Hey Guys-
I'm about to take a trip up north and I wanted to take the Tercel. Driving around town I have been hearing a rythmic humbing or grumbling sound and I have it in my head the bearings are going.. But, being a newbie with cars - I really dont know what to look for or listen for.. I made a video, thinking maybe one of you guys would see something unusual. Maybe something will jump out at you and you will know better...
Thanks,
John
If I had to judge solely by the video and audio, I would say bearing trouble.
My questions however are:
Does it get worse while turning, accelerating, or braking?
And does it make any difference whether coasting in neutral or in gear cruising at a steady speed?
When my front bearings went bad, it was relatively quiet while cruising/coasting or accelerating, but turning or hitting the brakes caused front end rumble.
I will make some observations with regards to the turning, accelerating, and braking and get back with my results.
Note, when I start to manually turn the wheel in the back direction for some reason the wind picked up at that very moment and made a grumbling noise.. You will hear the grumble noise when the wheel is not moving and know what I'm talking about..
Thanks
The shield behind the rotor can get bent so that it hits the rotor. Could also be some part of the pads...or clips...or those "wear indicators" that were put in wrong.
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.
Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...
I've had a bad bearing on a 1990 toyota tercel. I found that the cabin noise was greatly reduced after I changed them. If you find it heard to hear someone talk or hear music then it might be a bearing. It is hard to tell from the sound of just rotating the tire by hand if it is the bearing.
Pads and wear indicators look good. Clips appear to be installed properly.
It does seem difficult to hear someone talk in the cabin of the car with that rythmic or grumble noise, but that could be the tires I'm hearing... Have yet to hear any grinding of any sort. I get a rythmic grumble when coasting and accelerating.. Doesnt seem to get any worse when I turn. I priced these things out and it looks like over $100 for 2 front bearings and seals. ( I read the sdoan write-up and it looks do-able ) Seems pretty costly for a part that goe's on an almost 30 year old car..
Wondering if I took a 300 mile road trip down to Miami to visit a friend with no ill effects would that prove that the bearings are good and ok? A road trip on the HWY should really heat things up and get them to act differently which will make a louder noise or grindier noise giving me a clearer indication that the bearings are shot?
Check the latest prices on RockAuto.com. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think I paid well less than half that much for the bearings. (I was able to reuse seals.)
I would drive it, it just does not sound like bearings to me. That is less than one tank of gas, even if ground up it should hold up that long. If anything, it may get bad enough to know for sure what it wrong. That is always my back-up plan when I can not isolate a noise. Verify that all of the important safety stuff is good, nothing will fall off, etc. and drive it until it gets so loud locating it becomes much easier.
Of course I have 3 year old clunk in my front suspension that I still have not isolated, but it has been driving just fine.
I've changed a few wheel bearings; the noise indications are a continuous hum sound that intensifies over time, not one that changes when the wheel is turned left or right. The bearing failure mode will be obvious as it becomes a very loud growl.
One very simple way to check for wheel bearing sounds is to elevate the car's front end, or rear end, on jackstands, and with the car turned off, spin those elevated wheels by hand--one at a time--after removing the wheel covers.To check the rear wheels you will need to disengage the clutch and parking brake, and chock the front wheels. If your hearing is normal you should be able to hear any whining or grinding caused by a worn out bearing--and by comparing the noises left and right, you should be able to isolate a wheel that may have a bearing problem. Obviously, it's best to do this in a quiet garage, and having another person listen is a good doublecheck.
"I'm high on the real thing: Powerful gasoline, a clean windshield, and a shoeshine."
if you suspect its the rear wheel bearings
on a smooth road
sit in the back seat and while someone drives open the door and listen at each side
be careful the door does not hit something and slam shut
the front bearings are usually a continuos growl
but usually when turning right the left wheel will get a bit noisier
and turning left the right will be a bit noisier
same applies to the rears
jacking up the car and rotating the rear axle does not work that well if the bearing is not super bad
there are too many other noises created by the differential to distinguish from
obviously if you can wiggle the axle all over the place the bearing is shot
same goes for the front (although front differential noises are not near as loud as the rears)
when you remove front axle from the hub spin the hub (this can be done without removing hub from car)
it should be silent and tight
if you hear ball bearings or feel a wiggle its going bad
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
to xirdneh's point, my bearings were silky smooth on the front of my Tercel while rolling at a steady cruise or accelerating, and they gave no indication of being bad on the jack stands, but they were clearly hosed when I disassembled the hub. If anything, diagnosing them can be tricky. Just try to eliminate other potential causes first, as the bearings are probably the most troublesome to correct.
The cheapest price I got bearings in Perth Australia is at $118 the others were charging $190, thats ridiculous. I'd change both sides if it was cheaper.
1985 SR5 Custom, Lifted legs 3" rear 1" front, 205/70/15 shoes, Stock 1.5 heart all arteries cleaned.
I agree with everyone. If you jack up the front as hberdan suggests, put one hand on the spring as you, or someone else rotates the front tire. You can feel the vibration of a bad bearing through the spring. It works pretty amazing. Also, be aware that worn tires can make a road noise that mimics a bad wheel bearing, especially if the edges look/feel cupped. Also grab the tire from top to bottom and then side to side and see if there is any play in the hub. You will get different noise from a bad bearing if one race is bad. Easier to differentiate with older cone style bearings, not the style our cars have. The bearing is loaded when the vehicle is turned. Usually, but not always, the loaded side is the bad one.
I would not replace both bearings unless you know they both bad, there is no time savings and many times the bearings can last a very long time. My current daily driver had to have the the right side front wheel bearing replaced at about 180k miles about 10 years ago, my left side one is just started to develop a bit of wobble and it has about 340k miles on it, I think it is the orignal. Of the 8 or so daily drivers or project Tercels I have had, I had to replace the right side front bearings 4 times, and never had to replace a left side one until now. for some reason the left side bearings seem to last longer than the right side, I found the same thing true with the rear axle bears as well. Or maybe it was just the luck of the draw? Or at least in North America, the right side had curb strikes more often perhaps.
