Knowing if your wheel bearings are gone/going?

System

Jack up the car. Grab the wheel at the top and the bottom and try to rock it. Do the same at the left and right hand sides. If the bearing is worn you'll feel a slight bit of play.

Sam_Fallow

Jackmydad wrote: »

They don't always make a noise or feel worn checking that way. They need to be under load. With my old Passat, you could feel a slight vibration in the car on the front bearings before they got to the noisy stage.

Is that Lancaster sound with the engines in sync or out of sync?

I had a Passat that had a wheel bearing that howled like a banshee but had absolutley no movement at all.

I also had a Mercedes that (on the day after an MOT pass) had a wheel bearing totally collapse with no prior warnings at all.

Funny unpredictable things, wheel bearings.

JustAnotherSaver

Well i called through to pay the man yesterday and asked what i was actually supposed to be hearing.
He said it was that drone noise - i guess likely the one i've been thinking is the exhaust. As said - i've been used to the stainless being on which gave it a deeper tone anyway, especially under acceleration so this noise hasn't stood out to me because of that other than i expected a standard exhaust to sound quieter than what it currently does (but it's been so long since i had a standard exhaust on this car that i forget).

He also commented that going round corners it makes noise too. I personally haven't noticed that but to be fair i do have my music up.

Anyway i'd rather it got done now if it needs doing so it's booked in to get sorted.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

With your music off, try coasting round a corner, e.g. going round a roundabout. As your car leans on the wheels one way then another, you will hear a noise. It is usually quite low in tone, a hum more than a buzz, that may switch in quite noticeably as pressure is applied and then switch out as you turn away again.

The more worn they get the worse it is. If it is only on corners, it implies that there is a small amount of play and driving normally isn't giving it too much of a problem. If it drones in a straight line then that is bad news as noise implies energy, heat and increasing wear.

Your mechanic obviously isn't too worried, and is noting it rather than believing it is in imminent danger of failing. Bearings can go on for years or fail quickly. Basically it depends, it can be just a little marking on the ball bearings inside the bearing, or one of the little bearings might shatter, and then the whole thing starts moving around. It can depend on where the damaged ball is sitting as to whether there is any play to feel - it can sit properly or it can sit on an indentation so is no longer held tight - and where the damage sits can make the difference as to whether the noise is consistent or comes and goes (but once it is noisy, it will not magically fix itself, it will fail eventually).

JustAnotherSaver

Well ... got it done today.

That hum/drone seemed to disappear.

Then tonight i had my music down as i had my wife in the car with me and as i turned right out of some traffic lights i heard a new noise ... tick-tick-tick-tick. As i straightened up it stopped. It was as i put a fair amount of lock on, not just a gradual turn right.

Didn't happen when driving straight or when turning left.

So i drove on & tried to find a few more right turns & every time i turned right, if i put a reasonable amount of lock on it'd be there .... tick-tick-tick-tick.

It's only appeared since i sent the car in last night & picked it up today.

Then as i was driving in a straight on a quiet road i heard a different tick-tick-tick noise. The turning tick-tick-tick came obviously from the front drivers wheel & was quite distinct.

This noise on the straight when there was no other traffic (so no other road noise) around was quieter & i couldn't quite pinpoint it though as i got faster so did the noise.


Great.

Needle in haystack but any idea on why it's doing this now? I'll have a better luck in daylight tomorrow.

wgl2014

Might just be a brake dust shield that's been disturbed during the wheel bearing replacement, if so can be pushed back with a screwdriver.

Other thoughts are it could be a driveshaft that was on its way out and had been finished off by being manhandled out of the way.

consumers_revenge

When I had an xr3 they went so often if you couldn't hear the noise you knew you were stopped.

iltisman

It is very difficult to identify which wheel bearing has failed as the droning noise can be confusing.

Jackmydad

Sam_Fallow wrote: »

I had a Passat that had a wheel bearing that howled like a banshee but had absolutley no movement at all.

I also had a Mercedes that (on the day after an MOT pass) had a wheel bearing totally collapse with no prior warnings at all.

Funny unpredictable things, wheel bearings.

Yes, I couldn't detect any play at all on that Passat either.

The MOT guy I use said the same thing about them being unpredictable. He said he'd known them be "howling" and still running, or collapse with no warning at all.
I have the feeling that a lot of wheel bearing problems once the originals have gone is either down to the care with which they have been fitted, or the quality of the replacements.
Many years ago, replacing bearings in large electric motors, they were all replaced with good quality "named brand" bearings. Early failure was often down to careless fitting. Usually dirt getting in, but also hitting the outer track etc.

JustAnotherSaver

Well i had the front end jacked up this morning & wheels off.

I couldn't find anything noticeable to be causing this tick-tick-tick. If anything there is a guard behind the disc on the passenger side but there isn't one on the drivers side. Must've been removed at some point.

I power washed the whole wheel arch out as it was grimy as hell.

Put the wheels back on & lowered. My brother said i should've spun the wheels while it was jacked up to see if that would trigger the ticking. Oh well.

On the drive home i couldn't hear it the same when turning but i could still sort of hear it a bit when driving straight although a little different to before i had the wheels off.

I hate noises that i can't identify