95 Civic EX 5-speed 220,000 miles. Loud drone, increasing with wheel speed, neutral doesn't change the noise, nor does steering side-to-side. Sounds like giant snow tires on front wheels. Any suggestions? Over the last few weeks it's progressed where I won't drive the car. Better to just get another transmission or fix this one? Car was worth about $2000 to me before this happened.

 

Pull the axles out and see if the diff has play (not the side gears, the diff itself).

 

Umm,that sounds like wheel bearings to me...

 

Sounds more like wheel bearings are going than anything else

 

Wheel bearings won't have any noise present in neutral (at a stop). Since he mentioned neutral I assumed he meant the noise is present at idle. If its the wheel bearings he would find that when pulling the axles out.

 

Sorry I did a bad job describing the noise. I meant neutral at 50 or 60. It did turn out to be a front wheel bearing. I didn't think a wheel bearing would sound like this.