I searched the warranty repair thread but did not see any wheel bearing issues reported.

The car had been parked for about 10 days, and I used it to run ~ 14 miles of errands today. On the way back from errand 1 I started noticing a slight hum around 40 MPH. Heading out on errand 2 it was more pronounced, as if I had a mud tire on the left front wheel. If i steered to the right it got louder (more pressure on the left front wheel). If I steered left it got quieter. All signs point to a wheel bearing.
I searched Fitfreak and found others with the same issue, which turned out to be the wheel bearing.

Members:
Chango
OCKC
TrickyPantz
Shady (rear)

Threads:
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...=Wheel+Bearing

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...=Wheel+Bearing

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...=Wheel+Bearing

I will get it to the dealer as soon as I can and follow up.

 

Generally speaking, you turn into the bad wheel bearing. If you steer left, and it gets louder, its the driver side, etc. This is because there is less of a load on the bad bearing, which allows it to vibrate more. So it sounds like you have a bad passenger side bearing. Wheel bearing should be covered under 3/36 warranty, get it taken care of, it will continue to get worse.

 

^^ that is false, the OP has it right.

 

Its a quick and easy fix. Unit bearings can fail like anything else.
No big deal.

 

I second that^^^

When you lean on the bad bearing, it will growl louder.

 

Not all the time.
When I worked at a large GM dealer we had an endless train of X-cars with bad front wheel bearings.
Some were so bad the entire front of the car would moan and groan. A quick turn of the wheel to the right or left would reveal which bearing (or both) was bad.
And yes, placing load on the noisy bearing would quiet the bearing. Especially if the seals had failed and it was running dry.

 

Okay, I'll give you that. There are always exceptions to everything. Let me re-word my statement;

Every wheel bearing I have ever changed on my personal vehicles, and those belonging to friends and family, has made more noise when you put additional weight and side load on it by turning in a direction opposite of the side that the bad bearing is on. This includes both front and rear wheel drive vehicles.

While we're on the subject of bearings, here's the tip of the day...

NEVER go for the cheapest bearing you can find! They simply don't last. You don't necessarily have to go with OEM bearings (although it's usually a safe bet), just make sure they are a quality brand such as Timken, Moser, SKF, etc.

 

It is a big deal if they're failing prematurely. I don't know about you but I don't want to be replacing them every 10,000 miles.

 

Warranty will take care of that.
Just a fluke. Probably had a manufacturing flaw.

 

its an imperfect world, poop happens. i had a sledge hammer from home depot that broke the third time i hit something.stop being panic nancys

 

No one is in a panic. Just some folks trying to harness the power of duh intuhnet to see if these instances are indeed flukes or if there may be some larger issue linking them together.

 

It's currently at the dealer, they agree it's the wheel bearing. It went from nothing, to noticeable, to LOUD in about 50 miles, starting tues.
I should have it back tomorrow.
Rocking the loaner 08 Civic LX til then.

 

Looks like your the only one checking in...................

 

I already searched out and posted the other 4 members in the first post. 5 issues out of the relatively small sample size on fitfreak seems to be a high percentage. Many recent Civics were recalled for wheel bearing failures, so it wouldn't be the first time Honda made some bad ones.

 

Well, of the past 50 wheel bearings ive done in the in the least 3 or so years at work, i would say 95% of them have been the side that I have stated above, including my own (in my old aveo). I havent had a bad one in the Fit though, yet. It seems to be a toss up though if youre worried about them going bad in the fit. Of the million wheel bearings that are made, not all of them are perfect, and they will fail, my Aveo only had 8k on it when it failed. I would say its not an issue with Fits, but there are some exceptions of course.

 

Given that bearing manufacture is very automated, very measureable, and very repeatable, I expect their success rate to be in the 6 sigma range -- 3.4 bad parts per million. If they're hitting that rate they may not be bothering to QA every part, so the odd bad bearing could certainly get out of the factory. What is odd is the number of reported issues on fitfreak.net, which is a far smaller sample size. Statistically speaking, 5 reports from this forum is significant. Put those two together and I'd conclude that the issue is not a bad bearing, but some other problem such as inadequate lubrication, misalignment, or what have you.
I would disagree. However it does appear that all of the reports are from 2007 cars, so it may be something that they caught and fixed already.

 

Thats funny because i was about to say that but you beat me to the punch. Driving habits, where you live (e.g. bumpy roads), alignment, lowering, etc all have an effect on wheel bearings.

 

bearings are not unusual to fail on a lot of cars. they're probably
using the same supplier(s). my stock legacywgn's bearing gave out
around 12k miles. roared like a DC10 on the expressway.

 

At any rate the bearing was replaced, everything is back together (and quiet).

As it turns out they also performed an alignment, and the car had a factory out-of-spec toe-in condition on both front wheels which they corrected.

 

Honda doesn't make wheel bearings.
It will be a subsidiary supplier.
I have changed thousands of bearings in my 20 years as a mechanic and for modded vehicles the most common failure was due to increased offset.
Especially on lifted trucks.