Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Wheel Bearings? Tranny? Clutch?

so anyway... here's the story:

for the past year (10,000 miles or so) on my 1998 CSE 2.5 5 speed... i've had a sound coming from my front driver side wheel that sounds like something rubbing, especially when making right-hand turns... i've looked at this many, many, many times and not found ANYTHING rubbing... which leads me to believe that it has something to do with the wheel bearing/hub.

moving on... in early february, i was coming home one night, when on the interstate, driving in 5th gear, i lost power to the wheels. it was abrupt, like something "popped" out... no clutch slippage whatsoever. anyway... 2 seconds later, it "popped" back in, and the car was driving totally normal, like it was a minute before... 2 or 3 miles later, the exact same thing happened, again... with NO clutch slippage (i know what a slipping clutch feels like... this wasn't it. this was a defined "pop" into and out of the vehicle driving and coasting). the interesting thing about this is that my speedometer went up, as though the car was in gear and moving at the appropriate speed as relative to the tachometer. (i.e. my car will sit still in my driveway, and i can cycle through the gears with the speedometer going all the way up as though i was moving.) THIS leads me to believe the problem is not in the transmission or the clutch, but the cv joints, or excessive wearing, and eventual failure of the wheel bearing/hub assembly, causing the cv to spin freely inside the housing. (i will be checking this in the morning, to see if the drivers' side cv is in motion when the vehicle is in gear). i am really not prepared to spend yet another $1000 on a clutch job, after having it replaced with my new engine in early 2003, and then having a new transmission installed last summer. any insight on this would be extremely valuable to me... i really can't afford to take it to a shop and get taken for a ride...

I think you're on the right track for troubleshooting. For the symptoms you described, it sounds like your clutch and transmission are NOT to blame. Replacing the driver's side half-shaft (w/ accompanying CV joints) is a relatively inexpensive fix. While you (or the mechanic) has the everything torn apart, replacing the wheel bearing wouldn't hurt anything.

The rubbing noise you hear when making right-hand turns could be either the driver's side CV assembly or the wheel bearing. If it makes the noise when you're making a right-hand turn in neutral, then the wheel bearing is the likely culprit of the noise. However, the "popping" symptoms you describe aren't likely the wheel bearing -- that's most likely the CV assembly.

well, i lifted the car up today. it appears as though the cv joint IS in fact the problem. it's sort of wobbling every time i put it in gear... its like... its being moved, but not spinning. i think the inner cv joint (the part connecting to the transmission) is stripped, possibly? ah well. im having it towed to meineke tomorrow morning, so we'll see.