Nice enough weather to work on Fieros today.

[TopNotch]

Today I replaced the right rear wheel bearing on my yellow Fiero. I made sure that was the bad one yesterday by driving it with two channels of a six channel electronic stethoscope connected near each rear wheel. That tool is now offered for loan in the member's tool section.
I was pretty sure that the right rear was the bad one, since i had replaced the left rear one several years ago.
Now it drives without the bearing noise. And it will probably get slightly better gas mileage, too. It just didn't seem to roll as freely as it should.
Then I washed both the yellow and silver Fieros. They wee both collecting winter dirt.
 

[GTRS Fiero]

Oops.  I drove mine, instead.

[Raydar]

Sometimes it's hard to tell. My G6 had a whine in one of its front wheel bearings. All indications seemed to point to the left front. That is, until I replaced it with a new one, and it sounded exactly the same. Since I then had a good used (but otherwise perfectly fine) wheel bearing, I just used it to replace the right side. I thought the opposite rotation might create issues (I was feeling a bit snake-bit, by then) but it's been fine for thousands of miles. Easy job. (I did replace the axle nut, however.)

Drove the white one last weekend. Haven't driven the gray one in a couple of months. (Was going to drive it to the meeting, but the battery was doing its "doorstop" impression. So no-go.)

[MikeMac]

Raydar, I got bit occasionally with wheel bearing diagnosis when I owned Northlake Automotive. The worst ones were the bearings that had to be pressed into the spindle. If you still had a noise was it because you had replaced the wrong bearing or tweaked the new one during the pressing operation?
 Sometimes the bearing we replaced was so loud it covered the much slighter noise coming from the other side! Several customers came in with bearings so shot I wouldn't have driven the cars across the street and they had been driving on them for months.

I do believe all the years of Fiero's are sealed units that bolt in?

[Fierofool]

The rear on all Fieros is a sealed unit.  88 fronts are sealed.  All other fronts are replaceable inner and outer roller bearings. 

When I brought my truck in with the bearing noise, I thought it was the left front.  David quickly diagnosed it as the right front.  It was replaced and he was correct. 

[TopNotch]

The electronic stethoscope will make sure you get the right bearing if you are not sure. The difference between the two rear wheels was like night and day when I was driving with the stethoscope attached.
After I took the old bearing off, it didn't feel bad when I turned it by hand, so I was wondering if it wasn't the bearing after all. But turning it by hand is a no-load condition. The new bearing is quiet under load.

[GTRS Fiero]

Many years ago, I learned that things should be replaced in pairs: brakes, bearings, tires, ball joints, end links, shocks, tie rods, etc.  Unfortunately, I did not do that with my splash shields, so now I get to replace the other one.

[Raydar]

Many years ago, I learned that things should be replaced in pairs: brakes, bearings, tires, ball joints, end links, shocks, tie rods, etc.

Normally, I do. Brakes? Nearly always. Tires? Same, unless one is being replaced due to damage. Ball joints? Sure. Tie rod ends? The same, unless one of them is obviously shot, and the other is obviously not. (Seldom happens.) 
Wheel bearings? I needed to get rid of the noisy one, even if it required swapping the used (but otherwise good) left side bearing to the right side. It's been on there for tens of thousands of miles and is still doing fine. It's not like it's going to fail "all at once", and drop the car on the ground. If it gets noisy, I'll replace it. (Now... watch it drop the car on the ground, when I drive it to work, tomorrow. )

[Raydar]

The electronic stethoscope will make sure you get the right bearing if you are not sure. The difference between the two rear wheels was like night and day when I was driving with the stethoscope attached.
...

I will remember that, next time. Thanks, very kindly, for making it available.

[GTRS Fiero]

I had a wheel bearing seize on me, years ago.  Not pretty.  Lots of damage

[Raydar]

I had a wheel bearing seize on me, years ago.  Not pretty.  Lots of damage

Was it one of the conventional "separate bearing and race"? Or was it the integrated cartridge type, like we've got?

[GTRS Fiero]

Dunno.

I remember almost losing control of the vehicle.  I think it was a Ford Pinto.

[TopNotch]

I had a Pinto as a Winter "beater" car in Michigan. That's about all they were good for.

[Raydar]

Dunno.

I remember almost losing control of the vehicle.  I think it was a Ford Pinto.

That would have had conventional bearings. I know of several people who have had similar bearings to seize, freeze, fall apart, or otherwise fail.
I've seen some cartridge bearings that needed replacement, but never failed with that kind of drama.

I had a Pinto as a Winter "beater" car in Michigan. That's about all they were good for.

I knew a few people who had them, in HS. Including one guy who had a 289 installed in his.
I still wouldn't mind having a Pinto station wagon to piddle around with. But everyone who has one in serviceable condition thinks it's "a collector".
No thanks. At least I understand Fieros, and a good portion of their pitfalls.

[GTRS Fiero]

After thinking about this, "nice weather" is relative.  We had an inch of snow.  In some places, that would be considered "nice".

A girl at the office couldn't get her keys out of the ignition, or out of accessory mode.  She had called her boyfriend, and he tore the steering column apart, but couldn't get the key out, either.  I put enough back together to press the release button, but was laying on my back in the snow to do so.  It wasn't "nice", in my estimation.  It snowed on me, the entire time, but the lot had salt on it, so I got soaked.  It would have been easier if her boyfriend hadn't used a hammer and chisel to disassemble the steering column.