Hey guys my 99 impreza Rs has been making a loud howling sound from the right rear and thought it was the wheel bearings going out and so i brought it to Flatline performance and after diagnose, Ryan said that the wheel bearings looked fine and that it could be my differential bearing going out. He said that there was movement on the axle shaft but couldn't guarantee that its the problem. There is also a slight leak on the differential as well. so is it the diff bearing or could it be something else?
I'm willing to bet its your wheel bearing, did said mechanics put the car up in the air and listen with a mechanic's stethiscope? or did they just jiggle the wheel and assumed since there was no play it wasnt a wheel bearing..... Rear diffs hardly go out on subies, expecially stock powered N/A ones. The small leak is from a plugged vent tube in the top.
i think he said that he couldnt hear the bearing wearing out when spinning them in the air. and said that there was some play on the axleshaft and thought it could be the diff bearings but wasnt sure
How do the tires look? cupped on the inside? Does the sound go away on decel, turning, or acceleration?
gets louder as i accelerate and quiets as i slow down. tires are fairly new so no cupping or and warping of the tires.
Try shifting the car side to side while driving and see if the noise goes away. Thats a pretty sound way to verify a faulty wheel bearing which would be my guess.
this method works more for front bearings as it loads them up... my bet it is a bearing... they dont get as much load as teh front ones so like 3rik said... it may not have a wobble when looking on a lift but that dont mean the bearing isnt pitted and wearing out...
a friend of mine with a 02 wrx wiggled his tires when he was getting some weird noise but there was no play. then when he put on his brembos in the front he took out the wheel bearing and it practicly fell into peices.
it seems to get louder as i shift the weight to the right of the car(which is where the sound is coming from). Ryan from Flatline performance said that he was rotating the wheels(i think) and he couldnt hear anything or any signs of wheel bearing failure. but noticed leaking fluid from the rear diff and that he was able to wiggle the axle shaft up and down and maybe thought it was the differential bearings.
if the axle shaft wiggled it may have a bad cv.. but then again when you try to wiggle an axle it typically has movement (2 cv joints allow for some movement) again My vote would be if it loudens when you turn left (ie shift weight to the right ) then my bet is WB!! but hey 3 or 4 people have said it already... so.. if you dont want to listen change your rear differential first!!! ps.. unless the bearing is really really bad and Ryan is a hampster running inside the rim, he wont spin it fast enough to make the same sound (ie cause it isnt LOADED UP with force)
