sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Series I L27 (1992-1994 SE,SLE, SSE) & Series II L36 (1995-1999 SE, SSE, SLE) and common problems for the Series I and II L67 (all supercharged models 92-99) Including Olds 88's, Olds LSS's, Olds 98 91-96, Buick Lesabres and Park Avenue 91-96. Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.
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98Regency
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sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by 98Regency »

I've got this growing/whirring noise coming from the front passenger corner that sounds exactly like a bad wheel bearing. It goes away when I turn right and unload that side, and it seems to come and go as I accelerate. It also gets really loud when slowing down, especially at 35-40 mph. I've replaced both front wheel bearings and tires within the last couple hundred miles, and alignment. I've about run out of ideas on what it might be. Car is a 98 Olds Regency with 135k miles. Anyone else ever have this?
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haro1225
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by haro1225 »

What brand bearing did you get? Sometimes the cheap ones are bad out of the box, or they don't last very long.
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98Regency
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by 98Regency »

They're Timken wheel bearings. I know they can be bad out of the box, but I've personally never had a Timken one that was.
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haro1225
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by haro1225 »

Everything was properly torqued down? Maybe something worked itself loose.
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-Ryan
2004 GTO....LS1, LSA supercharged 525whp, 6MT
96 SSEi...September 2010 COTM........GONE
04 GTP comp G.... December 2015 COTM........GONE
2013 Audi Allroad Quattro
yourgrandma wrote:Hi.
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98Regency
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by 98Regency »

It's quite possible that the axle nut backed itself off, I'll have to check that out tomorrow. Anything else I should check?
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J Wikoff
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by J Wikoff »

CV axle wobble? How'd the brake rotor look?
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98Regency
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by 98Regency »

Rotor looked okay, but might still have a slight warp to it. The axle boots looked okay too, but I didn't grab and shake it to check for play in the joints. Hopefully it stops raining at some point this afternoon so I can get the car jacked up and take a look
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Roadrunner
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by Roadrunner »

I had differential gears go out by making that kind of sound.
Similar to wheel bearing, the sound varied with vehicle speed (as opposed to engine speed).
Difference was that sound also changed when accelerating vs coasting - louder when coasting.
After a short time, I noticed trans fluid had fine sparkly glitter and then started to get burned.
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Re: sounds like a wheel bearing, but isn't?

Post by ad356 »

i have a different GM vehicle that made terrible noise from the front end. i swore up and down it was a wheel bearing. it turned out to be my control bushings and gone bad and it caused the alignment to be thrown off. i replaced both wheel bearings and the noise persisted. i would check your control arm bushings. it screwed up my tires pretty bad too. i had to replace the control arm bushings and do an alignment. the car is a 1996 camaro Z28 and yup i still have it. try this, it wont work with a RWD car like my camaro but will work with the bonneville as long as you dont have a LSD. be careful doing this. i did this technique to my 2000 GTP and was to determine for a fact that i was replacing the side that was bad. takes the guess work right out of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdRpnK5MGQ8
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