Noisy wheel bearing?

[Spetz]

Hi everyone,

My friend's 2005 Subaru Liberty has what I think is a noisy wheel bearing. There is a humming type noise coming from the front left.
The car rolls on smooth asphalt as if they are rough bitumen (i.e., not very smoothly and with noise).

When we lifted the car the front left wheel did have some play in it but it wasn't much.

Could a little amount of play in the wheel bearing cause the above symptoms?

 

[CharBaby]

It could be a wheel bearing or tie rod or control arm/ball joint which is giving the play. Usually in a clicking/clunking sound as you move the tire up & down or back & forth.

Grabbing the tire at 12:00 & 06:00(ball joint) or 03:00 & 09:00(tie rod). But, you'll have to look/see where the movement is coming from. Or is the whole hub assembly moving? If so, then it's the bearing.

This video will help some and is only a start:
https://www.google.com/search?q=how...p;sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=1

If the wheel bearing is OK then the noise could be coming from the Left Front Tire being worn due to tie rod or ball joint needing replacing. You may also want to move/swap that wheel/tire with one of the others and see if the noise goes away. This alone will tell you if the tire is the source of noise. And you may want to do this first.

Good luck,

CB

 

[Lubener]

Rule out the tire by rotating. A bearing which is noisy usually will change in intensity as you change the load on it by doing some sharp cornering manuevers.

 

[supton]

If it has play, I'd condemn on that basis.

Cornering will often point to bad bearings, as the bearing unloads it will change its noise.

In my very limited experience, when one goes, the other isn't far behind. YMMV but since I have to pay to have it done, I just pay to have both done at once.

Aren't Subaru's known for short lived wheel bearings, at both ends of the car?

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted by supton
Aren't Subaru's known for short lived wheel bearings, at both ends of the car?

Of that vintage, certainly. My '01 Impreza had a front and a rear replaced in the 14 years I had it, and lots of folks had more than that go on them, sometimes multiple times on the same corner.

 

[ABerns]

Agreed with earlier posts: if you turn back and forth while driving and the noise gets louder and quieter, it suggests a bad bearing. When the bad bearing gets more weight on it, it'll make more noise, and when the weight is lifted, it'll make less.

Another thing you can try that I've had work sometimes is jack the car up, reach in and grab the spring, and then spin the tire. You shouldn't feel grinding. If you do, it also suggests bearing. If the bearing is really shot you'll feel it turning the tire itself, but I don't think I've ever seen one *that* bad...

 

[deanm11]

Discerning where it is coming from while driving/rotating tires can work but is somewhat hit and miss. A basic automotive stethoscope is cheap - get the suspect end of the car securely on jack stands. If the computer will allow you to rotate the driven wheels at modest speed, do that (our 2013 Focus didn't allow) or have a helper give the tire a good spin while you listen with the stethoscope placed right on the back side of the hub. On the focus, this ruled out the L/R front bearing and led me to identify the problem as the "center" bearing that is part of the longer right axle which bolts to the engine block.

 

[WhyMe]

those years outback are notorious for bad wheel bearing. fortunately they are really easy to replace. no press needed. parts pretty cheap also. when in doubt i would just replace it


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng4YssAewMQ

 

[Spetz]

Thanks guys,

I should also mention that the noise/humming feeling is most prevalent at highway speeds and not really obvious or present when going slow (say 30mph)

 

[Dinoburner]

Originally Posted by Lubener
Rule out the tire by rotating. A bearing which is noisy usually will change in intensity as you change the load on it by doing some sharp cornering manuevers.

This

 

[ZebRuaj]

I've never had much luck grabbing the wheels and checking for play. Or even grabbing the spring, spin the wheel and feeling out any imperfections. Chased the wheel bearing on my G35 for a week.

Now I trust my ear and do a couple more minutes of work and remove everything off the bearing and spin it by itself to check it.

 

[Spetz]

Yes that'd be good to do but as the car is AWD getting the bearing to the stage where it free spins is a bit of a task.