What a bad wheel bearing sound like?

[sasha055]

Hi,

I have a bad wheel bearing I beleive...
I can hear a "whooo" sound from my rear left when I'm going over 50mph.

It's not very loud, with the top down I can't hear it (I can if I listen for it.) however with top up I can hear it clearly...
It quiet before 45-50mph... it gets louder when I go over 70..

Is it a bad bearing? how can I test it?
I would really like to be sure that it's a bad bearing before dropping 300$++ for SIR tools to replace it.

Any advice on what that sound could be?

Also is there anyone in Seattle area that have the tool and will be kind to let me borrow it? or sell me a used one?

Thanks
Sasha

[boxster6354]

What a Bad wheel bearing sounds like

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad,achoo! EXCUSE ME YOUR EXCUSED
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once Again,
Who's Bad . . .
:dance:

[ARModen]

Have you jacked it up and tried to spin it in neutral? I would think you'd be able to detect a bad bearing like if you have some wobble in the wheel rotation. I've never seen one go bad, so I'd check the CV joints, tire wear, and the brakes while you have it jacked up.

I'd also check the air filter, and intake piping since it's over on that side.

[extanker]

Originally Posted by boxster6354

What a Bad wheel bearing sounds like

Because I'm Bad, I'm Bad-Come On
(Bad Bad-Really, Really Bad)
You Know I'm Bad,achoo! EXCUSE ME YOUR EXCUSED
And The Whole World Has To
Answer Right Now
Just To Tell You Once Again,
Who's Bad . . .
:dance:

bad bearing...no dessert for you

[husker boxster]

Rear bearings definitely go out on Boxsters (search wheel bearing). What yr is yours and is it base or S? The rears seem to be particularly weak on 2001 Ss.

I had an 01S that had a rt rear go bad. Can't help you on the sound - I couldn't hear anything but the mechanic at the dealer said it was bad. It did sound quieter in the cabin after it was replaced - less what I would call "road noise".

[sasha055]

I have a 2000 base boxster.

What should I look for when rotating the wheel on a jacked car?

Thanks
Sasha

[extanker]

look/feel for play..another way is to have a mechanic put the car on a lift and check them with the car running in gear..listening for a whirling,grinding,growling noise...its easier to find it if you dont have a posi

[ppbon]

Many times worn or noisy tires can be mistaken for bad bearings.
One way to tell if it's the bearing is to drive at the speed where it's the loudest. then swerve briskly to one side, then the other.
If the sound (tone) changes, most likely it's a bad bearing.
If the sound remains the same, most likely it's the tires.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

[Boxtaboy]

Pedro, by that logic, if it's the tires, shouldn't the "whom whom" sound be more prevalent even more when the top is down than when it is up? I have what I think is a bad rear wheel bearing sound, but I hear it more when he top is up at, and traveling at around 40mph. The sound seems prevalent even when coasting down to 5mph, but seems to disappear after 50mph. Also, when top is down, I can hardly notice the noise.

When I make a sudden turn of steering wheel, the noises do not change. When I lift the car and turn or pull on the wheel/tires, no noises. Sound has been going on for years with different sets of tires. Not loud to the point of driving me crazy, so haven't done anything about it, but is occasionally annoying.

[jcb986]

I agree with Pedro on the bearing/tire noise. When a bearing goes bad it's because grease has escape and the bearing is overheating from friction and is beginning to breakup. The sound is something like driving on a paved country road with those little rocks at the surface. You also should here it about 20-30 mph miles an hour...loudest at about 50-60. Also check your trans-axle. Have you had your alignment checked.

[sasha055]

Thanks for all the great responses.
At 20mph there is no sound.. it's quiet.

How can I check my transaxle? what should I look for?

My car has 70K miles on it, I had an alignment 2 month ago.. I can't really tell if noise were there before or not since I had the alignment done 3 weeks after I bought the car.

Thanks
Sasha

[jcb986]

Is your Box a stick. Have you seen any oil from around the trans where the axle connects. The diff has about one liter of 90 weight oil. If the diff gets low you can develop a roar like noise from it and only notice it at a higher speed. I would jack it up, look and see if the boots are not broken and check the trans. By narrowing down the problem areas you closer to solving your problem.

PS: I just checked on how to change the rear wheel bearing and that is a lot of work. You need to press out the old bearing and press in a new one. Find a Indy near you.
Check here to see how it's done. http://boxcar-racing.com/forum/index.php?topic=562.0

[edevlin]

This is for all those with higher mileage boxsters. I think my rear wheel bearings are going, I have about 95K on my 2000 base boxster with the original bearings. How many in the group have boxsters 90K+ that are running their original rear wheel bearings, thanks,

Ed

[sasha055]

MIne is most probably a bearing.
I finally got a thermometer (wasn't paying attention and got one from china.. I mean shipped from china) and checked the temperature on the axle after driving about 1 hr.

Axles were same at about 96 degrees. However when I checked temperature at the boot, "bad" side was about 12 degrees hotter (116 deg vs 104 deg)

I also went to an local porsche shop (non dealer ) and owner was kind enough to drive around with me.. and pointed out the bearing too..

Next weekend will be a DIY wheel bearing weekend.. hopefully I can do it

On the side note, I changed my engine mount, spark plugs, fuel filter, oil and belt this weekend.. car feels great! no more vibration! idle went up from 600RPM to 800RPM and feels more steady! and I feel proud! it's my first time getting under the car!

Thanks everyone for great advice and support! Thanks to Pedro for excellent DIY section!
And to everyone who wants to DIY it.. if I can do it .. anyone can do it! Don't be afraid
I'm a software engineer, I never got my hands dirty and never held a wrench before.. I didn't even knew the difference between wrench and socket.. and I did it!

Thanks a lot!
Sasha

[Wret]

Just changed one of mine yesterday. Sounded like tire pattern noise for months. I finally decided to change the tire although there was plenty of tread left. Noise was still there! The bearing change took care of the noise.

[sasha055]

Wret, was it hard? any piece of advice or tips?

Did you use one of the online DIY's? How long did it take?
Any special tools?

Sorry for all the questions
Thanks
Sasha

[Wret]

It wasn't particularly hard but I managed to spread it out for most of the day with breaks for beer, soaking in the pool, bbqing, and an unplanned father's day celebration.

I did it without the special $250 tool. I found and reviewed two or three DIY's and accumulated some parts for a couple weeks that I thought I would need. I didn't remove the strut, only the ball joing connections for the toe and camber control arms. A generic hub puller that did the trick for the pulling the hub, which came out with half the bearing attached to it.


A 12"x 5/8 threaded rod with various washers got the rest of the bearing and shell out. The one part that might be harder to find is a cup to draw the bearing into. A 3" pipe or aluminum conduit union would be perfect but Home Depot doesn't stock anything that large. Maybe a plumbing or electrical supply store. Fortunately I had a piece of pipe that did the trick. I'll try a little sketch.

The part of the bearing still seized to the hub might give you a problem. I scored it slightly with an angle grinder blade so that it cracked and slid off. The most frustrating thing was getting the shafts of the ball joints to slide back in. The socket has a lip near the top and the shaft kept getting hung up and would slide past the lip. I ended up smoothing the lip just a bit with a drill and it slide right in. I put the bearing in the freezer before pressing it in with the same threaded rod tool and also chilled the hub before pressing it in.