subdenver Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 Hi All, my Impreza Sport recently began making a low frequency persistent noise from the rear end. It's consistent as the car speeds up - meaning there is no whump-whump; the noise begins low and raises in decibels as the car accelerates, but the sound is the same at low or high speeds. Last weekend on Car Talk, a girl called in with a similar issue. Click & Clack told her it's her wheel bearing. Her description was close enough to my issue that it seemed plausible, but I thought I would post here to get more informed opinions. (You can't trust those Car GUys, by their own admission.) If it is the wheel bearing, does anyone have an idea about how much that would cost to fix? Thanks in advance, Thane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 could be rear brake pads as well. does the noise go away when you press the brake pedal? if so, it's brake pads. could also be the rear differential if it's an AWD. this is likely not the case since you said it's "the left side". the rear diff would sound centrally located. so it's likely the wheel bearing. cheapest and easiest fix is to get another hub and swap it out. used hubs are $35 each and easy to replace. replacing the bearing is the best option. i personally like to buy the parts, have a local machine shop install the bearings and i swap the hub out. i have spare parts so i can do this while i'm still driving (though i've never had a wheel bearing fail, replace them at 200,000 miles as preventative) and then i have no down time with the car. around $150 for the average shop to do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subdenver Posted May 31, 2006 Author Share Posted May 31, 2006 Not a bad price. Thanks for the tip. I just discovered something. I actually went and looked under at both rear tires. The rear passenger tire is smooth on the inside, although there is tread on the rest of the tire. The rear driver's side is wearing evenly. Both front tires are in great shape. I have no hubcaps anymore, from years of back-country driving. (All my hubcaps are in the Rockies somewhere.) The driver's side does have some grease on the large center nut? Part of the problem or false leads? Thane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 i'd imagine a failed bearing could cause irregular tire wear. is that warn tire on the same noisey side? warn/damaged bearings may allow the wheel to "fall" in to recover the loss of material. that's all speculation, i've never seen it happen. lost hub caps are unfortunately normal and shouldn't be the cause of any issues. sounds like youre talking opposite sides - tire is not on the noisey side. have they been rotated recently? the problem may actually be somewhere else (the bearing side or up front) if the tire spent some time on another hub. i'd check the air pressure as well. the rear underside isn't rusted badly is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88HatchMonster Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 i'd imagine a failed bearing could cause irregular tire wear. is that warn tire on the same noisey side? warn/damaged bearings may allow the wheel to "fall" in to recover the loss of material. that's all speculation, i've never seen it happen. This has happened to me twice. I let the wheel bearing go for a few months, ruined the tire... fix the wheel bearing... still makes noise because the tire is cupped... time for new tires. It's hard to really tell from which side a noise is coming from. If the bearing is bad enough to be killing the tread on your tire then you should be able to get down on the ground, grab the tire with both hands and rack it in and out and it will have a significant amount of play. If you can get a friend to look at the hub side of the axle under the back of the car they will probably be able to see the outer CV cup wobble around in the spindle as you shake the wheel. Impreza Outback Sports are notorious for rear wheel bearing trouble. Search the board for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPX Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 That sounds like a wheel bearing to me.....perhaps even further along it's death than mine were (3 replaced and I'm sure #4 is coming). The sound is a low growling/howling sound at speed. Once the bearing really craps out, then the wheel does not spin "straight" and tire wear becomes a problem. Hub swap is a quick and cheap solution - although it does possess the typical used-part hazard of not knowing how much longer IT will last. But if you at that level with the car in pieces and intend to hang on to the car for a significant period of time, you should go ahead and have a shop press the new bearing in. If you have the time, take the hub off the car yourself and save some labor cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjo Posted May 31, 2006 Share Posted May 31, 2006 sounds like a bearing to me... mine did the same thing a ways back... and may be starting to do it again :-\ make sure they use the newer legacy style bearings, not the self-destructing impreza bearings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeylvr93 Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 it's a bearing....i got mine for about $120 from the dealer and of course, the labor was free :) almost the best money i spent on this car so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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