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Wheel bearing replaced but noise not gone


cavolonero

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Hi Gents, maybe one of you can help me with this: before Xmas I dropped my car off at a specialist for it's annual service and to fix a bearing type noise coming from the rear when I load up the left. (turn right)

 

Service done, garage called me to confirm the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing and even while they were at it they even gave me call to let me know the carrier plate needed replacing as it was seized. Very good experience and I knew how much it would cost before the work was done. Excellent.... however, when I picked up the car and parted with my cash I found that the noise is still there. :cry:

 

It sounds and behaves exactly as before: load the right (turn left) and it is quiet, load the left (turn right) and there is a wheel bearing type hum.

 

The mechanic who went with me for a test drive today told me he thinks the rear right is noisy, in which case it seems like they've replaced the wrong side as I don't quite understand how it is possible for the rear right bearing to be quiet loaded, but noisy unloaded?

 

Any thoughts before another £400 goes towards replacing the rear right wheel bearing? And: what is the responsibility of the garage? I kind of feel that I'm paying for a trial and error diagnosis but for that I don't need a specialist.

 

 

(ps. to keep it fair I won't name the garage as they're doing some further investigation as to where the noise is coming from before proposing a solution)

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Hi Gents, maybe one of you can help me with this: before Xmas I dropped my car off at a specialist for it's annual service and to fix a bearing type noise coming from the rear when I load up the left. (turn right)

 

Service done, garage called me to confirm the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing and even while they were at it they even gave me call to let me know the carrier plate needed replacing as it was seized. Very good experience and I knew how much it would cost before the work was done. Excellent.... however, when I picked up the car and parted with my cash I found that the noise is still there. :cry:

 

It sounds and behaves exactly as before: load the right (turn left) and it is quiet, load the left (turn right) and there is a wheel bearing type hum.

 

The mechanic who went with me for a test drive today told me he thinks the rear right is noisy, in which case it seems like they've replaced the wrong side as I don't quite understand how it is possible for the rear right bearing to be quiet loaded, but noisy unloaded?

 

Any thoughts before another £400 goes towards replacing the rear right wheel bearing? And: what is the responsibility of the garage? I kind of feel that I'm paying for a trial and error diagnosis but for that I don't need a specialist.

 

 

(ps. to keep it fair I won't name the garage as they're doing some further investigation as to where the noise is coming from before proposing a solution)

isn't it best practise to do both at the same time?

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Hi Gents, maybe one of you can help me with this: before Xmas I dropped my car off at a specialist for it's annual service and to fix a bearing type noise coming from the rear when I load up the left. (turn right)

 

Service done, garage called me to confirm the left rear wheel bearing needed replacing and even while they were at it they even gave me call to let me know the carrier plate needed replacing as it was seized. Very good experience and I knew how much it would cost before the work was done. Excellent.... however, when I picked up the car and parted with my cash I found that the noise is still there. :cry:

 

It sounds and behaves exactly as before: load the right (turn left) and it is quiet, load the left (turn right) and there is a wheel bearing type hum.

 

The mechanic who went with me for a test drive today told me he thinks the rear right is noisy, in which case it seems like they've replaced the wrong side as I don't quite understand how it is possible for the rear right bearing to be quiet loaded, but noisy unloaded?

 

Any thoughts before another £400 goes towards replacing the rear right wheel bearing? And: what is the responsibility of the garage? I kind of feel that I'm paying for a trial and error diagnosis but for that I don't need a specialist.

 

 

(ps. to keep it fair I won't name the garage as they're doing some further investigation as to where the noise is coming from before proposing a solution)

 

 

£400 sounds alot for a wheel bearing. I paid £215 to a specialist to replace both a front and a rear on mine.

 

Shame he is in the midlands otherwise I would recomend.

 

Not sure if this helps much though.

 

isn't it best practise to do both at the same time?

 

I was told that unless they are causing problems its best to leave them alone.

 

They can be a bugger to do on IB's too.

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OK, just got a call: they are now sure that the right rear wheel bearing is making the noise, but only when turning right or going straight. (not when you actually load it by turning left)*

 

Further to that the mechanic swears that the left rear wheel bearing was much worse and absolutely needed replacement.

 

1. Can a bearing be quiet under load and be noisy when it's not loaded?

2. The intensity of the noise doesn't seem to have changed does 1 worn bearing make the same amount of noise as two?

 

*doh! you obviously load the rear right be turning left, not right.

Edited by cavolonero
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Hmm....service was £616, total bill £1029 inc. replacing the bearing and adjusting the fan pulley.

Where was it done again? OPC Croydon? Next time we meet you can do the fan pulley yourself Grasshopper :P

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£400 seems a lot to me as well, £40 for a bearing from Type911, how many hours did they take.

 

I did the bearing on my SC myself, bit of a cr*p job though.

Edited by strosek34
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they are now sure that the right rear wheel bearing is making the noise, but only when turning right or going straight. (not when you actually load it by turning right)

So it makes the noise when turning right but not loaded when turning right? :unsure: I'd give Tripe's handbrake cable a look...

1. Can a bearing be quiet under load and be noisy when it's not loaded?

2. The intensity of the noise doesn't seem to have changed does 1 worn bearing make the same amount of noise as two?

1. It is a tapered bearing IIRC, not sure if that makes a difference? Then again, it is held in by the big torque of the hub nut....

2. You're deaf in one ear.

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It could be that the handbrake cable guide has broken and the cable is now rubbing on the driveshaft. Hard to see this though 'cos when the car is jacked up the driveshafts drop down and so the cable looks miles away.

 

Interesting theory... could the lean of the car in a right turn then just make it clear the driveshaft?

 

I so hope it's that, even if it means that I've just wasted 400quid on a bearing that was ok.

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Often its quite hard to tell which side a bearing has failed with noises bouncing all over the place. 911 rear bearings are also a pain as they can be a bit grumbly in use but have zero play or other odd symptoms while jacked up.

 

I was told it is possible to check for which is the noisy bearing on the rear of a 911 by jacking it up and running it in gear with the rear wheels off the ground and using a dowel/screwdriver pressed against the bananna arm and your/mechanics ear - ive never tried it but the logic seems sound if a little scary.

 

To add another option into the mix - what about driveshafts? They also move to more extreme angles while cornering and could be bumping into less than perfect CV joint surfaces - more grumbling.

 

Perhaps you could negotiate a fixed rate "other bearing" replacement now they know how to do it?

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update: specialist is adamant that it is the right rear bearing, which means the left and right bearing went bad within the same 500 miles with one making noise under load and the other off load.... sounds unlikely to me, but we agreed to split the bill (£300 quote if cover plate needs replacing) for the rear right bearing if replacing it doesn't solve the noise.... fingers crossed.

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Dunno, but whenever I've had to replace wheel bearings on any of my cars the other side is usually just as bad or almost on it's way out. Was certainly the case with the front bearings on the 911 as both where shot. Usually fixing one at a time just takes the worst one out of the equation allowing the next bad wheel bearing to be heard.

 

Unless the car has spent it's life going around more right hand bends or a clockwise oval race track then surely they would wear/have a similar life span to the opposing side.

 

Pain in the ass and expensive I know but this could just be the case.

Edited by Nige
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Just got another call.... they had to replace the hub as the old one seized. It's done and they "will look after me" whatever that means.

 

There is also a problem with the handbrake but they can't get the parts except from OPC which will be very expensive so they're just doing the wheel bearing and that's it. hope it fixes the noise, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it is the handbrake and not the wheel bearing that makes the noise.

 

Pretty crap... this isn't anything mayor and it'll end up costing me a grand like this.

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well to be honest I'd rather do the handbrake after the bearing, just in case the noise comes off the handbrake in which case the bearing replacement cost is split 50/50 with the specialist... if I source the handbrake parts first I might solve the problem for them at my cost :)

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Sounds like a plan.

 

It's things like this that make you want to wield the spanners yourself, not that it's anyone's fault just the only way sometimes is trial and error and that does get expensive.

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Yes exactly... I so wish that I had a man-shed where I could work on my car(s)

A parking spot in an underground car-park isn't ideal :(

 

Handbrake is fairly easy to DIY - even in a carpark.

 

First time I changed brake pads, I lived in Fulham with on street parking on a narrow, kind of busy road, so I took the car to the underground carpark under the library in Kensington, parked at the back and set to. It was nice and warm, cleanish and I only got bothered once by the security guard, who just came to have a look as they had recently had thieves pinching alloys off cars in the carpark.

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Handbrake is fairly easy to DIY - even in a carpark.

Just to balance things out: I gave up with my handbrake - just couldn't do it :banghead:

 

All new parts though - cables, springs, pads, discs etc. I let GCR do it in the end.

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