Hello everyone. I'll try to give you as much information on the topic at hand so I can get some sort of idea on what I should be seeking to be replaced/repaired.

My mother owns a 1996 Honda Accord LX. It's got the B22F2 (I think... it's the SOHC 2.2 without VTEC) with the automatic. When she first got the car, she was told that the transmission didn't work and wouldn't shift. She told me that the car got really loud when she drove it above 50MPH, as if the engine was about to explode. She took really good care to drive only about 30MPH on back roads to avoid having to put too much strain on the engine.

When I went to take it for a drive, I noticed it was unusually loud even for a car with a bad transmission. What got me, however, was the fact that the car /clearly/ shifted at every gear. The car shifts real hard, but it doesn't miss gears or anything- it goes to second, third, and fourth just fine. Acceleration is a little weak once you get over 55, as if it suddenly needs more gas, but that's about it.

Rather, I thought perhaps it was just the transmission itself making the noise.

A few days ago, I had the car worked on by a mechanic to replace the brake master cylinder. Upon test-driving the car to ensure the work was done properly, he too noticed the sound and mentioned to me that it might be a hub bearing going out. Upon relaying this information to my mother, she was apprehensive about the news because the very same mechanic thought it might have been the hub bearing.

Now, after reading about hub bearing failures, it sounds as if it may not be this; it makes a roaring sound at all times, not just turning, and it the sound isn't a grinding noise. At this point, I'm simply clueless as to what it is.

I will go ahead and do a video involving the noise so one can see what I mean.

Any thoughts on what this could possibly be? I'll try to get any other information for you if it will help give me an idea if it is a hub bearing or something else going out.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Tl;dr summary: Car makes noise when you drive it, like a roaring noise. It doesn't go up/down with RPMs going up/down like with an engine issue. Transmission shifts but hard, so car isn't stuck in one/two gears. It doesn't grind when turning, as I have heard with hub bearings.

 

Get in an open parking lot with no cars. Drive at a reasonable speed where you can hear the noise.

Then pretend you are doing the slalom (long arching left right turns, you don't need to go crazy with this).

Does the noise get louder or disappear when your are turning either right or left?

 

The noise doesn't get any louder at parking lot speeds (I didn't bother to go over ~15MPH ) when I did the shalom. It just stayed somewhat quiet.

When I /did/ drive at around 30MPH-35MPH, it sound takes on a different tone and the car starts to vibrate slightly. Turning left OR right increases the intensity. It doesn't do this turning at slower speeds, however.

 

Sounds are tough to diagnose over the web. You may want to post a video.

Just based on how you describe the noise relating to speed, then I would guess that it is either the hub/bearing or the CV joint.

Is she planning on keeping the car for a long time, and are you planning on a DIY repair?

 

Almost certainly a bad wheel bearing. When I bought my Accord the roar was so bad that it sounded like I as sitting in an unmuffled, piston-engine airplane cockpit. Really loud roar, increasing with speed. No perceptable change when the car was turned right or left.

Put the front end up in the air on jackstands and let it idle in drive. It will be easy to figure out which bearing is noisy.

 

Roader- That is more or less what it sounds like. It sounds like darn piston airplane, except it goes up and down with speed rather than RPMs.

And never thought of that. Perhaps we should give that a try...

I'll post a video ASAP.

 

Search for v=cdRpnK5MGQ8 on YouTube for a good video on how to do this.

EDIT: Put the proper search term in there.