My 91 Civic, makes a sorta humming noise when mostly going towards the right. I'm thinking it's the passenger wheel bearing. Any accurate way of checking a bad wheel bearing?

 

that pretty much sounds liek a worn bearing.

jack the car up, rotate the wheel by hand. it should not be making any noise, and you can feel for roughness to be sure. but it probably needs replacing if youre hearing the certain symptom of humming noise while driving.

 

So what side should I fix?

When you turn/go towards left, makes no noise. When you turn/go towards right, it makes noie.

 

its usuall the loaded side, which means the driver side if youre turning right.

check both to compare and make sure.

 

How can I check them?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tyson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">jack the car up, rotate the wheel by hand. it should not be making any noise, and you can feel for roughness to be sure. but it probably needs replacing if youre hearing the certain symptom of humming noise while driving.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

i had the exact same sound when my drivers side rear wheel bearing went...get it fixed asap...i chewed up my spindle driving with it the way it was

 

haha yea i forgot you posted that earlier. Thanks!

 

Also, while you have that corner up in the air, grab the wheel/tire on the top and 12:00, and jerk it in and out. If you have any play, the bearing is bad.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LowFlyin’ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, while you have that corner up in the air, grab the wheel/tire on the top and 12:00, and jerk it in and out. If you have any play, the bearing is bad.</TD></TR></TABLE>

it could also mean your balljoints are bad. this is not the proper way to test a bearing.

 

It's pretty easy to tell when the play is coming from a bearing or a ball joint.

 

That's right, look at the components while you are trying to move the wheel.

Also, if you spin the wheel, don't confuse other noises to be bad wheel bearing, i.e. dust shield, caliper, axle, etc.