Sounds like a bearing

[Dalur]

I have been noticing that once I have about 40 - 50 K at highway speeds I get a rotating squealing noise. It sounds like a bearing to me but when I checked there was no play. I seems to happen about the same spot on my daily commute, any suggestions what else it might be. If it was brakes I would think that it would be around steady.

[tmac4t4]

take an alternate route to work

[Dalur]

That's a good Idea but there is only one way to work. I tried the turning the stereo up fix but thoughts of things falling off at 120 made me think further about that method.

[Savin]

It could be that you need an alignment, but you'd expect some sort of wheel hop at highway speeds, I think. It could be the wheel bearing though, one of them is bad on my car and there's no play on any of the wheels so...I guess look into that.

[tmac4t4]

maybe warped rotor??
bearings are simple even if you hafto just clean it up real good and re-pack it with fresh grease..as long as its not toast of course

[zzzoomx3]

yeah - i would agree with the wheel bearing - one way to find out is to jack up the front of the car and then run it - letting the front wheels turn - if you hear the humming or squealing - then its your bearings.

[Dalur]

It sounds like it is coming from the rear, so the running the front wouldn't work. I had a bent rear rotor on my Sub and it doesn't feel the same. I will look further into the bearing, maybe I'll just replace them anyway. With 235 km on the car there probably about done. Days off are coming up here so I'll have some time to spend on it. Will let you know what I find, Thanks.

[zzzoomx3]

ahh - well you didnt specify if it was the front or the rear

[Dalur]

You are right, I didn't. My bad. I'll do better next time.

[solo_ryder]

Hehe, you will do better next time

The rear have a sealed hub, so the best way to diagnose that is to jack up the car in the back and take off the rear tires, spin the hub around and listen for noise and resistance.

If you have to change the bearing, then you need to get a new rear hub as they are sealed units. They can be quite pricey IIRC, so going to the wreckers and pinching a assmebly might be a good idea. Also, you can post a WTB on this board and someone may have one from parts car.

Make sure to check if you have ABS or non ABS hubs though, there should be a sensor that sticks into the inside of the hub behind the brake sheild as some mx3's have 4 wheel ABS