Noise Diagnosis?

I posted earlier about the drive train whirring sound in my 1988 5 spd
Civic. It could be anything from wheel bearings to outer to inner CV joint
to the transmission.

Any great ideas for diagnosing these things without just replacing parts
willy nilly? That gets kind of expensive. I suspect the noise is either my
tranny, an inside CV joint, or a wheel bearing - but it sounds too central
to be a wheel bearing.

Any ideas would be most appreciated!!

Frank

 

Outer CV joint noise is generally a clicking - knowing noise.

Inner CV joints vibrate the car when accelerating. I've never had one
that made a noise when bad.

Wheel bearings generally make more noise when you load one side of the
car in a turn. They also change tone with vehicle speed.

Trans noise is the probable culprit. If the noise is the same in all
gears but increases with engine speed then you need to have a
technician inspect. You may have a input bearing going bad.

 

A couple of guys now have talked about this input shaft bearing being the
likely culprit. Would this still make a noise if the clutch was in and
coasting? What if the car were in neutral with the clutch in and coasting?

The noise is identical with the clutch in. Haven't tried neutral and the
clutch in though. Also, I think there is a little vibration when I
accelerate - pointing to the CV inside joint? Is there a good way to check
this - I tried wiggling it, but no discernable looseness. Got my wife to
drive and I got in the passenger side and stuck my head out the window.
Definitely not the right wheel bearing.

Frank