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There is a faint whirring coming from my driver's rear tire. Kinda sounds like a helicopter but at faster RMPs. There is no noticeable shim while driving and the car doesn't pull to one side.

It's just barely noticeable, originally I thought it was the hum from the exhaust, but I just noticed that related to the speed of the revolutions of the wheel and not the engine.

I notice it only between 60-80 mph or 100-135 kph.

Does this sound like a rear wheel hub-baring issue?

IF so what are good brands? OEM? Timken?

AND how much time should the job take? (r&r both rears)

 
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It does sound like a rear wheel bearing issue, could also be a noisy tire though.

Jack up the problem wheel and see if it has any play.

Spin it as fast as you can and see if the bearing is making any noise. A good bearing should make NO noise at all.

Go with Timken, about 1/2 the price of dealer parts but same quality. Made in Japan and all.

 
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How labor intensive is the job? is it like 20 mins per side?

 
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I've never seen a DIY on changing a rear wheel bearing on a 7th gen, but I've read one on changing 6th gen rear wheel bearings and it didn't look to difficult and you don't need speciality tools. Maybe a 5/10 for difficulty, more difficult than changing any suspension component but much less difficult than a timing belt.

My PR wheel bearing is going, I'll update this thread if I get around to changing it soon.

 
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do you need a press?

i just got my 2001-2002 shop servie manual but left it at home. if you don't know i'll post again after i read up on it.

 
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The fronts you definitely need a press.

Again, based on 6th gen, the rears seem like you can DIY it without a press.

here's the diy I read
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2950562

 
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The bearings may not be the problem. Click here I hate to include another forum link, but this is the only place I can find the service bulletin that applies. If you have to pay for it, it's an expensive repair.

 
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That's an issue 06-07 models had, but 01-05 civics never had issues with their camber arms. It'd also be hesitant to say that Marco is simply in dire need of an alignment, which is essentially what the problem was on 06-07s just impossible to correct, because it's only coming from his drivers side rear wheel.

The test of course would be jacking up the rear of the car and checking for play, freedom of movement on the DR wheel specifically.

 
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That's the issue I'm dealing with on my 2005. The camber is way out on the left rear and barely in on the right rear, there is no adjustment for this. This can cause the toe in to be off as well. As the tire wears on the inside it will cup and cause the noise that is described in the service bulletin. The noise is VERY simular to a bad wheel bearing. The only repair is to replace the upper control arms with adjustable kits, then the camber can be set, then the toe in can be corrected with the adjustments on the lower control arm. An alignment check will verify if the camber is out on the rear.

To the OP, are your experiencing abnormal wear on the inside of your tires? If so have the alignment check and see if the camber is out on the rear.

 
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05 are not supposed to have the issue unless your trailing arm or LCA is bent. And it's camber, not caster. Rears do not have caster to worry about

 
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I put in the wrong term, camber is correct. I've owned this car since it was new, and been the only driver for it's 209,000+ miles. It's not been in an accident or driven over a curb, etc. The camber is still out of spec and the only way to correct it is with an adjustable kit.

 
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I kind of have the same problem, it makes a noise from there rear of my 02 ep3 as well but i took it in to the shop and they said it was because my rear back tires were both cupping.. kind of a noob but what causes cupping? lmk if you can fill in.. is what the mechanic said true? could my noise be because of cupping?

thought about opening a new topic but had the same problem so i just reposted it in this one. srry & ty!

 
Rep Power: 193

Bad shocks/cheap tires can cause cupping. Helps to rotate your tires every 5k to help prevent it too.

My old cheap tires cupped in the rear and they were so loud I had to replace them. It was from not rotating along with poorly constructed tires.

 
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Here is some information that may help explain the situation. Click here.

Ask them to show you what they are talking about on your tires, you should be able to see the wear.

 
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I thought on the last set that the tires might be at fault. I don't think so anymore. I run Bridgestone Potenza G019's ( I'm not very fond of directional tires) and usually get 60,000 mile out of these tires. I rotate every 5,000 miles and check air pressure every 2-3 weeks.

 
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Hard to find non directional tires these days.

My old tires were General Altimax HP, at first they were great but the rear tires cupped after 10k and got very loud. The car never had this issue with Michelin's so I think its more cheap tires causing it than anything.

I read a lot of reviews on the G019's and they seemed to get noise complaints. The Pole Positions got great reviews so I went with those, only 1k on them so time will tell how well they hold up. So far they're awesome.

If Michelin's didn't cost $150 a tire I'd still be running those.

 
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For the $90 its going to cost me to do the rear hubs, I'm going to just get it done. The car is 9 years old anyways.

I'm not too worried about the service bulletin for the 2006's considering mines a 2002.

Thanks everyone. Maybe I'll try to get a sound clip of the wirring incase the new berrings do the trick.