Wheel Bearing

hybridmouse

Hi all, I need a little advice!

I brought my car (03 Micra) to the local mechanic because of a loud humming that was happening when I got up to about 50km. He said it was a wheel bearing but wasn't sure in which wheel.

He has asked me to come back in about a month when the humming is louder, and he'll be able to identify which wheel and sort it out. He knows I do high mileage each day (North Dublin - Wicklow Town and back) but says that it's not dangerous to be driving it.

Is this ok? I don't like leaving it because it's a loud hum and it's very disconcerting when I'm driving.

king_of_inismac

If it's a wheel bearing, a good mechanic will put it on the lift and find the wheel giving trouble by simple checking for "play".

It's a two-minute job.

Waiting for it to get worse is very stupid advice in my opinion.

Conclusion: Go to another mechanic!

hybridmouse

He said he did that but couldn't see which wheel. He knows it's one of the front two, but can't say which yet...

Gone Drinking

Surely he could just spin the wheel and listen to which one sounds worse..

hybridmouse

Weird! Ok I reckon a second opinion is in order!

CiniO

hybridmouse wrote: »

He said he did that but couldn't see which wheel. He knows it's one of the front two, but can't say which yet...

Maybe it's both
Virtually driving for another month shouldn't be a problem and you shouldn't worry. But good mechanic should be able to find the broken bearing very easily.
So if he can't find it, I wouldn't trust him enough to let him change it in my car afterwards.

Another way of finding is, by checking the temperature of the wheel.
After fast driving (f.e motorway driving), stop and check if one of the wheels isn't warmer then the others. This can be a good indication of worn bearing.

FoxT

Might be difficult to see which wheel is hotter as the brakes will be hot as well. You could try this: Is the noise louder when you steer to the left or the right? If it gets louder when you steer to the left then it is probably the right hand one, and vice versa.


if you are worried, or a high mileage driver, then consider replacing both. They are cheap. They rarely fail outright but when they do, the car is undriveable. Or, take the car to a garage, get them to replace 1 of them, and if that doesnt work , replace the other as well. Gives you a 50/50 chance of success!

- FoxT

jimmyw

Jeez, you mean the mechanic cant decide which of the two front wheels is making the noise?:eek:.Bloody hell if they rock it from side to side and spin the wheel they should know.Even I could find it, I work on my own cars.They call themselves a mechanic!!:rolleyes:.Leaving it seems a bit of odd advise.

hybridmouse

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm going to take it to the family mechanic and let him have a look. I can't take it until next Wednesday but he said that it'll be grand to drive until then.

I only went to the local guy here for handiness. I really hate driving with that humming noise, it's very loud and it makes me nervous!

I could swear the sound is coming from the front right wheel, but the mechanic said that didn't mean anything. I'd rather he had changed both than neither!

keithclancy

hybridmouse wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm going to take it to the family mechanic and let him have a look. I can't take it until next Wednesday but he said that it'll be grand to drive until then.

I only went to the local guy here for handiness. I really hate driving with that humming noise, it's very loud and it makes me nervous!

I could swear the sound is coming from the front right wheel, but the mechanic said that didn't mean anything. I'd rather he had changed both than neither!

gofaster_s13

I've often had cars in the garage with bearings noticeably humming when driving but when jacked up have absolutly no play or noise when spun or noise when driven with wheels jacked up, sometimes a bearing will only make noise when under load, can be very hard to diagnose which bearing is on its way out in this situation.

hybridmouse

I went to a tyre centre at home coz I wanted to just get it sorted and they were able to tell me in 5 minutes which wheel it was and said that the other mechanic had also missed a problem with a wheel rod in the front that also needs to be repaired.

So they're going to sort it out for me tomorrow. Don't think I'll be going back to the first guy.

Going to get them to check it out thoroughly for me tomorrow too in case he missed anything else before my NCT...

?Cee?view

Believe it or not, it could be a crappy or cheap tyre.

I brought the wife's car to a mechanic to check the bearing which I could hear going in the front left wheel. He agreed, yes, it sounded exactly like a bearing on its way out, but when he checked them he confirmed that the bearings were fine.

New tyre last week. Noise is gone! The "tyre" guy said that some of the cheaper tyres are extremely noisy and sound just like a bearing on the way out.

hybridmouse

Hi Churchview, I don't think that's the problem, they're good quality tyres on the car, I do so much mileage that I'm careful about the tyres!

hybridmouse

Ahhhh! They've fixed the hum
I don't need to drive home with the radio on full blast today to drown it out..woo!