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wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

uid 8162's pic
posted by  Kyle242GT on  Thu Oct 7 08:13 CST 2004
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Hi Brickboard-

We have a 97 855T5 with 113K on it. It's making a growly/grindy cyclic noise from the right front tire area, "shek shek shek shek shek". It's most noticable when making slight left turns off-throttle. It's definitely tied to wheel speed.

I'm suspecting a wheel bearing. The PO (original owner) had the left wheel bearing replaced at about 70K IIRC. But there's also the center bearing for that long right axle... I was leery of undoing the axle retaining nut in the brake rotor, unsure if there's a torque spec or what for it.

The noise was barely noticable when we bought the car 3K ago, but has steadily gotten to the point where you can ALMOST hear it going in a straight line.

I put the car up on jackstands and put it in gear, and the tires did NOT smoothly spin forward together; they sorta stopped/started, the right side somewhat violently. When it stopped, it almost looked like the brakes were being applied. Could this be traction control at work? I didn't see the dash light come on, and I didn't have the sense to turn the system off.

Many thanks for any advice.
--
Kyle
Santa Rosa, CA

1980 242GT MSnS 200K
1997 855 T-5 110K
1990 744Ti 115K - for sale
1972 Riviera 130K
1972 240Z 1K (since restoration)
1972 Datsun Pickup 87K(187K?)







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    wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

    posted by  someone claiming to be ksg on  Fri Oct 8 04:12 CST 2004 [RELATED]

    Is it possible the problem is not a wheel bearing but rather one of the universal joints? In my experience with bad wheel bearings they make noise which is different at different road speeds (louder or softer, may change pitch), but does not change much if at all during coast/apply power or left/right turns. Also noises I have heard from bad bearings are constant, while those from bad joints have been pulsing or rhythmic with the shaft speed. Some joints squeak when bad and/or produce fairly strong vibration.








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      wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

      uid 8162's pic
      posted by  Kyle242GT on  Fri Oct 8 06:07 CST 2004
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      The reason I suspect the hub assembly is the lateral loading of the bearing while turning; It doesn't feel so much like the amount of steering causese it as it's the sideways pressure on the tire, twisting it in the bearing.

      I suppose the best thing would be to pull the axle out of the hub assy and see if it feels gritty.
      --
      Kyle
      Santa Rosa, CA

      1980 242GTurbo MSnS 200K
      1997 855 T-5 110K
      1972 Riviera 130K
      1972 240Z 1K (since restoration)
      1972 Datsun Pickup 87K(187K?)







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        wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

        posted by  Hellboy on  Mon Oct 11 01:32 CST 2004
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        When my passenger side front bearing went bad I could actually feel it when I rotated the tire by hand with the car up on jackstands and the tranny in neutral. It did not rotate smoothly like the other side, which had a new hub and bearing installed right before I bought the car. That seems to be a common trend to, if one goes bad, there's a good chance the other side isn't far behind.

        I found that the noise increased and decreased in intensity when loading up the side with the bad bearing. If I went into a hard left hander the sound would get louder and more pronounced as the passenger side tire was loaded. If I took a hard right hander it got softer as that wheel unloaded and the weight shifted. I've had lots of bad wheel bearings on lots of different cars, both front and rear, and they all produced the same basic type of noise, very distinct.








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    wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

    posted by  someone claiming to be 4volvos on  Thu Oct 7 08:24 CST 2004 [RELATED]

    Sounds like you need a hub assembly to fix your noise. It is almost impossible to detect the noise with the cars front end up in the air unless its literally falling apart and has too much axial play.








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      wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

      uid 8162's pic
      posted by  Kyle242GT on  Thu Oct 7 08:43 CST 2004
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      Like so, eh?

      Does anyone have experience with the $25 cheaper generic part versus OEM?

      Are the bolts supposed to be replaced when replacing the hub assembly?
      --
      Kyle
      Santa Rosa, CA

      1980 242GTurbo MSnS 200K
      1997 855 T-5 110K
      1972 Riviera 130K
      1972 240Z 1K (since restoration)
      1972 Datsun Pickup 87K(187K?)







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        wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

        posted by  someone claiming to be 4volvos on  Thu Oct 7 08:55 CST 2004 [RELATED]

        I would go oem on a part this critical and yes you have to change the bolts .Make sure to torque them correctly.If you buy the oem kit,all of the bolts and nut for the axle are included.








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          wheel bearing noise? 850 1997

          posted by  kshaw on  Thu Oct 7 16:47 CST 2004
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          last visit: Wed Oct 29 13:11 CST 2008
          [RELATED]

          I bought a non-Volvo wheel assemble and it worked well for me. The part was Sweedish made and appeared identical to the one I removed. Did not come with the replacement bolts which the Volvo part is supposed to have. I reused the old ones and that worked well. The bolts looked like they were in good shape. An impact wrench is nice for removing the axle bolt but an 18 inch breaker bar should work just as well. Bay 13 has the procedures that I used and torque settings for all the bolts are listed there.







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