Cadillac Repair: 89 Eldorado Hub bearing, coolant temp, solinoid

Question
I have a 89 eldo with 89,000 miles.  I hear a rotating noise from the L front wheel which increases with speed...noise is still constant when I coast on the highway in neutral.  I'm thinking its the hub bearing.. I have had it since I bought the car last year and it has not gotten any worse.  I had it on a lift last fall and they ran it in gear but did not hear anything..maybe because it was on the lift and didn;t have any presure on it... seems you have to be in the car to hear it also.
The tranny is just ok.. the other owner had it rebuilt, but still doesn't feel right and also the converter doesn't engage..( I will replace the tranny with a GM re-manufactured one, eventually) so I wanted to make sure that the tranny or final drive wasn't making the noise.  
no clicking on turns so I don't think the axle joints.
any other way to test it out... also If I replace the left side do I have to replace the right also?
thanks in advance

Answer
Hi Jim, Sounds like you hit it on the head with the wheel bearing diagnosis. You could swap the tires side to side in the front and see if the noise goes to the other side. If it stays at the LF then find a straight road and with nobody around quickly swerve the car from side to side in your lane kind of like the racers do when they warm up their tires. If you have a bad bearing it will get louder with the extra weight placed on it and will quiet down when the weight is shifted to the other side. You can replace just the bearing that is making noise  and that might be a good idea because they might be over a hundred so shop around.

  As for the tcc there are several things that will cause it not to engage and further testing would need to be done. I remember the trans guy say that a coolant temp sensor was at fault one time. Other times the torque converter solinoid is bad. I guess it just depends what you want to do but it would be a good idea to make sure the problem is inside the trans and not something else before going to the expense of replaceing it unless it is not shifting right in the other gear ranges. Hope that helps answer your questions. Bill