Brake rotor, pad, or hub bearing problem (or some combo of the three)?

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

oooh! Watching with anticipation.

Thanks. Got a bunch more stuff removed, but I am suck on the Spring Pin connecting the shift rod and also can't get the drive axles out (was not so hard when I replaced them a few months ago). I guess I need a pry bar for the drive axles, but is there any way to avoid buying the Pin Punch tool for the Spring Pin? I tried using an old screw head of about the right diameter as a punch, but didn't like the fight I got and quickly became concerned I would damage the pin. Any experienced advice will be appreciated. I'm stuck until tomorrow, gotta move on to other projects for the day.

[PaleMelanesian]

I don't have any advice, but I've sometimes heard that pin referred to as the b***h pin. You're not alone. You might find some help at honda-tech.

[California98Civic]

Got it out! It was a moderate pain. I imitated a video of a Civic clutch replacement by a very proficient backyard mechanic--the kind of guy with his own lift in his garage. Did what he did, and pretty soon... done. But I had to buy a small set of pin punches in order to have the tool he seemed to be using. The set was 15 bucks. Onward! ...

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by paulhale

LOL...no we did it the dangerous way. We had a regular floor jack, my friend under the car holding the tranny up, and me standing up holding the tranny from above while I loosed the last bolts. A bit scary.

Swapped the transmissions today, using above described method. Took 8 hours with a friend. We first tried just using the floor jack to get in in position, after two hours doing that and failing, we had dinner and then got the thing into position in about 15 mins using the "dude-laying-under-the-car-and-bench-pressing-55-pound-transmission" method. Tomorrow I have the long list of reinstall projects to accomplish (cv boots, starter, exhaust, shifter linkage...) then I get to see if it will fire up and run right!

[slownugly]

Cool! Doing it on the ground sucks. I know all too well. At least the hard parts done

[slownugly]

Also if you still have a wheel bearing noise a good way to tell is it will increase with vehicle speed. Plus at speed if you turn the wheel to the left or right the noise will get louder or quieter. Don't always go by " it sounds like the right side" I've had to eat parts in the past because it sounds like the noise is the right side but it's actually the noise/vibration traveling across and fooling you. I have a diagnostic procedure for hub/wheel bearings to determine which side it is. I can share if you like

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by slownugly

Also if you still have a wheel bearing noise a good way to tell is it will increase with vehicle speed. Plus at speed if you turn the wheel to the left or right the noise will get louder or quieter. Don't always go by " it sounds like the right side" I've had to eat parts in the past because it sounds like the noise is the right side but it's actually the noise/vibration traveling across and fooling you. I have a diagnostic procedure for hub/wheel bearings to determine which side it is. I can share if you like

I half expect the transmission will not completely solve the bearing noise problem. So I would love to hear/see your diagnostic because I wasn't satisfied with the official Honda procedure. Their test requires an expensive and hard to find gauge tool. So I spot tested the hubs, which the shop manual gives a movement tolerance of less than a mm. I tested for any play whatsoever. But it was like looking for play in the "Honda" lettering on the cam cover. Solid. I did the trans because mine has more than 200K on it, and is well indicated as a source of the symptoms. It was the best indicated step--after testing quite a lot.

BUT, what you describe above is one of the symptoms. Maybe the noise is a compound of problems. I'll know more when I fire it up today or tomorrow. I like testing. Empiricism is good.

[slownugly]

Yea several bearing noises at the same time are tough to nail down.
After the clutch is done and you drive it, if it has the symptoms that I described ( gets louder or quieter if you turn the wheel slightly in either direction at higher speeds) then to figure out what side it is do the following. This can apply to most any car or suspension type on the road today.

1. Jack front of vehicle up so both wheels are off te ground
2. Start at drivers side and put one hand on the coil spring. With the other spin the wheel FORWARD.
3. Use your hand on the spring to feel for vibration while making sure not to touch the wheel while spinning so it doesn't cause a false vibration. - might be easier to put the car in neutral.
4. Do the same to the passenger side. Whichever one has the noticeable rumbling is the bad one.

The nature of the spring allows it to show the bearing rumble like a magnifying glass as compared to grabbing the spindle or strut. This works on 95% of vehicle out there. On a vehicle with torsion bar suspension it easy. The torsion bar is the spring in the suspension so grab the torsion bar. Sometime on very minute ones it's hard to feel I close my eyes to take one sense out of the procedure and allows me to concentrate on my feeling in my hands. Or get my dad to spin the wheel an close my eyes.

[Rusty94cx]

Could the noise be tires? I have some noisy ones on the car now. The could fool you into thinking it was a bearing. Glad the trans went easy.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Rusty94cx

Could the noise be tires?

Nope. Tested by switching to my alternate wheel/tire combo. No change. Question: what's the trick for getting the spring pin back into the shifter linkage? What a pain in the a*s!