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I have an 04 Civic LX sedan that I bought from a friend. It's had a grinding noise from the back right side while braking since I bought it that I was initially told was the motor mount. The last time I brought it to my mechanic, he told me that the wheel bearing needed replacing.

I'm going to jack the car up tomorrow and try to spin the wheels in neutral to see if I hear anything. If one is in fact bad, can I just buy an OEM bearing and bring the hub assembly to auto zone of jiffy lube and have them swap them, or do I have to buy a new hub assembly if the bearing is bad?

The car also has a humming noise the faster I go, which also tells me that at leat one bearing as bad.

Thanks for any help.

 
Rep Power: 517

If a rear wheel bearing is bad, you purchase a hub. The new hub comes with the bearing and seal already assembled. You should get a mew locknut too.


If a front one is bad, you buy a bearing and have it pressed in. And a new axle nut.
Plus a wheel alignment.


If a bearing, front or rear, is now SO BAD that it's making something (brakes?) grind, there may be more than just a bearing/hub needed.

HTH

 
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Thanks for the response. I just tried jacking it up and spinning the wheels. The right spins freely with no noise and no play in the wheel. The left spins freely until it catches one point on the wheel and it slows down a bit. It sounds like the brake pads rubbing against the drum. The wheel also has no play.

That doesn't seem like wheel bearings to me but again i'm no expert. Any ideas?

 
Rep Power: 517

Brake shoe drag? Not unusual....Take the wheel off, take the brake drum off, then spin the hub by hand. You should be able to hear and feel if the bearing is bad.
You might pull both drums off....You needed to look at the brake shoes anyway since you said it grinds while braking.

The sealed bearings don't normally seem to develop play until long after the roaring airplane noise has been ignored for a long time.