Noisy front wheel bearing diagnostic...

I have a noisy front wheel bearing, but I forget the diagnostic procedure .... help!

Anyway when I turn the steering wheel quickly to the left the noise goes away... turn to the right the noise gets louder.

dose that mean the left front (drivers side) is NFG?

Most likely.  Take a rider with you, and have a discussion as you lean the car one way and the other.  Then once you get the brakes off and the axle out if its fwd, give it a spin by hand. That should be the final confirmation.

I hate locating noises.

It sounds like a bad CV joint. The bearing will typically make a low humming or a noise that sounds like "whoomp-whoomp-whoomp". Not sure how else to describe it.

Ok,

So the car in question is  FWD (Saturn).

When I go down the road I get the Whoomp-Whoomp noise.  While traveling  at about 40 MPH I can momentarily turn the steering wheel to the left and the Whoomp-Whoopm noise goes away.  Momentarily turning the steering wheel to the right the noise gets slightly louder. 

The wheel bearing has been bad for a while now, but I don't drive the car much.  I figure I should sort this out before it gets too cold.

Anyway I just pulled the car into the garage...

meh... wheel bearings suck.

So I took the drivers side front apart as seen in the picture.  Two crusty old vice grips were attached to the spinny thing and I was able to positively see movement when force was applied to the vice grips.... not a lot of movement, but just enough.   This sort of makes sense because the passenger side bearings were replaced last year.

Yes, typically the bad wheel bearing will get louder when loaded more, and quieter when loaded less. So if it gets quieter when you turn left and louder when you turn right it is probably the left side bearing. You could use the same process front-to-rear by using the brakes and/or accelerator to transfer load. 

OK, I see that while I was writing this note, you were confirming the problem!  

Just think of all the cash you are saving by doing it yourself!

I can't imagine what its like to be a normal person and pay to have E36 M3 repaired..... although I will have to pay the machine shop to press the bearings.  All said and done it should cost less than a hundy for parts and pressing.

Glad to see that you found the issue. Hope I didn't steer you down the wrong path. Wheel bearings are a pain to change. Getting a shop to press them is the best way to go. Let us know how it turns out!

Owning a FWD VW, replacing wheel bearings is a common task (common enough that I just keep at least one kit in stock).  I use an OTC tool that allows for R&R'ing the bearing with the hub still on the car and usually replace both since if one goes the other probably isn't far behind it.

Check the service manual - some cars have a rather obscure axle nut torquing procedure and if not followed the bearing life will be reduced.

I hate press in bearings.

I got home late tonight and didn't get a chance to drop off the hub at the machine shop.    

It is not like a lot of gm where you unholy the assembly and just change hub a bearing at once?

stan_d said:

... you unholy the assembly...

That's a great autocorrect.