I've posted about this same problem before, but trying again. I'm driving a 2000 SSEi.

Driving at about 40 to 45 mph I hear a LOUD hum from the drivers side. While driving at that speed on a straight road and the hum is present - if I jerk the wheel to the right, the humming stops momentarily til I bringt the steering wheel back. Also while driving on a road that bends continuously to the left the hum is loud until the road straightens out again. The hum goes away at 50 mph and over, and is not audible under 40ish.

I've had it looked at a couple times at a shop - they rotated the front tires, but it didn't help. One guy said there'* nothing wrong with the car, but I've had the car for about 4 years and this humming has only been present in the last 6 months. Codes went off about a month ago, the C1226, so we replaced the passenger bearing for the second time in 15 months, but never the left - no codes have gone off for the driver'* side...

Could the wheel bearing fail without a code going off? Could some other component be failing without a code.? It steers fine, there'* no shimmy at high speeds (yeah I have a couple speeding tickets) so what? am I nuts?

Your description sounds like the drivers side wheel bearing, it gets louder as you turn to the left putting the cars weight on that wheel.

Thanks PDad... Should I wait for a code to go off? or replace it now...

I've done 3 bearings so far on my car and have not had an error code come up other than the service stabiliity soon light.
I would watch it for now and schedule to replace it before any long trips.

The group just gave me a lot of help in replacing one of my bearings. (driver side). Thanks a lot guys! Sounds like a wheel bearing but the failure mode is slightly different than mine were. Neither of mine threw a code for it. And my vibration/sound was not loud but steadily increased in volume from 30 mph on up. It would lessen when the wheels were turned to the left, but when turning right (ie - bearing in tension) it would become louder. I wouldn't wait any longer than you have to replace it since that piece holds the car up and is subject to intense loading. Goodluck - Shawn

Bumping this topic with a another question on the same topic.

Since I wrote the original post here, both a car repair shop and the dealer said what I hear is "tire noise." It'* been humming like this since last summer, so I guess I have to believe what they say.

I have no codes and don't feel any problems in the front end, just a hum between 40-50 miles per hour. I will take a 1000 mile trip in this car in about two weeks, so I've come back with this topic to see if anyone else has experienced the tire noise.

If no codes are going off and everything feels and looks ok, how can I check to see if the wheel bearing is bad?

What is strange is that it occurs between 40-50mph. A failing hub assembly would begin whining at lower speed and would change pitch with increasing & decreasing vehicle speed.

Sure sounds like a wheel bearing. I had the same thing on Cavilier a couple years ago; noise when straight or turning, but no noise when turning the other way. How much does it cost to have replaced? The Cavy bearing was pretty cheap at Murray'*.

I may be wrong, but there can't be a code for a bad wheel bearing. There could be a code for a bad sensor, ABS or Stabil error. What was the C1226 code for?

A noisy bearing can last a long time, but the noise will drive you crazy.

@ZeeVert
The code is for a sensor I think = "C1226 RF Excessive Wheel Speed Variation "
The sound I hear comes from the driver'* side, but when the code went off in February it was the other side, so we replaced that one again.

I'm torn right now - I'll have to mull this over.