MrLeadFoot

For quite some time now, while driving down the road, I've been hearing a weird sound. Not a continuous growl, but more like a WUH, WUH, WUH, WUH... How do you like my description so far?

How in the world do you describe a sound????

Anyway, it almost sounds like what you would think something out of round, out of balance, or a warped rotor MIGHT sound like. The frequency in which the sound is omitted gets faster with speed, but never really gets really bad sounding, nor does it get going as fast as the speed of the car, if that makes any sense.

So, at first I thought it might be the tires wearing out, but since I just replaced them, that's not it. Then, I started thinking it might be warped rotors, but wouldn't I notice the sound go away when I brake, or at least feel the car surging upon braking to a stop?

Someone told me bearings might sound like that. Is that true? I always figured a bearing would make a continuous humming or grinding sound.

I've been trying to isolate where it's coming from, and I have to say it's coming from the front. When I take corners I THINK I feel/hear it coming up through the steering wheel, although I can't say for certain that it is.

Although turning left or right SEEMS to amplify the sound, I'm fairly certain that right turns cause me to feel/hear it more.

Could this be a bearing? If so, how can you tell when one is GOING bad? If I jack up the car and spin the wheel, I'm not so sure I'd notice anything, especially if it's a relatively new sound, and don't bearings need weight on them to really tell? If it is a bearing, what kind of job am I looking at? I am fairly mechanical. I've rebuilt motors in my younger days, but lately, all I've had to do is typical maintenance. If I do have to replace a bearing, is it as easy as bearings were in the old days when you removed a spindle nut and tapped out a seal, or does it require pressing and the like?

On the other hand, can it realy be a rotor, or rotors, and that warped rotors don't necessarily pulsate at stops, or quiet down when the brake is applied?

ANY suggestions/comments/opinions would be MOST welcome.

CCA Corvette Parts

Could be the bearings, how many miles?

Jack up the corner of the car and look for side to side and top to bottom movement when you rock the wheel

Easy to replace, pretty much just like you remember in the old days...

Peace
Chip

Secret237

I vote for wheel bearing ...a warped rotor doesn't make noise

mqqn

Hi MrLeadFoot -

When one of the hubs on our 1998 Lumina went bad, it was making a roar - like a jet airplane landing, all the time after a certain speed was attained. It was, as you suspect, constant.

You never know until you get it in the air and have a look.

best regards -

mqqn

MrLeadFoot

55,700 miles

Will the disc brakes prevent me from noticing any movement?

So, are you saying it's a retaining nut with a cotter pin, and washer, and that's it? I was always under the impression that the whole hub assembly had to be replaced on C5s.

RedHaze

Another vote for bearings. When you have the font end up, grab a wheel and give 'er a shake from top to bottom and side to side. If you feel any play, maybe 1/16th to 1/8th inch, then you've found your culprit.

devnull

it is a whole assembly for bearings, which includes the hub. (not true old school, nothing to pack or assemble).

The rotor will not stop the play because of this.

These are common replacements for vettes, especially if you are "spirited".

MrLeadFoot

Just read up on Jake Latham's replacement article. Doesn't sound too bad of a job.

MrLeadFoot

Just jacked up the car. Checked for play in the front hubs. None, whatsoever. I suspect that that's because the calipers prevent any movement, but I suppose if the bearings were really bad, you might be able to detect some amount of play.

Anyway, after not detecting any play, I spun the right wheel. Aside from the slight brake drag, it sounded very smooth and quiet with a faint click every so often. Could that be a bearing making that faint click?

On the left side, it was a whole different ball game. Not only did I detect slightly more brake drag, I could hear a continuous low frequency sound. I'm pretty confident the bearing is bad.

I also looked at the brake pads while I was down there, and I'm thinking I should replace them, as one side was down to about 1/4" left before the end of the indicator groove in the pad. Do you think it's OK to just change pads, and not rotors? The rotors look OK, with very light grooves, indicative of normal wear.

redroc

Just had my right rear hub bearing replaced last week, 293 done by mechanic. Sounded likes you are running on the edge of the highway, at least mine did....

MrLeadFoot

If I could get it done at a reasonable price, I would have it done. But, shops here are way too expensive.

They all want nearly double what you paid. That's ridiculous for a shop that has all the right tools and a lift. It probably would take less than an hour with the right stuff, and retail price on the part is only $170!

HollywoodFRC

The Wuh, Whu sound is typical when front bearing is going. Drive the car where you have a gradual, fairly flat road with a gentle curve. Drive with window down and listen for noise. The bearing under the most loading on a turn is the bearing on the apex (the outside) of the curve. So if you turn into the curve, the bad bearing should be making noise if its on the apex of the curve (opposite your turn in). Test both sides (Driver and passenger). That's how I found mine. Best replacement price is Advanced Auto. They sell the Timkin replacement at 2/3 or less of the dealer price. It's a two hour job, but you'll need a ball joint kit which you can 'rent' from your local auto store. Don't use the pickle forks, you may tear the ball joint boots and that's an expensive mistake. Use the clamp/press in the kit to pop the ball joints loose. Take out the steering knuckle. Loosen and remove the three hex bolts holding the old bearing, install the new bearing, and reinstall the steering knuckle. Don't forget to reconnect the wiring to the bearing assembly. Good luck! Satisfying DIYer.

ShadowLight

Would lowering the car cause the bearing to go? This seemed to start for me right afterwords.

flynbya2

It is not really necessary to feel movement in the bearing to have a noisy one.You can usually feel it though.But your description tells me that you have a bad one( excellent description,btw )

2 hrs is about right fot the 1st time.I think it is only a 1 hour job,according to the book.
I would think you would need to have done a few to get it down to that time though

termike

I am hearing sort of the same sound, only from the rear. How do I check for bad bearings? Is this something that I and a friend can do on a Saturday?

flynbya2

I think that may be possible if you didn't realign with the lowering process,because it may apply a slightly different angle to the pressure applied to the bearing .

I am speculating a bit here though, just for the record

Otherwise, complete coinky-dink

MrLeadFoot

It was easy to tell SOMETHING was wrong once I jacked my car up.

When I spun the wheels I could tell immediately that something was amiss with my left front wheel. While the right front made no sound when I spun the wheel, except for a slight brake drag sound, the right wheel was significantly louder, it sounded kind of like a skateboard wheel, except MUCH louder.

And, like I said above, there was absolutely no play in the wheel.

FWIW, once removed from the car, even when I tried to move the bearing in its housing there was no play. When I spun the bearing slowly, it was silent. But, when I spun it fast, you could easily hear it. I don't think the bearings were shot, though, I think it was more of a matter of them being really dry. Of course, being dry I would guess would probably cause them to wear down quite quickly.

Now, that the front bearing has been replaced, it's all quiet again.

ShadowLight

One thing I've found with my problem is that it seems intermittent (meaning I took it to the dealer and it quit, now it's doing it agian) and when I press the brakes it makes the sound go away.

Any new ideas folks?