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Bad Wheel Bearing/Hub

Joined
12 July 2002
Messages
127
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
I've been hearing this consistent clunking/rattling noise by the driver rear wheel. As the car goes faster, the noise simultaneously increases faster and louder. The clunking noise is there with when i drive at a steady speed and when my clutch is fully depressed on turns. My friend drove it and thinks it's a bad wheel bearing. Do any if you guys know how much a wheel bearing cost? It'll be great if anyone can supply me with that Honda part number.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
you can check the bearing by jacking up the car and grab the wheel at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock position and see if there is any play when you move it back an forth. If there is any play, then it’s a sign that the bearing needs to be replaced.

The part numbers can be found by looking at the online parts manual on this site, look under the rear brake section. There are two pieces, the bearing and the hub assembly. Usually you only need the bearing, but you need to press the hub assembly out of your old bearing and press it into the new one—if you don’t have a way to do this, then it might be better to take it to a shop to do the work. Order a new axle nut too and follow the installation procedure listed in the Service Manual.

DanO
 
I just went to check but there was no wheel play. It doesn't move at all. What else can it be? Any other insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !!!

Also, the service manual on this sight doesn't state the HONDA wheel bearing part number. Anyone know where i can find it?
 
It may still be the bearing. The design of the bearings used on the NSX are such that they can be very noisy and still not be able to detect any play in them as you can with more common types (ask me how I know). However, the "clunk" part is more suggestive of a half-shaft joint than a wheel bearing. Does it clunk when you first let out the clutch from a stop? You can also test this by jacking up that corner with it in neutral, then grab the wheel/tire on opposite sides and rapidly rotate it one way then the other. If a joint is real sloppy you will hear and feel it clunk.

When my bearing was bad it growled pretty bad. I pulled the wheel and brakes then rotated the hub. I could tell that something was notchy but I wasn't positive that it was the bearing until I removed the hub and turned it with nothing else attached.

It could of course be both, especially if that corner caught a curb or something. If it is a wheel bearing, find a shop that has done them or has much patience. Getting the hub off is no big thing, but getting the inner race out of the hub is a major SOB without exactly the right puller. (the manual refers to an unspecific commercially available puller. Perhaps, but it better be exactly the right commercially available puller!) I used a cutting wheel to create shoulders on either side of the race so I could grab it with a puller. And you need a decent press with the right adapters to press the new one back on.
 
Kyosuke8 said:
the service manual on this sight doesn't state the HONDA wheel bearing part number. Anyone know where i can find it?

Yes - right where DanO told you, in the Part Numbers manual in the FAQ, not in the service manual. Like this:

1. Click on FAQ on the red bar at the top of this page.

2. Click on "Reference".

3. Click on "Part Numbers".

4. Click on "1991-98 Crash Repair Parts Catalog".

5. Click on "Rear Drive Axle".
 
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