Unknown "humming" noise - Confirmed wheel bearing
 

I will have to update after I drive home tonight, but on my way to grab some lunch I noticed this subtle but very noticeable "humming" while I held ~ 40mph. The noise "pulses." It is not constant, but it "hums" for a second, gets quiet, pulses again, get quiet, etc. I don't dare call it a "whirring" sound, because that would kill me. :sweat: But it's something spinning, hopefully just a bearing, but I can't say for sure it is not the tranny.

It didn't seem to change pitch either, but I will have to add updates later.

Any thoughts, advice before I update?

Turn the radio and subs completely off and hope the noise goes away.

Sounds like a possible hub bearing to me

I agree, sounds like a possible hub bearing...

Pete you are at the milage now where the front Hubs start to tank

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I'm outta town this w/e Pete...you can't break anything.

Tires, by chance?

Yeah try rotating your tires.

What happens to the noise as you turn right and left? Does it get louder? Go away?

The only reason I did not suspect the bearings at first was because my idle has gotten quite noisy (whiney), tranny is whiney as well. I tend to fear the worst and I figured my tranny may be acting up. TC locks up fine though, and acceleration seems fine too.

I know though that a hub bearing can go quickly and suddenly, which could explain why I hadn't heard the noises before yesterday.

On the drive home tonight, the noise(s) was constant, not at ALL like my hub bearing failure on the Chrysler (that was LOUD!). It's coming from the passenger side, but at times it seems like it's coming from both :? I'll keep an ear out for it, and check the wheels for play this weekend. I may just eventually change both out (if $ permits) and hope for the best.

EDIT: No changes when I turn the wheels. I wish there was because that's how I diagnosed my last bearing failure.

Bill, my stereo was off so I could hear it :lol:

I also have crappy tires. They surely cause some noise too.

Update:

Since this started a couple days ago, I can say now it's undeniably the wheel bearing. It was extremely subtle before, but I knew I caught it at the early stages. It's pretty LOUD now. I can hear it over my stereo on Volume 50, and it sounds exactly as my last failures did on my Chrysler. Gets quieter as I turn the wheel toward the good side (or bad side, I forget at the moment).

Has anyone driven a fair distance with a REALLY LOUD bearing? I didn't drive too far when they went on the Chrysler since I had the warranty work done on it right away. I hope mine will hold up for a couple weeks. :?

WELL, in the last three days it got a lot worse right? I would not go on any long trips right now. As far as noise going away when turning if you turned right and noise is gone then it is the right side since on a right turn you have unloaded the right bearing and transferred most of the load to the left wheel. And vice versa. If anyone wonders if it is just noise from tires here is a trick I used to use in the dealerships. Inflated tires to 45 to 50 PSI and drive a short distance to see if noise is dimished. If it is the noise is from irregular tread wear. By upping the pressure the tire is now running on the center of tread and the worn edges are not touching the pavement. DO NOT forget to lower pressures when you are done. Although the rough ride might remind you.

Yeah, it's towards the right that it gets quieter. But I can clearly hear the noise on the passenger side, so at least it's not a question of which one is bad.

It has gotten much louder in 3 days, and I drive a lot. My commute to and from work IS a long trip :lol: I drive 90 miles a day/450 miles a week. I won't even have the money to replace it until next Friday. Even then it may be tough.

I may drive my other car for the time being.

though it's not registered or insured.

BCA brand from Advance. I'm guessing this is the best one? I won't get anything from AutoZone. It's $144 though. Not what I wanted to spend, though reasonable.

http://www.partsamerica.com/product_...513087_fro.jpg

Right, If you hear the Hummmm while turning towards the left, then your right (passenger side) wheel bearing is bad. I believe you can safely drive this car another week. My personal rule of thumb, if the radio can drown out the noise, it's safe to drive. Don't drive an uninsured/unregistered car.

I can drown out the noise, but my subs will have to be thumping HARD. :lol:

I'll see how it goes tomorrow. I won't be driving my other car.

I have never heard of anyone here (or there) having a catastrophic wheel bearing failure. Of course, I don't want to hear you being the first. I've driven over well over 1,000 miles with a bad wheel bearing in the past (before I replaced it) and this was without a subwoofer :roll:

same issue here
 

I have had the same issue happen to mine (92)...i.e. constant loud hum, would go away when I turned one direction or louder in the opposite. Drove it like that forever (at least 10k) . I replaced the wheel hub bearing (pain in the butt) . When I looked at the old one, I couldn't see any obvious damage to the bearings. Sound went away, drove like a champ. Now, 6 months later, the exact same sound is coming from the same wheel. put new tires on (needed it) but no luck. Could it be anything else? Could the UV joint be a culpret?

Re: same issue here
 

If it's the same exact sound, with the same symptoms when turning the wheel, I'd say it's the bearing again. How many miles have you driven in 6 months? What brand of hub bearing did you get?

92 bonneville
 

I would say around 25k. I bought it at a place called Wright Auto Parts...not sure of the manufact. Part cost 120. Is there anything that could be contributing to its premature failure? and what manufact do you recommend?

Sorry to hear that you need to replace the same wheel bearing. $hit happens and it happened to my former Olds a couple of years ago. I had to replace my right wheel bearing twice within about a year. I have no idea what could cause the premature failure. Just my bad luck, I guess. :roll: I don't know the mfg of either wheel bearing but I did not get the same one (mfg) twice. :(

I have an 04 Sebring and the wheel bearings failed (both) before 38,000 miles. Talk about crap parts.

ALSO, I am almost POSITIVE both of my wheel bearings are going on the Bonne. :x The right one is very loud, but I am getting noises from the left too. And I also get slight noises when turning the wheel to the right. I just think the right one is much worse right now.

I'm going to search on ebay for BCA bearings. I know they sell for $50 less than they do in stores. Should be worth the wait especially if both are going.