alright, so my 98 protege is being a pain again... started with just noise and I thought it was the new wheels and tires. then now there is vibration from the passenger front area. doesn't feel/sound like CV (i had the boot ripped before), but I never had a wheel bearing failure either... I had the wheels/tires re-balanced and brakes (brake pads/rotors are pretty new too) checked out and they are both good.

I did search the forums but can't find anything on how to ID wheel bearing failure. just a lot of people posting wheel bearing failure itself.

If it's something simple, please post here and tell me how to check it. If not, can someone ride in the car with me and tell me if it's the wheel bearing or not? Thanks!

Leo

 

From my limited experience with a bad wheel bearing, it made a wub-wub-wub noise that would get louder with speed. It was my front passenger side bearing and I tried all the same things you did before finally getting the bearing replaced (at quite the cost too ).

-Brian

 

damn... just gave the shop a call... i am looking at ~$230 OTD...

 

so if it is wheel bearing failure... how bad is it to drive around with that?

 

You'll simply need the hub and the seal (highlighted in yellow), which run ~$65.

 

yeah, i checked the subaru wheel bearing installation guide and doesn't look so bad. hopefully is similar to my 98 protege. but I also don't have any of those cool tools...

that's not the price for a 98 protege is it?

 

you can jack up the side of your car so your wheel is off the ground and check for foreplay. if you can move the wheel and it wobbles then chances are you have a bad bearing.

 

Sweet! I'll give that a try ASAP... thanks!

 

Umm, that's the price for the bearing and the seal. The pic which I placed is directly from the Mazda EPC which is what I work with in association with being a Mazda dealer as well as a Subaru dealer.

 

is the aforementioned "foreplay" going to be R-rated material? If so, then you're going to be contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

 

Nice Roo! Do you happen to know how much your Mazda service department charge on replacing the bearing and seal?

 

when you wobble it. grab the top and the bottom of the tire to check the wheel bearing. wobbling it from side to side will be checking the tie rods.

 

thanks!

 

sorry to high jack your thread leo, but brian how much did it cost you to replace your wheel bearing? where did you get it done at? TIA!

 

That's actually a good price.

$230-65=$165 labor