1993 Civic DX HB AT Wheel Bearing?

[John M.]

I just replaced the passenger side lower control arm bushings. I had them pressed in by a shop but all other work was done by me. I did this same job about 2.5 years ago with aftermarket bushings and I noticed they were failing about 6 months ago - get OEM!! Anyway, I digress. Just after I got things back together I drove about 10 miles into town to a shop to get my alternator fixed (It's been an expensive summer with these and other repairs.). My steering wheel was straight again and everything seemed fine. Then at about 6 miles I heard this strange noise (kind of a clunking) as I let off the gas to stop. Then when accelerating it went away. As I continued on the noise got much worse (and louder) and I could feel it in the steering wheel. It seemed to be coming from the driver's side (?) and it was correlated to wheel speed. The further I went the harder I had to accelerate to get it to go away. The same thing with braking - it stopped the noise but the further I went it took harder braking to get it to go away. I left my car at a shop and rode my bike home. Tomorrow I guess I'll be leaving it somewhere else. (This should be something I could partially do on my own if it's a bearing but a shop would be quicker but I need my car Now!) Does this sound like a bearing? Can they go really bad that quick? If so, I suspect that the realignment from the bushings may have played a role. Any thoughts?

Oh, and I distinctly remember torquing the lug nuts and all tools are accounted for.

Thanks,

John M.

 

[John M.]

I just replaced the passenger side lower control arm bushings.

I forgot to mention that the car has about 260,000 miles on it and the current bearings are original so I don't really know what a bad one sounds like.

 

['Curly Q. Links']

I just replaced the passenger side lower control arm bushings. I had them pressed in by a shop but all other work was done by me. I did this same job about 2.5 years ago with aftermarket bushings and I noticed they were failing about 6 months ago - get OEM!! Anyway, I digress. Just after I got things back together I drove about 10 miles into town to a shop to get my alternator fixed (It's been an expensive summer with these and other repairs.). My steering wheel was straight again and everything seemed fine. Then at about 6 miles I heard this strange noise (kind of a clunking) as I let off the gas to stop. Then when accelerating it went away. As I continued on the noise got much worse (and louder) and I could feel it in the steering wheel. It seemed to be coming from the driver's side (?) and it was correlated to wheel speed. The further I went the harder I had to accelerate to get it to go away.

I did that once. The lug nuts on one wheel were loose.

Very red face. :-(

'Curly'

 

[John M.]

I did that once. The lug nuts on one wheel were loose.

Very red face. :-(

Ya know, (Said with a face redder than yours.) I've done that too and, dammit, I may have done it again but I can't really remember. I did torque down the bolts on the passenger side but I may have loosened the driver's side also before I put the car up on jacks in preparation for some other stuff I was gonna do but didn't because of rain. Damn!!!!! The car's in the shop so I guess I gotta wait 'til tomorrow

As a poster said to me in here a coupla years ago: I could get a job at NASA.

Damn again.

 

[John M.]

I did that once. The lug nuts on one wheel were loose.

Very red face. :-(

'Curly'

Thanks for the memory jog. That's what it was. I didn't check the studs for damage but they tightened with no problem.