel bearing made that wheel slow down considerably.

Good luck and cheers.

 

[dave-the-diver]

Thanks for the reply.

Don't think it is CV joints, no clicking on full lock, and it only takes the slightest steering input (to the right!) to bring on the rumble.

Had it spinning all 4 wheels on the ramp last night, but did not think to deploy the screwdriver stethoscope. Did notice some odd goings on with different wheel speeds, but suspect thought it was just a bit of brake pad drag. Will look a bit more closely tonight.

As an aside, Jamberoo ?*!? How come you guys get all the best place names?

David

 

[garl1cbread]

I have just over the last week or so had this same noise I think by what has been said. I thought of the bearings first, but after inspection I'm not sure. CV joints look ok as well. The problem has got to the stage where I am not putting it on the road. As I am getting vibrations up the steering to the S/Weel could the problem be the P/S oil pump.

 

[Keijo]

David,

Good to see you had already carried out the basic checks.
The old screwdriver stethoscope is a marvelous tool, is it not?

If it is a bearing , it’s not a straightforward job to replace the pair which are a press fit in the hub.
You need a very powerful press and the jigs and adapters that allow for the bearings to be removed and replaced.
You might want to search this site for descriptions of that job.

In the end, I personally opted to purchase the wheel hub, complete with bearings, second hand from a dismantler.
The replacement hub was guaranteed, for how long I can’t remember, but before I installed it I felt the bearing rotation carefully by hand and all seemed well.
That was some 4 years and 80,000Km’s ago and all is still well.
The price for the entire hub was well under the cost of replacement bearings and the changeover was a simple short job for me.
When the faulty hub is removed and on the bench, the difference in the feel as compared to the good one is like chalk and cheese.

Just bye the bye, the hubs come as right hand and left hand units. The only difference between them however is the location of the hole for the ABS sensor. At the time I was only able to obtain a good right hand hub for my faulty left hand unit, but it was a simple thing to mark out and drill out a new hole at the appropriate location. The area that the ABS sensor slots into is not a sealed area, so you could just leave the redundant hole as is. I chose to seal it however, by epoxying a small piece of shim material across the opening just to give me a little more peace of mind.

Good luck with your diagnosis and repair.
Cheers

P.S. Jamberoo! What about my street address, Wallaby Hill road?

 

[dave-the-diver]

<whisper mode to cover embarrassment>


Pretty sure it is the front left after all.

Had the back end in the air last night. Deployed the sonic screwdriver (did ya see what I did there?). Both rears nice and quiet. Slight rumble from the diff which I choose to ignore :x

Back to the front, and screwdriver definitely detects more noise from left hand bearing.

Realise that removing the bearings from the hub is likely to be a bit tasky, but do have access to a BIG hydraulic press, so want to have a go. Buying a second hand hub just seems a bit of a lottery, and my numbers are still stubbornly refusing to come up!

I think the procedure is pretty well covered here. Anyone want any other photos, info while I'm in there?

David

 

[diff]

Keijo. You have all the luck. Thanks for the detail on determining the wheel bearing noise, perfectly complex simplicity.

 

[Keijo]

Dave,

I can't argue about installing new bearings being the better fix.
But you bought the whole car second hand, did you not?
So why the concern over a single part which is so easy to check before you pay?

You sound like a typical engineer, spurred on by the challenge.

Good luck with the job though, as you say it does sound a bit tasky. (very tasky)
Check out Avro's posts, I think he has done it a couple of times now, and let us know if you find any innovative tricks to the job.

Cheers

 

[dave-the-diver]

Well, its done.

Not easy, but not impossible.

Flange (with the wheel studs) was pulled out of the inner races of the bearings using a largish 3 legged puller (screw, not hydraulic).

Remaining inner bearing race was slit with an angle grinder, heated with oxyacetylene then removed with a chisel.

Outer race was slit with a (small) angle grinder, attacked with a mig welder (large bead to attempt to shrink shell on cooling) and finally pressed out on a rather rickety hydraulic press.

Correct diagnosis was confirmed by the condition of the outer race, well pitted in several areas. Very glad this is no longer in the car!

Whole job 4 hours floor to floor, much of which was spent searching for improvised press tools.

It actually got me wondering if there would be a market for re-furbished hubs. Say £200 for a refurb vs £300ish for a new pattern part or £400ish for a new original? What do we think. This time next year, Rodney.....

David

 

[big-t]

Hello Dave, this is Big-t and I have been having a little vibration problem myself but today I found the problem and it sounds alot like yours. Please check out my thread entitled:Vibration in 01 4.6 hse drive train : and check out the pics and videos on my find. You won't believe it. Good luck, Big-T :thumb: