how do you know a wheel bearing is on its way out.

muddle84

as above. i have a 07 focus 1.8 diesel with a kind a hum coming out of the back. my mate reckons its the bearing and another one reckons its just a noisy tyre.....
any idea???

Tefral

Simplist thing is to drive it. If the "Humming" noise gets louder the faster you go its defo a bearing.

Also Ford Focus's have crap wheel bearings.

muddle84

and what if the noise is the same even when your going slow??

also what happens if the bearing goes

Avns1s

muddle84 wrote: »

as above. i have a 07 focus 1.8 diesel with a kind a hum coming out of the back. my mate reckons its the bearing and another one reckons its just a noisy tyre.....
any idea???

The hum could suggest a bearing. What mileage on the car?

Avns1s

muddle84 wrote: »

also what happens if the bearing goes

What are you basing that on?

I am not aware of the focus wheel bearings being any worse than any other cars.

Plug

Lift up the back off the car and spin the wheels by hand fast. You'll here a rough sound if a bearing is fooked.

muddle84

Avns1s wrote: »

What are you basing that on?

I am not aware of the focus wheel bearings being any worse than any other cars.

basing what on? its just a question???

Tefral

muddle84 wrote: »

basing what on? its just a question???

Probably ment to quote my last sentence. Im basing it on experience of owning focus's for 10 years and having to replace them MYSELF several times.

They have the most stupid plastic housing around them, in my opinion its a bad design, although i am aware they got better as the years wore on.

muddle84

there is 114000miles on the car!!! is a bearing hard to replace??

Plug

muddle84 wrote: »

there is 114000miles on the car!!! is a bearing hard to replace??

Remove the wheel and the drum first. Then behind the back of the bearing are four torxs, I think they are size 45. Just remove them and the bearing will pop out and reverse the procedure. Thats the theory though:)

With a lift they are handy.

Tefral

muddle84 wrote: »

there is 114000miles on the car!!! is a bearing hard to replace??

Miles?? You mean KM? No not that hard to replace if you have the right tools/equipment. (father and brother are mechanics) so i had everything there including the press.

muddle84

cronin_j wrote: »

Miles?? You mean KM? No not that hard to replace if you have the right tools/equipment. (father and brother are mechanics) so i had everything there including the press.

No i mean miles! i know the difference!!

do you need a press i change the bearing??

Avns1s

cronin_j wrote: »

Probably ment to quote my last sentence. Im basing it on experience of owning focus's for 10 years and having to replace them MYSELF several times.

They have the most stupid plastic housing around them, in my opinion its a bad design, although i am aware they got better as the years wore on.

Sorry, yes, meant to quote the last part.

I take your point based on experience but in fairness, I have come across lots of high mileage focus' with the original wheel bearing in them.

What replacement bearings were you using as a matter of interest?

Tefral

muddle84 wrote: »

No i mean miles! i know the difference!!

do you need a press i change the bearing??

Your car an english import? The only reason I ask is the Odo should be telling you KM? anyway thats a mute point. You got good mileage (excuse the pun) out of them!

EDIT: I had to anyway to put it back in.. They came out fair handy though, opened the hub up and one or two of the balls/wheels just fell out..

Tefral

Avns1s wrote: »

Sorry, yes, meant to quote the last part.

I take your point based on experience but in fairness, I have come across lots of high mileage focus' with the original wheel bearing in them.

What replacement bearings were you using as a matter of interest?

Honestly I cant remember, The first time I stole the hubs out of my dads one as i was stuck for the car and I just paid him for new ones. I defo bought some off shields ford garage in limerick though, think there could have been a set of blue print ones used at some stage too

muddle84

yeah its an english car originally. i only have it a month so i havent really got good mileage out of them i have a guarantee but i want to know what it is before i go back with it!!!

Blazer

Had to replace the bearing on my previous car (nissan primera 05) last year and it cost me about €150 I think..the nissans's are a bit more complete in that the bearing is part of the wheel hub or something like that so it was a bit more expensive..had my cousin do it for me in the end so it's not too expensive.

scamalert

had two front bearings replaced in pace of about 6 months time on different sides,on my mazda 323f,90k mileage on it,basically if you hear a humming noise when driving above 30m/h and near 3k revs its definitely bearing,and in time it gets louder,and consequences can be fatal at high speeds.Seems like a big trouble,but its only 2h job in garage and costs between 100-200,spoke with a mechanic about it being such a problem as i came to him second time,because its hard to locate wheres the sound is cooming from when driving,passengers say its their side,you say its your side but for them it only takes few minutes after lifting and spinning the wheel to tell which one is it.As my car was imported from england and im careful enough to avoid potholes he reckoned that wheel alignment can be an issue for bearing wearing down so fast,so might get it done aswell ,hope it helps.

muddle84

thank you for all your replys. im just after remembering that i just did the nct two weeks ago. would the nct pick up on a dodgy bearing?????

scamalert

muddle84 wrote: »

thank you for all your replys. im just after remembering that i just did the nct two weeks ago. would the nct pick up on a dodgy bearing?????

as said before wheel aligment might be way off that nct would of picked up,otherwise they test suspension more on wheel basis,question is ,was the sound there before the nct,as bearing starts to break of slow and in time it gets worse,so might not pick it up straight away,but if you want to be sure go to small garage pay 10e or ask to check it and they will definitely tell you in 5 minutes which wheel bearing is going out.

muddle84

yes the sound was there becore the nct!

muddle84

ok i jacked each wheel up and spun them and the only sound i could hear was what sounded like the brake pad against the disc. the back discs dont look great but the front are brand new. the tyres are fine except one of them has a weird nipple sticking out of it a little higher than the tyre itself.

oh and there is no two tyres the same on the car!!!

mgbgt1978

If it's a bearing it will usually get louder when you go around a corner and put more weight/pressure on the bearing in question.
i.e. if a left hand bearing is on the way out you will hear a very loud hum when you go around a right-hand bend as the car leans to the left.

scamalert

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

If it's a bearing it will usually get louder when you go around a corner and put more weight/pressure on the bearing in question.
i.e. if a left hand bearing is on the way out you will hear a very loud hum when you go around a right-hand bend as the car leans to the left.

could also be a gearbox making the same sound then
If you want to test it your self,jack the car up on the wheel which you suspect and do like in the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpdghLj6AhE,also put your hands on 9 and 3 o clock and do some pushing and listen is there any clunking noise,or any movement.Also dont forget to use all the safety hand brake etc :pac:

mgbgt1978

The Op said the noise is coming from the rear of the car.
Unless he has a Rear-engined Focus then I don't think the gearbox is an issue here.:)

scamalert

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

The Op said the noise is coming from the rear of the car.
Unless he has a Rear-engined Focus then I don't think the gearbox is an issue here.:)

what i meant is my brother has troubles with gearbox when turning right i think it makes this cracking noise which means one of the gears is going out,just as as example,not that Ops car has anything to do with gearbox

murphhy

Does the car have a V-pattern tyre on the back? If so its a good bet that's what making the hum, they tend to be noisy