Frozen E

Ok guys, I posted a dew days ago about my Lude making a wobbling noise, but didn't get much of an answer. I just read a post in the civic forum that has me worried. Anyway, here's the deal. I bought a 92 Lude last week. I replaced both half shafts on it since both outer boots had been shot for a while I guess. I never got to drive the car before I bought it. Just kinda spur of the moment thing when I helped my buddy fix his halfshafts. Anyway, the car makes a noise going down the road (even at low speeds) like a very badly balanced tire. It's a regular sound, not something that just happens every once in a while. It's always there. I kinda rule out the CV joint being bad on the account that the car has new halfshafts. Wheel bearing seems to be fine since there's no play whatsoever when I try to move the tire. Steering knuckles are fine.
So back to this post I read. Somebody mentioned something about a bearing in the tranny causing a noise. Anybody ever have this problem? The noise is there when the car's in gear and even when it's just coasting in neutral. Another reason I ruled out the CV. Also no matter if turning or going in a straight line, still there.
Any help here would be appreciated. I don't really wanna have to drop $60 to have some wannabe honda mechanic take a look at it and have it be something REALLY simple.
TIA

::Edit::: Just thought I'd throw in that when I have the car off the ground and the right side tire off, when I spin the hub, it sounds like the noise is coming from the upper joint area. Either inside the tranny or that upper joint. Is it common to get "lemon" rebuilt halfshafts?

rjr162

Don't rule out the wheel bearing yet!

I noticed my left rear would "click" ever so slightly if I pulled and pushed on the rim/tire. I replaced that hub/wheel bearing assembly... but noticed there was also a really loud humming wobbling something like that type noise from the rear end. It went away on hard right hand turns, was there when driving straight, and got louder on left hand turns. I took the hub off the right side, ya... that grease was pitch black and looked nasty. Popped a new one on, and it's absolutely quite.

the only thing I can say about the front though is they are pressed into the knuckle, so swapping it out might be a major pain in the *** if that is what it is.

EDIT> the right side wheel didn't click or do anything out of the norm... which made me wonder if the hub/wheel bearing was what was making the noise, because the other wheel actually moved to show me it was bad

Elkins911

wheel bearings.

just did my fronts and my car runs so much nicer. easier to replace than tranny too.

007Legend

it is a known problem, you can assemble plates on the suspension self locking nut in the boot this to set the rubbers.

Stef

Frozen E

Well, I yanked everything appart today because the noise was getting worse and worse. Pulled that long *** bolt out that hold the fork on, and undid the nut that hold the lower balljoint together. Swung the whole hub assembly out after loosening the axle nut. Pulled the calliper and rotor off, and gave the hub a spin. Sounds like sand inside the wheel bearing. I gave the halfshaft a spin just to make sure that IT wasn't bad and it's smooth as silk. Great news for me. Went to Checker's, picked up a new wheel bearing ($59) and went home thinking I was gonna do the job right then and there. WRONG ANSWER!!! Need a damn hydraulic press to do the job. So I might just slap everything back together and drive the car to a shop and have them do it. Less headache for me.
So, should I go ahead and have them do the other side too since the car is already there anyway? I didn't pull that side appart to see how that bearing was sounding though. Eh, I think I'll just stick with the one side for now.
Elkins911, did you get the bearing out yourself or have a shop do it?

rjr162

Honestly, I'd do all 4 if I were you.

The front 2 need to be pressed into the knuckle, as you've found out. The rear come bundled already in the rear hub assemblys. The rear are a super easy swap you can do yourself. You'll need a center tap or something of the sort to bend the wheel nut up (just like in the front), and might need a chissle to tap the inside rear peice of the bearing off the spindle. I used one to make enough of a gap that I could get a "pickle fork" (ball joint seperator) down in there and pop the unit off. My guess is if one's gone the rest aren't too far behind.

The rear can be found at Advanced Auto for $79 each w/tax IIRC

nuc79

my accord had this problem about 5 years ago, but it was self inflicted. I tried to "extract" the hub from the bearing with a slide hammer in order to replace the rotor. Well, I got the rotor replaced, but destroyed the bearing in the process of using the slide hammer. Had to have a machine shop press out the old bearing, press in the new bearing. Took the whole front steering knuckle to them, disconnected at the top ball joint, bottom ball joint, and tie rod end, with the caliper removed. $35 labor, and $45 for the part from the dealer.

FYI: I wouldn't unneccessarily replace all of them just because one wore out. The three remaining wheel bearings on my accord have 250k on them, and not a problem. It's not like it'll be any more difficult or more expensive if you wait until later to do them.

SuperSH

Sometimes the bearing seals go bad and in turn make the breaking go out. Or damage to the bearings like nuc79 did. I don't replace wheel bearings unless they are known or suspected bad. Why spend the extra money.