Hey guys,

I have never dealt with a bad wheel bearing before but I think I might have them. I thought most of the time when they're bad, they make a grinding noise. The issue with my car (1997 Accord LX wagon) is the car doesn't roll smoothly. Both wheels don't turn much when the front wheels are off the ground. It acts like the calipers are sticking, but they aren't. They don't make any unusual noises when driving the car.

I took both calipers off and tried to spin the wheels. They turn only 2.5 rotations and then they stop. No grinding noises or anything. Same thing happens when the calipers are reinstalled. There's clearly something stopping them from moving.

Can you think of anything else that could be wrong? Again, both are doing the same thing.

The car has 243K miles and I believe it could've been involved in a flood. I took out all of the interior and noticed rust where there shouldn't have been (seat rails and shifter assembly were rusty)

Any ideas is greatly appreciated.

 

Hub nut might be over-torqued. Loosen 1/4 to 1/2 turn and see if that makes a difference. You should replace the bearings anyway.

 

Yeah i agree with jdowen2 with everything. Especially with that many miles on it it wouldn't be a bad decision to replace both of them before they lock up or fall apart


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Ah, good idea! I was planning to replace them anyway. I was worried it might've been something up with the tranny.

Thanks guys!

 

Simple way to check for bad wheel bearings is to jack up the front of the car and grab the tire at 12 and 6 o clock and shake back and forth. Do the same at the 9 and 3 o clock positions. If its bad you should hear a metal hitting metal noise as well as feel a small amount of play in the wheel.

+1 on the hub nut and replacing the bearings anyways.

Goodluck!