Having problems locationg worn wheel bearing, need advice!

[The Fatty]

Having problems locating worn wheel bearing, need advice!

I have a wheel bearing that's making a noise at +50mph on my 182, I have used my normal method of checking the wheels for play at 9-3 and 12-6, no movement in any if them. I have also checked my fronts in my usual manner of jacking up 1 at a time and running the car in gear 2/3 at said speed to see if the rumbling can be heard, but no luck (btw if you do this, make sure you turn the ESP off). So im now wondering if its the rears, so what I was going to do was take them off and check them for notching etc, but I wanted to check that should they be OK, they can be put back on ok? i.e, just because I have taken them off, I wont need to buy new bearings/hub nuts etc?

Also I know if it is the rears, the wheel can potentially fall off, but can I assume like the Mk1s, the fronts cant fall off due to the hub through the centre?

 

[The Fatty]

anyone?

 

[aucky]

Cheap enough to just change?

 

[Jay_G]

You tried spinning the wheels in the air? As in by hand?

When my front one was knackered it was only slightly louder than the other, but was f**king loud in the car. So I doubt you'd hear it over engine noise.

Sounds gritty/grindy when you spin it

 

[ben lee]

fronts you wont hear by driving it with the wheels off the floor or spinning up by hand.
have you span the rear wheels up and listened to them? also hold the coil spring can sometimes feel the ruffness through the spring when you spin the wheel.

if you drive down the road normally you can hear if its fronts or rears (dont have the windows open) if you cant work it out get someone to sit in the passenger seat then in the back of the car they might be able to work out what one it is easier.

when your doing 50mph+ and go round a slight bend one way it will go loader and the other it will quieten down can do it on a straight road steering slightly to the right then left transferring the weight from one side to the other .

for example if you go round a right hand bend it quietens down then go round a left bend and it gets louder would indicate a wheel bearing on the right side has gone.

 

[The Fatty]

Re: Having problems locating worn wheel bearing, need advice!

... im now wondering if its the rears, so what I was going to do was take them off and check them for notching etc, but I wanted to check that should they be OK, they can be put back on ok? i.e, just because I have taken them off, I wont need to buy new bearings/hub nuts etc?

Also I know if it is the rears, the wheel can potentially fall off, but can I assume like the Mk1s, the fronts cant fall off due to the hub through the centre?

thanks for the replys, but does anyone actually know the answer to my above questions as I have already tried the suggestions? :S

Also ben, I have managed to hear my front bearing rumbling by spinning up the wheels whilst off the ground before when its gone on my Mk1, its just not working this time

 

[Jay_G]

Ben, I could hear mine my fucked front one by spinning the wheel. But they were properly, properly shagged, heard it over the radio etc.

 

[ben lee]

Ben, I could hear mine my f**ked front one by spinning the wheel. But they were properly, properly shagged, heard it over the radio etc.

bet you could hear it at less than 20mph as you say it was very bad. if you can hear just hear it at 50mph its just starting to go.

 

[ben lee]

Re: Having problems locating worn wheel bearing, need advice!

rear bearings are sealed roller bearings so cant take them apart like the older needle bearings to check the races.

 

[The Fatty]

thanks ben. I want meaning to take them apart, I just meant take them off the axel. I wasn't sure if they could be put back on / re-used if removed?

 

[DanClio]

Best way Ive found to check is the wheel play test, although the brake caliper stops you moving the wheel. Its a bit of a faff but almost always finds a dodgy bearing. Remove the caliper, tie out of the way, refit wheel, then test for play. If its only noisy and you have done hardly any distance you might get away with putting some grease in if it dried out a bit, but then you wont find any play yet! lol

 

[ben lee]

thanks ben. I want meaning to take them apart, I just meant take them off the axel. I wasn't sure if they could be put back on / re-used if removed?

you could take it off the axle and refit them but they are sealed like the fronts so not going to be able to see any damage to the bearing.

 

[ben lee]

Best way Ive found to check is the wheel play test, although the brake caliper stops you moving the wheel. Its a bit of a faff but almost always finds a dodgy bearing. Remove the caliper, tie out of the way, refit wheel, then test for play. If its only noisy and you have done hardly any distance you might get away with putting some grease in if it dried out a bit, but then you wont find any play yet! lol

if theres play you will be able to feel it without removing the caliper. the bearings are sealed so you cant re grease them also if they where needle bearings soon as they are noisy they are passed re greaseing.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Spin them up on the car and put your hand of the rear beam you can feel the roughness ! Same with front spin up by hand and grab the spring ! Works every time for me I'm a mechanic by trade !

 

[The Fatty]

thanks, will have another look on Sunday weather permitting

 

[Beasley Clio182]

thanks, will have another look on Sunday weather permitting

Its always done me well, no need to run the car because 9 times out of ten you cant hear the rumbling over the engine noise !! i literally jack up a corner , spin the wheel a few times by hand get it moving and rest your hand on the spring (at the front) and same again at rear but grab the axle in front of the wheel through the arch (if you have little hands under the sill if not haha)

you will literally feel the roughness vibrating, if your unsure compare it to the other side !

 

[The Fatty]

Its always done me well, no need to run the car because 9 times out of ten you cant hear the rumbling over the engine noise !! i literally jack up a corner , spin the wheel a few times by hand get it moving and rest your hand on the spring (at the front) and same again at rear but grab the axle in front of the wheel through the arch (if you have little hands under the sill if not haha)

you will literally feel the roughness vibrating, if your unsure compare it to the other side !

will the brake disk not cause the same effect?

 

[MG cup]

To answer your question. If you really want to take them off and check by hand then that's fine, it gives you a better feel for thing ( it wont always show up a noisy bearing, some times better to let it get worse) the nut is meant to be replaced but should be fine aslong as you keep an eye on the torque the days following re-fitting. Dab of loctite if your worried and 175nm for rear hub nut. Caliper to axle is something stupid like 120nm and they are loctited too, personally FT will do.

 

[The Fatty]

To answer your question. If you really want to take them off and check by hand then that's fine, it gives you a better feel for thing ( it wont always show up a noisy bearing, some times better to let it get worse) the nut is meant to be replaced but should be fine aslong as you keep an eye on the torque the days following re-fitting. Dab of loctite if your worried and 175nm for rear hub nut. Caliper to axle is something stupid like 120nm and they are loctited too, personally FT will do.

Thanks.

p.s to Admins - I really wish the forum had a thanks button, iv have been asking for one for years! would make it so much easier and tidier to say thanks to people.

 

[Beasley Clio182]

Thanks.

p.s to Admins - I really wish the forum had a thanks button, iv have been asking for one for years! would make it so much easier and tidier to say thanks to people.

Lol good idea haha!!

And to answer you're question, no you wont feel a vibration from the brakes !! you may hear a slight catching from the wheel , but shouldnt create a vibration unless your brakes have big issues lol
Hope this helps

 

[ben lee]

like beasley said holding the spring when spinning the wheels to feel the ruffness works very well if you cant hear it whilst driving it.
did suddgest it in one of my replys

175nm for the rear hub nut.
100nm for carrier to hub
40nm for caliper to carrier
105nm for the road wheels.

 

[quattro]

Check your tyres too if theyre old. If one has deteriorated this can give symptoms of a wheel bearing failing.

 

[The Fatty]

like beasley said holding the spring when spinning the wheels to feel the ruffness works very well if you cant hear it whilst driving it.
did suddgest it in one of my replys

175nm for the rear hub nut.
100nm for carrier to hub
40nm for caliper to carrier
105nm for the road wheels.

thanks.

 

[The Fatty]

Ok guys, I have done the coil/axel test and still no joy really. I could feel a slight vibration/clicking on all 4 corners, but I think that was from the brake disc catching every so often? Either way, there was no definite corner that appeared to show more than a very small amount of vibrations. I could hear a slight rumbling on both the back one, with one side being mainly louder, but I guess there has to be some rumble even from a good bearing?! With the noise only happening at high speeds (50+) does that mean I need to maybe wait longer for the bearing to fail more and become more apparent? At what stage would it not be safe to drive (i.e. I obviously don't want a rear wheel to come off(!))?

 

[MG cup]

Me personally I would run it until it got worse. If there's no signs of play and your finding it hard to locate then run it longer until signs of wear are there or the noise cant be mistaken for a certain corner. It could become unsafe for you as I don't know your mechanical knowledge where as I could say what's safe and what's not.

I could make it louder or quieter by steering input and would know a bit better what to look for, my advice to you would be wait for noises while checking wheels periodically.

EDIT: you don't have a tyre on the wrong rotation or anything like that do you?

 

[Keyser Soze]

Fred changed my right rear last week. You couldn't tell it was gone by spinning the wheel. He had to road test to decide.

 

[The Fatty]

Ok thanks. I might get the other half to drive it whilst I sit in the back and try and identify a bit better where the sound is coming from. If I cant, then I will let it go a bit longer until it starts to sound at speeds below 50mph.