Wheel bearing, CV joint, or brakes

[Ron2002SaturnSL]

I have two sons and they both drive Saturn Sls.
The older SL is a 1995 with 120,000 miles.

Turns out the 95 is making a noise when rolling. Sounds like a scraping of metal not a rumble. It is not related to the engine turning it's related to the wheels turning.

The noise is coming from the drivers side front wheel area. When you turn right it goes away when you turn left it remains or gets a little louder.
Pressing on the brakes makes no difference in the noise.

I am thinking it's a wheel bearing or a CV axle? Any good guess?
The bearings are no-service sealed right?

So should I try to fix either one of these problems DIY or should I give it
up to a mechanic? If it requires expensive special tools I suppose I should for
sure. Any estimates for the cost?
Anybody know the DIY thread for the possible work. I will be jacking it up and looking tomorrow I think.

[metgol]

Just got a bearing replaced, sounded like I was drivingon a rumble strip constantly. Other times I had these noises on previous bearings:
squealing
grinding
and the scraping of metal sound.

I've posted my problems of this before and it looks like you have a bad bearing, if I'm not mistaken. Bearings need to pressed from the hub and replaced with a new one.

A search for bearings should bring up a "how to" thread.
I, not having the time or all the tools, found it easier to have it done by someone who has several times. This cost me ~$300 at the dealer, which included the alignment. The alignment, which I think they failed to do properly. It is impossible to get them to remedy this with out wasting a larger portion of my valuable time then needs to be.

[eRic 02sc2]

could be the wheel bearing or cv joint. the front wheel bearing is pressed in so you'd need a press and the fancy adaptor used to press them in and out. you could probably replace the cv axle at home on jack-stands. I'd have a Saturn tech check it out to see which is which.

[metgol]

How To Link the how to is in there.

I tested my bearings by driving as fast as I could on as tight a turn as I could, and listened for the change of pitch/sound. Throwing the weight around really narrowed what I was looking for.

From what I have read a bad CV is associated with clicking sounds, plus if the boots are in good shape and nothing appears to have leaked from them then the CV's are likely good.

[ssicarman]

Front wheel bearing noises tend to change with steering input. Cv joints tend to make noise (most noise) on full turns when moving.
Sound like you have a bad wheel bearing. It requires the use of a press to get the bearings out of the knuckle. So if you don't have a press with a decenbt selection of tubed supports to aide in the pressing out of the bearing you will be better off at the very least getting a shop to press the bearings if you want to remove the knuckle from the car which can take a larger than normal socket (axle shaft nut).

[Ron2002SaturnSL]

If it's the wheel bearing I think I can get one with low miles from a junk
yard that would avoid the pressing of hub or bearing. I guess the only hassle would be freeing the lower control arm and axle from the spindle then and I can DIY that! I actually played with a control arm etc. about two months ago after my other son ran the newer 2002 saturn into a island-curb at 25 mph, so we replaced a cradle and inner tie rod! So if the axle isn't stuck big we should be able to replace it!

Well tomorrow I will remove the wheel and hand spin/shake to and see if I can feel the bearing to confirm the problem.

So tell me my son is driving it like 40 miles a day on the freeway during the week is he safe doing this on a bad bearing? Who knows?
If we can last til next weekend we can change it on our schedule.
He says it's been making this noise (not too loud) for about 200 miles already. I told him he should tell be about car noises as soon as they occur but you know children don't always do as their told.

[rc1488]

If its the universal or bearings, id suggest getting a new entire axle. Its much easier than trying to mess around with the bearing even if u have a manual or how to. Just a suggestion. Oh and an air compressor and tools makes the entire job alot easier. Plus a good investment good luck!

[Greg1]

Originally Posted by rc1488

If its the universal or bearings, id suggest getting a new entire axle. Its much easier than trying to mess around with the bearing even if u have a manual or how to. Just a suggestion. Oh and an air compressor and tools makes the entire job alot easier. Plus a good investment good luck!

The bearings are in the hub. They are not part of the axle.

[Squareback]

You need a wheel bearing. Don't even bother with a used one. They aren't that expensive and you can easily R+R the spindle yourself and take it somewhere to just have the bearing pressed out and then back in with minimal labor charges. A used one isn't even worth the hassle. You will never feel play in the front wheel bearings, they are sanwiched between the axle nut and the axle itself. Noise is the indicator here, not necessarily play in the bearing. You need one. You can get a good quality bearing right here for $39.

http://www.diypartscatalog.com/Rende...nd+Seals@@2256

[rc1488]

Ahh missed understood what was going on. It was late last night :P

[nivlem7]

Originally Posted by Ron2002SaturnSL

If it's the wheel bearing I think I can get one with low miles from a junkyard that would avoid the pressing of hub or bearing. I guess the only hassle would be freeing the lower control arm and axle from the spindle then and I can DIY that!

I'd just get a new bearing. You never know if the jy bearing is gonna go bad in 100 miles or 100,000 miles. I paid $30 for the new bearing at NAPA, and it was $20 for the press out/in service. Make sure you take it to someone who knows what they're doing.

Originally Posted by Ron2002SaturnSL

Well tomorrow I will remove the wheel and hand spin/shake to and see if I can feel the bearing to confirm the problem.

When mine was bad, it sounded just as you describe and there was no indication of play from the test you mention. The reason that the noise from the bearing depends on turning is this:

When you turn to the right, the weight is shifted to the left side of the car, and vice versa. So if the noise disappears when you turn to the right, it's the right bearing that's bad. Ditto for if you turn to the left.

Originally Posted by Ron2002SaturnSL

So tell me my son is driving it like 40 miles a day on the freeway during the week is he safe doing this on a bad bearing? Who knows?
If we can last til next weekend we can change it on our schedule.
He says it's been making this noise (not too loud) for about 200 miles already. I told him he should tell be about car noises as soon as they occur but you know children don't always do as their told.

There's been discussion on this before. I seriously doubt any catastrophic failure from driving on a dying bearing, but you will want to get it fixed ASAP.