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Droning noise


oh_superb

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I have just returned from yet another pan-European trip and my car has developed a droning/light rumbling kind of sound which is only really obvious when slowing down, hence limited background engine noise to mask other noises, and say in 2nd gear coming down to a stop on a slip road/ motorway services or approaching traffic lights. I don't think the noise is there when the whole car is cold, just once subjected to motorway speeds (I think, but not 100% sure).

Having previously, with French cars, had wheel bearing problems, this noise is different to that.

Furthermore, changing the steering wheel angle does not change the nature of the noise, while with wheel bearings the noise can get better in a certain direction of steering as the inner or outer race loading changes.

I have taken both front wheels off to check CV boots were intact and they were OK. I also tried yanking the driveshafts to try and detect and CV joint wear but not a single noise or movement could be felt.

I also tried free wheeling the wheels with the car raised up and no wheel bearing noises could be heard (cold car after long stop).

Took it to local skoda dealer as was worried about driving back to the UK he proclaimed the car was safe and suggested waiting a bit longer until noise was more obvious.

They said the tyres could be the culprit - I fitted 20 000 miles ago a full set of brand new Pirelli P7 Cinturato tyres, after top scores from German ADAC in all categories, and unless they have a design fault, I don't know how they could start making this noise.

I will also add that 3 months ago I thought I heard the same noise in Belgium and then had a blow out, a hole developed where the tread joins the sidewall, roughly 10mm in diameter.

But this is probably completely unrelated to my rumbling/droning noise.

Any ideas? Just to add that the car clocked up 100 000 miles last night.

Edited by oh_superb
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It is almost impossible to diagnose noises online. I have personally found Pirelli carcasses to be most unsatisfactory in terms of defects and accuracy - they also fail my "car park" test.

Look at a few tyres in a car park and note which makes on average, need the most lead. These are the least accurately made carcasses. Work your way up from "Lucky Strike" radials - Pirellis are about in the middle on a par with Firestone and Goodyear.

Michelin or Continental for me.

rotodiesel.

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It is almost impossible to diagnose noises online. I have personally found Pirelli carcasses to be most unsatisfactory in terms of defects and accuracy - they also fail my "car park" test.

Look at a few tyres in a car park and note which makes on average, need the most lead. These are the least accurately made carcasses. Work your way up from "Lucky Strike" radials - Pirellis are about in the middle on a par with Firestone and Goodyear.

Michelin or Continental for me.

rotodiesel.

Thanks Roto.

Would a bad tyre carcass sound (possibly) like a flat tyre? I regularly check my tyre pressures, and first time I heard this noise when slowing down I thought I had a puncture!

Anyone in or near Northampton prepared to offer some help swapping front wheels and a test drive to eliminate or pinpoint tyres as the culprit? Should not take long, I think the fronts would be enough, I am pretty sure the noise comes from the front.

At £135 a corner, one would expect good rubber, but cost is no guarantee....

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When I had droning on my Passat B5, I fitted a second set of wheels/tyres, it was still there but maybe not so bad (better off-set). I must confess I had dark thoughts and worked out it would be the front differential - so pretended it was okay for a few months then plucked up enough courage to get Mr VW to tell my what the problem was "O/S/F hub bearing" - so I got them to change both and that sorted that problem out. Mine was a bit like the droning that you get when running with off-road diectional tyres, ie a bt like a passing Army truck sounds like.

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When I had droning on my Passat B5, I fitted a second set of wheels/tyres, it was still there but maybe not so bad (better off-set). I must confess I had dark thoughts and worked out it would be the front differential - so pretended it was okay for a few months then plucked up enough courage to get Mr VW to tell my what the problem was "O/S/F hub bearing" - so I got them to change both and that sorted that problem out. Mine was a bit like the droning that you get when running with off-road diectional tyres, ie a bt like a passing Army truck sounds like.

Good description there. Exactly the sound I have, basically like chunky off road tyres. Just a bit disappointed that I need new wheel bearing at "only" 100k miles.

My old Peugeot 605 was sold at 150k miles and still on all the original suspension parts, bushes, shocks, etc etc, including wheel bearings. It only needed one CV boot in that mileage and one exhaust system. Oh, original turbo, injection system too. And no need for cleaning out "bungs" to stop water ingress or something like that. And the auto box oil change was a DIY job running on simple and cheap Dextron 3 oil rather than £20 a litre VAG stuff. Digressing a bit now, but really the only two problems were hose cracks. One on the fuel system suction side, so air in diesel fuel and stalled, easy to find and rectify. The other one resulted in coolant loss, but those cars have a coolant level sensor so red light comes on the dash well before you cook it!

Anyway, back to the subject, I hope you are right and it's a wheel bearing only. Will probably get a local garage to put two new ones in, although I suspect it's the O/S/F.

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Rang up Skoda dealership for a quote for front wheel bearing replacement, in case it was that, although very much tempted to let them "diagnose" it themselves, at £55, and then if it turns out it's not that, then I get a refund and then they get onto the next thing that could be the culprit.

Shocked at the price though, £275 each side! I felt like pinching myself....

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Double check tyres before bearings, swap them around, front to rear. Mk1 Superb and all B5 cars suffer from noise often, especially on rear axle. This is because there is nothing to dampen sawtooth wear tyre noise, which is relatively high frequency, very resonant and speed dependent, or in other words sounds like a drone.

Pirellis in my book are one of more noisy tyres, I have replaced factory P6000 before there worn out precisely because strange (and different) noises appeared from not just one but 2 tyres.

More recently, after a 5-people-lots-of-luggage-towbar-carrier-full-130mph-1000mile-autobahn round trip, even my trusty Nokian Vs have developed rumbling noise as soon as I have swapped front and rear axle tyres. The reason being definitely sawtooth wear, a bit unsurprising after gunning down autobahn in a fully loaded car at almost full power for 1000 miles (front tyres lost 4mm thread in this trip alone :o ).

I put droning tyres onto the front axle, put new Michelins on rear axle and the noise, while still there, became acceptable until the front tyres were fully worn out and replaced, again with Nokians (Z G2, basically a harder V, even thread pattern is the same as V in 205/55/16 size). I have a quiet car again.

The whole experience made me question the point of swapping tyres around at all, basically if you want least noise you should keep tyres on the same position from new till worn out, otherwise any excess wear on front will be heard at the back.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Thank you dieselV6.

As you might have picked up from earlier posts, I too storm down the German autobahn quite a lot. In fact most of my mileage on these tyres has been at high speed fully laden - Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy and other locations - and, although I am not as crazy as you, so I keep to under 110mph most of the time :giggle: , most of the mileage has been fairly heavily laden and at high speeds. Life is too short to sit at 60 all day.

But looking at the tyres, they are predominantly worn in the middle. Perhaps the tyre bulges out due to heat and centrifugal forces, and this then worsens the sawtooth wear round the edges at lower speeds and creates noise. I have noise at low speeds, not high - this could be explained by the above. But I am no tyre expert.

I have just received a set of winter Michelin Alpins (205 55 R16) from Germany fitted to steel rims - I will see if the car quietens down when these are fitted.

Next time I will fit 94 load rated tyres at the front rather than 91. Might avoid this bizarre and expensive situation - where despite having spent £130 a tyre, they only lasted 15k miles, and half-worn they are too annoying to keep! Maybe the nose-heavy 2.5 tdi plays part in extra wear/load on front tyres too.

Edited by oh_superb
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My link

Michelin Alpin 205/55R16 winter tyres fitted this morning on steel rims :rofl:

Looking forward to some snow now. :giggle:

What head unit / trim did you use in the earlier pics? Looks smart!

:thumbup:

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What head unit / trim did you use in the earlier pics? Looks smart!

:thumbup:

Thanks!

Clarion NX700E head unit with a cheap trim off ebay, listed for Passat, but perfect fit. Only £8 I think.

GPS aerial routed under the steering wheel, through fuse box, through drivers side A pillar then in the top right corner of windscreen.

Ipod in glovebox, ipod cable thru the dash and into the glovebox.

Very pleased with the installation and the functionality of the head unit.

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  • 4 years later...

I have a 2009 Skoda superb auto deisel

I've recently bought the car an I'm getting the same problem. I went to a local garage who said its the wheel bearing or gear box so I went for the cheapest option an had the wheel bearing an hub replaced. Unfortunately this hasn't made any difference but after reading other forums a few others have said they had the wheel bearing and hub changed from the dealers or had genuine parts put in an it's fixed the problem.

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