Testing wheel bearings

[Honda_Civic7]

What do they call those rollers that they are able to use to have the car run in place in the shop, bringing it up to speed in order to run tests?

[CivicSpoon]

Dynamometer, often called a Dyno.

[MagicRat]

Given the title of your thread, do you want a dyno to test your wheel bearings?

Wheel bearings that are failing often show the most obvious signs of failure (such as unusual noises and rumbling) whne cornering, something a dyno will not do.

Taking lots of tight cornering in an empty parking lot may show problems with your bearings more easily than a dyno.

[Honda_Civic7]

Originally Posted by MagicRat

Given the title of your thread, do you want a dyno to test your wheel bearings?

Wheel bearings that are failing often show the most obvious signs of failure (such as unusual noises and rumbling) whne cornering, something a dyno will not do.

Taking lots of tight cornering in an empty parking lot may show problems with your bearings more easily than a dyno.

I took my car to a shop about 4 months ago and the guy was unable to determine if it was left or right. He told me to drive it some more until the sound was louder (and easier to identify). Well 4 months later I don't think this sound has gotten louder. That's why I thought maybe an in-shop test might work better. If you can bring the car up to speed in the shop doesn't that allow you to hear which wheel is making the noise?

[CivicSpoon]

Originally Posted by Honda_Civic7

I took my car to a shop about 4 months ago and the guy was unable to determine if it was left or right. He told me to drive it some more until the sound was louder (and easier to identify). Well 4 months later I don't think this sound has gotten louder. That's why I thought maybe an in-shop test might work better. If you can bring the car up to speed in the shop doesn't that allow you to hear which wheel is making the noise?

You'd be far better off taking it to another shop and having them try to diagnose it. If the technician at the original shop can't determine which one is bad, then it might not be the best shop to go to.

As MagicRat stated, it'd be much easier to hear it with normal driving, especially taking turns, than on a dyno, that will have completely different loads than natural driving. If you hear noise when taking a left turn, your right wheel bearing is likely bad. Right turn and your left one is likely bad. You can also jack a corner of the car up, and wiggle the wheel up in and out, with your hands in the 12 & 6 o'clock position.

If there any particular reason why you believe that a wheel bearing is bad on your car?

[Honda_Civic7]

Originally Posted by CivicSpoon

You'd be far better off taking it to another shop

If there any particular reason why you believe that a wheel bearing is bad on your car?

No doubt. This was the gas station down the street from me that I took it to.

A year and a half ago the right wheel bearing went bad. So I'm familiar with the sound. When I heard it developing I said "Here we go again". It's just that this time around... it's been 4 months and the sound still hasn't gotten worse like it did before.

[chal1oye]

As MagicRat stated, it'd be much easier to hear it with normal driving, especially taking turns, than on a dyno, that will have completely different loads than natural driving. If you hear noise when taking a left turn, your right wheel bearing is likely bad. Right turn and your left one is likely bad. You can also jack a corner of the car up, and wiggle the wheel up in and out, with your hands in the 12 & 6 o'clock position. ???

[Honda_Civic7]

Originally Posted by chal1oye

As MagicRat stated, it'd be much easier to hear it with normal driving, especially taking turns, than on a dyno, that will have completely different loads than natural driving. If you hear noise when taking a left turn, your right wheel bearing is likely bad. Right turn and your left one is likely bad. You can also jack a corner of the car up, and wiggle the wheel up in and out, with your hands in the 12 & 6 o'clock position. ???

No noise on normal turns. Maybe I need to swerve back and forth on a wide road. How fast do you need to be going to hear the more pronounced noise?

[CivicSpoon]

Originally Posted by Honda_Civic7

No doubt. This was the gas station down the street from me that I took it to.

A year and a half ago the right wheel bearing went bad. So I'm familiar with the sound. When I heard it developing I said "Here we go again". It's just that this time around... it's been 4 months and the sound still hasn't gotten worse like it did before.

Ok, well that might present a problem for the technician. It could be that the previous wheel bearing that was replaced was done so improperly (pressed in too far or not enough, or the axle nut was torqued down too much), or that the other side has now gone bad. Usually, replacing both side wheel bearings at the same time (both fronts or both rears) is recommended. So that can make it harder to diagnose, if there aren't obvious signs.

Originally Posted by Honda_Civic7

No noise on normal turns. Maybe I need to swerve back and forth on a wide road. How fast do you need to be going to hear the more pronounced noise?

From my own personal experience, I am not an automotive technician but have been working on cars for 11 years, but it seems to vary a little. For the most part, the sound seems to start at around 50-65 MPH. Eventually when it's been bad for a while, it seems to start making noise at around 30 MPH, go away, and start back up around 50-65 MPH. My mom's Buick Century on the other hand, does it at 30, again at 50, but goes away again until around 65 MPH, and then continues (not sure why it gets quieter in that 15 MPH range, but it does). I actually seem to recall my '94 Civic CX doing that, before I took it off the road.

But be careful with the swerve back and forth part. I'm going to assume you know what you're doing, though many who are reading this now or in the future, may not. As long as it's done in the best driving conditions; isolated road with no other drivers, the road is completely dry, and you're not turning too deep or sharply into the other lane, this might help pinpoint it to the specific wheel.

Personally I've been luck, in that my friend lives in the country, and one route it through slightly windy roads, that have a 55 MPH speed limit. Half of it is also highway driving, where the road cuts fairly sharply. It certainly helped me to more easily diagnose 3 vehicles, that I drive regularly.

[thebigL]

Originally Posted by Honda_Civic7

No noise on normal turns. Maybe I need to swerve back and forth on a wide road. How fast do you need to be going to hear the more pronounced noise?

try full lock slowly in a parking lot

[Honda_Civic7]

Originally Posted by thebigL

try full lock slowly in a parking lot

Full lock? Does that mean fully turned as far as it can go?

[Pierce Brosnan]

Thanks for your suggestion. I really appreciate that you took all this time to try and help us. Keep up the good work. Keep on taking action.

[Honda_Civic7]

Originally Posted by CivicSpoon

It could be that the previous wheel bearing that was replaced was done so improperly (pressed in too far or not enough, or the axle nut was torqued down too much), or that the other side has now gone bad.

But if it was done improperly would it have taken a year to develop that sound?? Everything was fine for about a year (after the right front was replaced) until that sound started developing again.