Left Rear "Whirring" sound

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TrickVert

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My '03 has developed a "whirring" sound that seems to be coming form the left rear. Pitch varies with vehicle speed. I am thinking "bearing," but the noise does not vary with directional changes.

Before I tear into things, I thought I'd post this up in case there are others who have had the same symptoms.

EDIT: Mileage is only 65K

Thanks,

Andy

P.S. I'm heading out now to swap left and right rear tires to insure that's not a cause.
 
Sounds like you need a new wheel hub assembly.
 
Sounds like a bearing. I went through that a month or so ago.

BTW, aftermarket or stock wheels? I believe that the heavier weight of most non-stock wheels contributes to the early expiration of suspension parts.
 
Stock wheels, and I'm thinking the same thing.

Any chance there's a good write-up on rear hub removal? (Found info on the front.)

Andy
 
1. Remove the rear knuckle as per instructions on here: http://deneau.info/ls/ You'll have to browse through the tree structure to find the specific section.

2. Bring the whole knuckle/hub to a shop and have them press the new bearing in. Make sure they know the knuckle is aluminium!

3. Reinstall the knuckle assy. Make sure to replace all the nuts with new ones, especially the main axle nut (dealer only part). Torque everything to spec.

I recommend renting an axle puller tool or whatever its called. You need it to push the axle in. Getting the axle nut off might also be difficult depending on the amount of rust and so on. I had to use an air impact gun to remove mine. One Timken bearing off RockAuto.com was about $35, plus around $50 to have to bearing pressed in, VS about $1000 for a whole new knuckle from Ford. Good luck.
 
M4rk said:
1. Remove the rear knuckle as per instructions on here: http://deneau.info/ls/ You'll have to browse through the tree structure to find the specific section.

2. Bring the whole knuckle/hub to a shop and have them press the new bearing in. Make sure they know the knuckle is aluminium!

3. Reinstall the knuckle assy. Make sure to replace all the nuts with new ones, especially the main axle nut (dealer only part). Torque everything to spec.

I recommend renting an axle puller tool or whatever its called. You need it to push the axle in. Getting the axle nut off might also be difficult depending on the amount of rust and so on. I had to use an air impact gun to remove mine. One Timken bearing off RockAuto.com was about $35, plus around $50 to have to bearing pressed in, VS about $1000 for a whole new knuckle from Ford. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I had the rear's replaced for under $470, including the bearings.
 
When was that? Apparently the prices have skyrocketed for the whole knuckles.
 
M4rk said:
When was that? Apparently the prices have skyrocketed for the whole knuckles.
Click to expand...

A few weeks ago. The bearings are replaceable and I'm sure I overpaid a little. They were ~$55 apiece.
 
M4rk said:
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Thanks, for the info. I'll dig through that later. The local shop has the Timken bearing for $41, so I'll likely get it there. (Advance Auto has the "National" brand - Federal Mogul - for a little less.)

I'm bending brake lines for the F150 today, and need to replace the RABS sensor (at least I hope that's the problem.) The wife's escape has a broken tone ring and a leaking axle seal, and the Mustang has a weeping radiator. Now the LS is making noise!

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Andy
 
TrickVert said:
Thanks, for the info. I'll dig through that later. The local shop has the Timken bearing for $41, so I'll likely get it there. (Advance Auto has the "National" brand - Federal Mogul - for a little less.)
Click to expand...

Stick with Timken. They still make high quality bearings. Many of the other "Brands" have severely reduce QA to cut costs.
 
Agreed. Mine was made in Spain. $25 off RockAuto, P/N #511032.

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M4rk said:
Agreed. Mine was made in Spain. $25 off RockAuto, P/N #511032.
Click to expand...

Well, $25 is definitely better than $41. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the P/N.

Now the $64,000 question: How much do I drive the car with it making propeller noises before the bearing decides to disintegrate and take the hub with it.

Andy

P.S. I know the axle nuts are one-time use, and I'll need a replacement. If you have thet P/N, too, that would be great. And what's with the bolt and other nuts? Also required new hardware?
 
TrickVert said:
Well, $25 is definitely better than $41. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the P/N.

Now the $64,000 question: How much do I drive the car with it making propeller noises before the bearing decides to disintegrate and take the hub with it.

Andy

P.S. I know the axle nuts are one-time use, and I'll need a replacement. If you have thet P/N, too, that would be great. And what's with the bolt and other nuts? Also required new hardware?
Click to expand...

I cannot comment on the driveability of your car. Eventually the bearing will seize, and there will be trouble.

Axle Nut P/N: 4B477

I got the bolt because mine looked rusted, but in the end it was fine.

The nuts (total of 3 excluding the axle nut) should be replaced, as they are only meant for one time use only - they contain a locking nylon ring on the inside. If reused, they could eventually loosen and come off. The nuts are only a few bucks from the dealer :) You will need one for the LCA to knuckle connection, one for the toe link, and one for the upper arm ball joint connection. You can find the part #s in the shop manual link I provided above. Look for the rear suspension exploded view.
 
Well, I checked out RockAuto, and the bearing is only $25.79 BUT shipping is nearly $12 ??? For the extra fiver, I'll buy it locally.

I'll be checking with the dealer on the nuts, and have pulled up the service manual info. Now all I'll need to do is find the time!

Andy
 
The job is done, and I have two words for the process:

Ridiculously easy.

The most difficult part was actually getting the rotor off. After being in place for 9 years and 55K miles, it had decided to "weld" itself to the hub a bit. (I know it had not been off, as it still had the factory "push-fit" keepers in place.) Even at this mileage, the brake pads still have about 50% life, which surprised the heck out of me! *

No surprises in the rest of the job. Thanks to all for the hints and tips.

Andy

P.S. I re-used all but the axle nut, using blue Loctite. The nuts come in packs of 5 for about $5 each, so replacing them was out. The Loctite will do a fine job, I'm sure. Also, the axle nuts are sold by the pair, so I now have one left over. Maybe I'll post it up and someone can use it.

P.P.S. *After thinking about this, most likely, the dealer from whom I bought the car had changed the pads, but did not machine the rotors. Amazing what a little sleep can do for your reckoning abilities!.
 
M4rk said:
I recommend renting an axle puller tool or whatever its called. You need it to push the axle in. Getting the axle nut off might also be difficult depending on the amount of rust and so on. I had to use an air impact gun to remove mine.
Click to expand...
I'm also doing the rear bearings. How bad was the rust on your axle? I can't even really see threads on the exposed portion of mine its so bad. I am leaning towards buying both axles so I have parts waiting for me in case it gets destroyed during removal of the nut (and got new nuts too). Tough pill to swallow, $582 at Tasca for both sides... though still cheaper than knuckles:rolleyes:
 
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