Guess I should have wrote "Problem" in the title as well....God I suck at the Internet.

I think I may have a wheel bearing going bad on my front left wheel, but I'm not actually sure if thats it. It's not making a metal on metal sound or anything like that, almost more of a 'whooshing' sound. It goes faster and faster as I accelerate, and the sound is there all the time. Not just during breaking or anything like that, which is why I'm inclicned to think it may be a bearing of the wheel hub in general. I have no idea what a bad bearing would sound like. It seems to have no effect at all on performance.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. If it is a wheel bearing, about how much would that cost?

 

Do you feel any vibrations in the steering wheel or any whinning coming from the front wheels? Jack up the front of the car and remove the tires.. now grab the rotor at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions and try to rock the hub up and down, if it moves more than a few thousands , the hub is bad. Try ebay if you want or just go to your nearest napa autoparts store.Good luck!

 

Haven't felt any vibrations at all.

Does anything I described sound like some other type of problem?

 

Ya the wheel bearing is like a hub assembly, that is non-serviceable and has to be replaced when they die, luckily they aren't to crazy expensive, and you can change it out yourself easily, maybe like $100 ish? same dificulty as brake pads really. The fact that you said your sound increases as your speed increases can be either, but usually bearings don't act up until higher speeds where its more noticeable, unless of course its REALLY bad - then you it could happen at low speeds and you would obviously feel that with a shakedown and the car on stands. As a first guess, I would say its a brake issue, seems to be a more violent noise from your discription.

I had to replace both my front hub assemblies before 100k miles, I caught mine very very early, and it sounded like a slight hum, most noticeable on straightaways at highway speeds 50-70. Theres a way to test, I forget, but if your turning right @ hwy speeds, it should unload the right bearing and load the left? increases/decreases the problem....or visa-versa....