Bad wheel hub isn't bad?
 

Ok here's the scoop: I have been having a scraping-rattling-clicking noise from my front left wheel for about a year now. I figured the bearing was going bad, but the signature idiot lights didn't come on so I figured I would wait. Well after the process of time the lights did come on, so I figured it was time to replace it.

So I bought a new hub, and read through the how-to on replacing it. I got everything torn apart and down to where I take off the hub, and I figured I should check it for play, just in case. I grabbed it at 12 and 6 and jerked back and forth, and there was absolutely no play. I thought this was weird, so I grabbed a stud and started turning it, and it made no noise, and there are no hard spots.

At this point I think to myself "well this is weird, what am I doing wrong?" I shrugged it off and put everything together, and after dinking around a little bit I think one of the anti rattle clips on my brake caliper is decidedly rattly.

So now I have two questions, will having a loose anti rattle clip be a hazard? It's been that way for at least a year (since I got the car) and nothing has blown up yet, so I'm thinking not. The other question: Why in the world are the anti-lock, trac off, and SVS lights on, if the hub isn't bad? Thanks for any input.

On an unrelated side note, I polished the letters on my intake manifold (3400 SFI) and retinted my tails today, and both look great.

1 - A loose clip is not BAD but it can/does lead to noises and may cause premature pad wear.

2 - Any one of the four hubs being bad or having a bad connection can cause all of those lights to come on. Investigate all four corners and report back.

Thanks man, I'll try and look into it sometime this week, although tomorrow I'm busy pretty much all day.

To check for bad wheel bearing you need the tire on the car. This gives you enough leverage to really tell if its bad or not.

I tried that too and it didn't seem bad that way, but I wasn't sure.

In the alero the sure sign for a bad wheel hub is the three lights coming on.

If thats not happening and its not making a grinding type noise its probably OK. When the bearing goes out it will start like a low level growl- like a mild rumble strip. When they finally die they make a death screech noise... You will know when you get to that point... lol Scared the shit out of me. Im just glad I was within 1/4 mile or less from my work.

I have the three lights, and there's a rattling noise, but I found it and it's not the hub. And when I checked the hub for play there wasn't any. Hopefully will have time to check the others out tomorrow.

Also keep in mind that that big nut in the center is preloading the bearing.

Just because you cant wiggle it with it on doesnt mean its not bad. Just means its not catastrophic bad- yet. Remove that nut from the center then give it a wiggle.

If the three lights are on and you are getting weird noises it or they are bad.

just because the wheel hub doesnt have play in it doesnt mean that its working properly. your sensor could be shot, or a bearing inside could be faulty causing the noises.

The noise is an anti rattle clip on the brakes that is loose, and it's making no other noise other than shot upper strut mounts in the rear.

have you had your dtcs checked?

No, I don't know of a place in town that does free scans on BCM codes, and autozone's reader wouldn't see the code.

well if you were here I would of borrowed the tool from work and scanned it for you

Problem no. 2
 

Alright folks, I have another problem. For those who care I still haven't figured out which hub is throwing the lights. Now on to the new thing:

Yesterday I back out of my parking spot, turned the wheel to the left lock and gave it a little throttle to go forward. Well, at first it didn't move, then there was a kind of jerk and the car started to roll real slow and the low trac light came on. But, there was barely any throttle applied, and the tires did not spin.

Now I'm thinking (and dreading) that I may have a bad tranny mount, but does anyone else have a better idea what's wrong?

its not a mount that would cause that. even if all your mounts were gone it would not cause the the trac light to come on. probably what you exprenced was the power reduce function of traction control. if you have a bad sensor in one of your hubs it could possible trick your computer into thinking you have wheel spin and cut throttle on ya

what your experiencing is a bad sensor issue. your gonna need the scanner to tell you which one. this is whats causing your issue with you trying to take off, what I do is take the TC off and ull be fine till the lights all show up on your dash also it will stop the abs from kicking in for no reason.

you can get a new harness ( not hub side but vehicle side ) from any junk yard all GM models are the same for the harness now if its the bearing side well ull need a new bearing sadly

All right thanks guys, that's a comfort. Good to know the tranny isn't going to fall out on me, lol. I'll try and track down someone who can check the code for me here soon.

any garage themselfs can do it as long as they have a scanner like a genesys 3000 or 4000 or similar tools they are able to check it

You need an ohms tester. The hub should read 1040-1160 ohms resistance.

Now before yougo replacing stuff, you need to get inside your fender and check out the terrible location of the EBCM! Check the connector to the module, look for corrosion or any leads that may have been comprimised. If all is well with the EBCM, then move to testing all 4 corners to see what resistance you are getting. If you are not inside the specifed range above, then the sensor has crapped out and requires replacing.

Oh and when checking a trans mount there is a real easy one to do. You need a buddy to help with this and will take about 15 seconds to check... lol
Get a buddy to start the car, pop the hood, then stand to the side of the engine bay. Get them to move it into drive and while holding the brake, depress the gas pedal a little. Did it look like the engine was trying to jump out of the engine bay? Yes, trans mount shot, No, engine moved very little, not the mount. That simple

personally i would check the ohms of the front two sensors first. just because its easier to get to them and probably where you will find your issue. i work at a chevy dealer here and i know once in a while customers will come in and ask to have their codes checked by a service writer just to make sure there cars going to be safe and see how long before they have to come in for repairs. you could try and and see if you could get your codes checked for free..