Honda Car Forum

'98 CRV auto, (AWD version) 46,000 miles (74,000km) Second owner.

When stopping on snow / ice, without causing the ABS to engage, the
rear-right wheel makes a howling-grinding noise that changes pitch with
rotation speed. It's a fairly 'throaty' sound. It only sounds at about
15 mph or slower, __just as you come to a stop___. Due to road noise,
there's no audible noise at speed in forward, but in reverse, 15 mph,
when you let it coast (so the tranny won't howl) you can hear the
grinding noise in the rear right too.

Changing the rear diff fluid didn't help, so the dealer replaced the
whole diff. Noise is still there. Brakes look perfect on boths sides,
with no accumulations of rust or metal filings. Drum surfaces are
un-grooved and shoes have enough meat left on them. All the contact
points have the copper colored anti-sieze spray on them as if they've
never been touched since the factory. (I hear CRVs aren't very hard on
the rear brakes)

My conclusion is the rear right bearing, because it can be heard when
rolling in reverse, but only really howls and grinds when putting higher
(axial?) load on it while stopping. BTW, the stopping noise rarely
happens on dry pavement, only if two or more wheels are on snow (which
appears to be what fooled the dealer into swapping the diff). There's no
signs of rubbing or grinding in the brakes, and when there's something
bent or assembled wrong inside brake drums I'd expect to have a
rub,rub,rub,rub kind of noise.

Has anybody EVER seen a rear bearing on an AWD CRV go bad, and do you
think that's what I've got?

I'm going to get a (non-Honda) shop to inspect and swap the rear drums
to eliminate them as a cause, since the dealer is absolutely convinced
that they're going to tear my brakes apart (at my expen$e) until they
find the problem. They claim it isn't the rear bearing because they
never fail.

ALSO: Both times I went there, the foreman was unreachable / out, so I
had to show the noise to whoever was available to come along for a ride
(mechanics) I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it doesn't seem right
from a procedural perspective.

'Curly'
--

To REPLY: If there are a couple of underscores in my return address,
you must remove them to reply directly . . . . . . Thanks.

hey,

I too am a second owner of a 98 crv. Whenever i make tight u-turns,
hear a howling noise coming from the rear. I search the internet fo
this and came across your post and one other. The other was an ad to
parts store to "replace your wheel bearings if you hear a howling soun
coming from the rear". the parts cost around $50. I will tr
replacing the right rear first then the left if necessary.

christia

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christian_a wrote:
>
> hey,
>
> I too am a second owner of a 98 crv. Whenever i make tight u-turns, I
> hear a howling noise coming from the rear. I search the internet for
> this and came across your post and one other. The other was an ad to a
> parts store to "replace your wheel bearings if you hear a howling sound
> coming from the rear". the parts cost around $50. I will try
> replacing the right rear first then the left if necessary.
>
> christian
>
> --
> christian_a

===================

You have to admit the 'ad' you mentioned is a pretty good scam.... Take
the most frequently mentioned symptom of the CRV, and then run an ad
that promises to fix the problem by selling the wrong part to the user.
Brilliant! (You should post that link for the group to see)

Your problem is probably NOT your wheel bearing, it's worn-out Dual Pump
Fluid that should be changed out asap. Ignore the owner's manual in this
rare instance. No matter what your mileage or age, when you get the
symptom you've described, you change the Dual pump Fluid and it will go
away.

P.S. Make sure your front and rear tires are the same circumference
too. :-)

The wheel bearing problem has a very different description.

Here's how I changed my own Dual Pump Fluid:----------------

Look over the top of the rear left wheel. You can see the drain and fill
holes in the differential. Buy four feet of clear plastic tubing from a
hobby or wine making store. Inner diameter is about 3/8", and get a
small funnel from Dollar store that you can force into the tubing. Tape
the tubing to a yard stick or old broom handle with two inches hanging
out at differential end. Take the vehicle for a ten minute drive and
then drain the fluid into a paint tray or suitable shallow container.
(remove the upper bolt first, then lower)
Allow to drain for 10 minutes, then replace the two crush washers on the
bolts and put the lower bolt in. Add 1 litre of Honda 'Dual Pump
Fluid' to the upper hole using tubing and funnel, resting on top of back
tire. Bolt in upper hole and you're done!

You didn't tell us the mileage, but yes, your manual explains that using
mismatched tires on a CRV is very bad. You can sometimes
overinflate / underinflate to correct for slight diameter difference.


'Curly'

Will the failure of this "fluid" (oil) also cause a slight shudder when
making a tight slow turn (parking lot) as well as a grinding noise (like a
worn to the metal brake pad) when backing up in a slight turn?

bookdad wrote:
> Will the failure of this "fluid" (oil) also cause a slight shudder when
> making a tight slow turn (parking lot) as well as a grinding noise (like a
> worn to the metal brake pad) when backing up in a slight turn?
>
Hi,
Don't know about shudder but noise yes. I had to drain and refill the
oil. The noise was quite substantial.

bookdad wrote:
>
> Will the failure of this "fluid" (oil) also cause a slight shudder when
> making a tight slow turn (parking lot) as well as a grinding noise (like a
> worn to the metal brake pad) when backing up in a slight turn?


----------------------------

You could not have described it better. The owner's manual is wrong
about the change interval. 50,000 Km is ideal (30,000 Mi). I've never
heard of it in reverse, but never thought to try it in reverse.

'Curly'