Hot to tell if wheel bearings are knackered?

[kildareflare]

I have a droning noise coming from somwhere in the car which seems to be related to speed.
It sounds like it might be coming from the rear of the car and im suspecting the wheel bearings.

However before I buy the parts and attempt o fix myself - or even take to a stealers to look at it is there a way I can tell if this is in fact the problem.

I've read somwhere that you can jack the car up and if you can wiggle the wheel then the bearings are knackered.

Does this sound about right - can anyone expand on that?

Also does £75 sound about right to get a garage to replace a rear unit...?

Cheers

[christomk3gti]

yeah sounds like the wheel bearing. what u should try is, jack up the car and hold wheel 9am and 3pm. wobble it, see if theres any play, also do the same 12am and 6pm.

All depends on the car i think, i payed 60uid for a fiesta bearing fitted and only payed 30quid for a rover 200 wheel bearing fitted....

Can you not do it yourself? there not that hard i have been told.

[Len]

Yea mate wiggle with a good bit of force! Also spin the wheel and see what noises if any that produces.

You dont say what car you have as I know with a 16v the bearings have to be changed with the rear discs. But not sure about an 8v.

[ianw3321]

Rear wheel bearings are relatively easy and might only need tightened not too tight though check the procedure in haynes manual or online. Front ones diff story need hydrolic press.

[christomk3gti]

I own an 8v. for future reference, I will be changing my rear disks and pads sooooooon, so is it a must to change the bearing aswell, as the 16v is stated.

cheers and sorry for hijacking your thread 

[kildareflare]

Thanks all.

Its a MK3 8V GTI. Unfortunately im not an experienced mechanic - just know how to do the basics. Ive got a Haynes though and was thinking about it as the part is only about £8. Was put off slightly by a mate of mine who knows his cars send he'd rather change an engine than mess around with hubs - think it was the drum brakes he had issue with.

First up is cleaning out the coolant system to hopefully get rid of the damn flashing coolant light!

I'll try giving the rear wheels a wiggle tommorrow and taking it from there....

[christomk3gti]

Practice makes perfect m8.

I've never changed bearings before, but i'll be getting my manual out when i do. There is no way am i spending another penny in the rip of garages. No offense to anyone who works in one 

[robz]

hey.
just did mine today!
the best way i have found of diagnosing it is drive it about 40 or where ya can hear the whine really well. them turn really sharp left and right.
Gf it get loader and quieter ya can tell which side it is.
louder when ya turn right then its the left and Then its vice versa
hope that makes sense!
chris. may as well get new with your discs mate.
ya need to do them anyway!
ya can lack the car up and turn it to see if it grinds or anything as it turns. and do the wobble thing.
but i had a cracked race today. and the wobble thing didn't detect that
hope that helps:)

[christomk3gti]

cheers pal. no probs.

need some tools fast 

[MK3GTI_16Valve]

the flashing coolant light is a sign your low on coolant not dirty coolant. I would look at this first or you could find yourself stranded with an over heating engine