duffman13

I'm using the Annapolis base auto hobby shop, I'll check if they have a press this weekend. I've never operated one before though.

On the tie rods, they said there was a good amount of play, and I've been noticing the steering has been a bit darty since I nailed a section of road construction at speed on Suitland parkway last fall (I was on AP1 wheels at the time, so bent wheels are not an issue). My tires were on their last legs at the time and the car sat all winter so I figured I'd check it out in the spring.

WhrDLMI

I am not exactly local (a solid two hour drive from Annapolis) but I can help you with the front wheel bearing swap. I have a press as well as the Honda press arbors for the front wheels. I have done both of mine and know the process pretty well. If you find that the hobby shop doesn't have what you need and you are willing to drive all the way out to Harpers Ferry, we can do the work at my place.

With that said, I cannot offer you any advice on diagnosis beyond what others have already said - I can just help out with the grunt work. Scheduling will be a little difficult as I am busy for the next 3-4 weekends but I bet we can work something out.

duffman13

So after I was up on the lift yesterday, there was no play whatsoever in the wheel bearings or noise when I turned the front wheels. There was some play in the tie rods and one of the boots was torn, so I feel good about replacing them. I also threw the wheels on the balancing machine and all 4 were came up balanced. I'm thinking now it might just be tire noise? but it doesn't make sense that it would be this loud and sound more slap-like.

And in the "I can't get a break" department, the hood latch mechanism managed to get jammed in the popped position. At least it didn't jam while closed like I've seen it happen to other people on the boards. I ordered a new latch, doesn't seem like a hard swap.

SlowTeg

You might know this already but I'll mention it anyway. It's common on honda hood latches for them to get stuck open. Often times it's the cable sticking or the return spring not working anymore. You can often times use a screwdriver to push it out of the "stay open" position. Probably still a good idea to change it, but on some old cars where I can't be bothered to change the latch I just use a screwdriver or anything that'll work..

Olegator

All of the above methods are appropriate to detect a failing wheel bearing, however, you kinda need to know what to listen to while troubleshooting. I know some that were not able to detect those problems easy just because they were not experienced with the sounds that wheel bearings should and should not make. One sure way of checking for this problem is popping the center cap on the wheel and tightening the axle nut a bit, then driving the car to see if the noise have changed. If it did change significantly ,then you found the problem. Again, experienced mechanic will be able to call out the problem without doing any of it.

goldenfri

I sprayed a bunch of lubricant in the one on my subaru and that fixed it.

duffman13

So I swapped in a new latch and the issue remains. Do you have a method on how to tighten the cable or keep it from sticking? The return spring worked just fine when the new latch was out of the car.

Also, on my noise issue, I think these tires are just loud. I guess I should have got RE-11As if I wanted quiet.