View Single Post
Old 03-31-2013, 08:45 PM   #57 (permalink)
California98Civic
Cyborg ECU
 
California98Civic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
Posts: 6,299

Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US)
Thanks: 2,373
Thanked 2,172 Times in 1,469 Posts
Slownugly's hub bearing test works

Quote:
Originally Posted by slownugly View Post
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.
Well well well, that test was pretty interesting. The driver side wheel vibrated quite notably in the spring, even made a odd and new clicking kind of sound once or twice. The passenger side made no vibrations in the spring, and no odd noises. Smooth.

So the driver side front hub bearing unit, huh? Amazingly, that item was one of my original suspects.

Thanks. I had a little trouble with the driver side axle seal anyway. It is leaking tranny oil slightly. So I need to go back in... will do both jobs.

james
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.



  Reply With Quote