What are the symptoms of a bad rear wheel bearing?, I hear a whir of some sort but it could just be how 914's sound? Options

[second wind]

Hey gang....I have noticed a whiring sound around the back of my '73 2.0 that I only hear when near a K rail or a curb or something that reflecks the sound. I am not sure if it is just routine engine noise or an issue? Mostly drivers side. CV's are fairly new. No other symptoms but just driving my analytical mind crazy. Any thoughts? Thank you very much.
gg

[jcd914]

I always disliked diagnosing wheel bearings if the were not getting pretty loud. The ones that are just making a little noise are hard to isolate & locate.

Wheel bearing noise tends changes with vehicle speed and load.
Faster is typically louder.
Changes in side loading often changes the tone of the noise.
The side with the bad bearing tend to be loudest when under more load.

If while you are along a wall that reflects the sound, you can safely speed up, slow down, swerve slightly right or left, you can start tracking the sound. You may be able to ID the side it is coming from. Or that it is something other than wheel bearings, uneven tire wear can cause road noise.

I had a customers car once that I kept hearing a squealy type noise as I accelerated up a freeway on-ramp that had a brick sound wall along it. It took several trips up the ramp to figure up it was tire noise as they broke loose when the engine came up on boost. It took few more trips up the on-ramp to confirm my diagnosis. Sometime diagnosis can be fun.

Jim