Author Topic: Front wheel bearing issue?? (Read 6626 times)

pakman84 · « **on:** November 18, 2009, 07:27:15 AM »

I put this thread in the wrong forum originally and have performed numerous searches.... I have a loud moaning coming from the front of my car when driving 40-70 mph...It gets alot more noticable if I turn to the right and less noticable if I turn to the left...I jacked the front end of my car up this AM and spun each wheel...The left front wheel has resistance to it when I spun it and it sounds like it is rubbing on something...I did the same to right front wheel and it spun easier but had intermittent resistance throughout each rotation.....I also recently, after I noticed the noise initially, changed the oil in my manual transmission and differential, and I don't notice any thing rubbing underneath the car...Any ideas??? I am thinking that I might have a bearing issue....My car has 165k on it and have no maintenace records....
-John

ak96ss · « **Reply #1 on:** November 18, 2009, 08:02:15 AM »

That would be my first suggestion, change the front wheel bearings.

pakman84 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2009, 06:41:37 AM »

I changed out the front left bearing...the noise is still there...Any ideas?

ak96ss · « **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2009, 06:59:02 AM »

I prefer to do those in pairs - you gotta figure that if you had one go bad, the other is just as old, so you may as well do them both.

Have you jacked the front end up off the ground and checked for interference through the full range of the front tires (side-to-side)?

pakman84 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 02, 2009, 07:11:02 AM »

I checked the front out and it looked like it wasn't rubbing on anything...One thing I did notice is that rear wheel wells look extremely low....They are much closer to the tires than the front wheel wells....Does this mean that my rear shocks may need to be replaced? The rubbing sound is getting worse...

pakman84 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 02, 2009, 12:47:20 PM »

I went out to my car at lunch and obtained these measurements from top outer lip of the wheel well to the ground: Rear: L=603.25 mm,R=590.55 mm; Front: L=654.05 mm, R=641.35 mm............Obviously my front tire wells are higher than my rear tire wells-Is this normal?
Can someone compare this to the Bently manual as I cannot get to mine currently...I also pushed on all 4 corners of the car and the rear corners when pushed also "rock" side to side....Are the rear shocks my issue???

z3frog · « **Reply #6 on:** December 02, 2009, 01:14:25 PM »

On the newer E30s and all cabrio E30s the rear wheels wells are lower than the fronts, that's correct.

When I had moaning sounds that varied when turning and speed like your car, it was my front right wheel bearing...

pakman84 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 02, 2009, 01:50:01 PM »

Great....so I changed out the wrong bearing???The noise is occuring when I turn slightly to the right....

z3frog · « **Reply #8 on:** December 02, 2009, 02:01:16 PM »

To be honest I still don't know too much about cars, but I'm trying to learn

Anyway, you said that the right front also had "intermittent" resistance through the rotation? If you say that you can't see anything rubbing... then I would guess that it's either the brakes getting stuck or wheel bearing. It makes me think wheel bearing because the noise varies in the turns as the load changes.

Have you checked the temperature of the part of the hub where the bearing is after driving for a while? A bad bearing has more friction and heats up more. Just go take a feel after a drive, and compare the front left to the front right? The front left is new, so that should be at a normal temperature! If the front right is noticeably hotter, the the front right wheel bearing might be an issue.

Anyway, that advice about changing bearing in pairs sounds good to me, even though I only changed one out last year... everything is working fine for now.

pakman84 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 03, 2009, 07:17:19 AM »

I drove the car about 20 miles this AM and both front bearings felt fine...The vibration/noise feel like it is coming from under my feet...I would think that it might be my driveshaft bearing or guibo but would it get worse when I am steering to the right???

Ramblin MAn · « **Reply #10 on:** December 03, 2009, 09:25:20 AM »

Control arm bushings shot
Broken belt in tire,
The bearing you didn't replace.
loose exhaust to tranny bracket

When you replaced your bearings on the left side you replaced the inner AND outer wheel bearings?

Your right front sounds like a warped brake disc. You really need to replace the right side's wheels bearings and while you have it all apart run that rotor up and have it turned.

Leave the car on the ground and get a couple friends to push the car side to side while yo look at the CAB bushings and see how much they move. They may be so worn that they are transmitting vibration to the body.

You will just have to go through each thing and either verify it's ok or replace and move to the next

pakman84 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 03, 2009, 09:45:08 AM »

I replaced the bearing hub assembly...I did replace the brake pads about 5000 miles ago and my exhaust is loose but it makes a different noise....I spun the right rotor and had a little resistance from the brake pads but not much...

pakman84 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 03, 2009, 02:13:18 PM »

Brought the car to a shop and they told me the right wheel bearing needs to be replaced...So I'll do that tomorrow AM...

pakman84 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 04, 2009, 10:30:42 AM »

Changed it out this AM and all is well.....

z3frog · « **Reply #14 on:** December 05, 2009, 03:33:09 AM »

Congrats! Now both your front wheel bearings are new and you won't have to worry about them for a long time