Cadillac Repair: 1990 Cadillac Deville, wheel bearing grease, grease seal

Question
I have a 90 Deville with 158k on it. After about 10-15 minutes of driving I start to hear a squeaking from the front of the car. It sounds like its near the drivers side front wheel. The      faster I drive the faster the squeak, the slower I go the slower it squeaks. There is no vibrations or anything, just the squeaking. Also when its squeaking and I turn the wheel to the left it stops squeaking. I am thinking it might be a bearing but I am not sure and love some advice on this, thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi Brent,

      The way you describe it it does seem like it could be a hub and bearing assembly. However...a hub and bearing usually has a grinding metal sound instead of a squeak. But I have been fooled by a bearing noise I haven't heard before.

      What it might be is the grease seal on the back side of the hub and bearing where it contacts the outer CV joint. If you remove the nut and then push back on the axle and put some hi temp. wheel bearing grease on the seal and then bolt everything back together that might do the trick. Otherwise if you could support the lower control arms  on jackstands and run the car at 20-30 mph you might be able to tell the bearing for sure. It might be such that weight needs to be on the bearing or it won't make noise. One other way would be to use a mechanics stethoscope and spin the tire by hand or hold onto the strut spring and the noise will transfer to your hand or be picked up by the stethoscope. Try the other side as a comparison to see what a quiet one sounds like.

    Hope that helps. Bill