Hiya,

Noticed my fabia 3 occasionally makes a whirring noise when turning left. Seems to have a mind of its own, but happens most on brisk cornering. I don't think its brake related as tapping the brakes while it was happening didn't seem to make a difference. Doesn't do it when turning right and it definitely related to the rotation of the wheels as its louder at certain parts of rotation.

Cars only just ticked over 19k now and is still under warranty. Sound like it could be a bearing? :( Not having much luck as of late

Hi Confused,

You may be on the right track with a wheel bearing being at fault here. Did the noise suddenly become apparent or is it something that has started in the background at very low level and grown in intensity over the last little while? Wheel bearings actually usually start to hum as they become unhappy, and this can increase in intensity as you corner. It's worse after a run at speed as the bearing is hot. Eventually, when it is worn enough, it makes the noise all the time when hot or cold. If it is a wheel bearing it is sometimes not easy to initially spot which one it is. The noise may appear to come from one side of the vehicle, when in fact the faulty bearing is on the other side. The noise travels across the vehicle. If the noise is just now showing itself...you may not be able to detect any movement/play on the offending wheel just yet. But it's worth jacking the vehicle and without putting yourself at risk (don't dangle your legs or anything else under the car!!) CAREFULLY taking hold of the top and bottom of the wheel where you suspect the faulty bearing is, and trying to wiggle the wheel to see how much movement, if any there is. Also, spinning the wheel can produce a rumble or gritty sound if a bearing is on it's way out and this can often be felt through the wheel if you turn it by hand. Of course if it is under warranty, take it to your garage for a check if you don't want to get your hands dirty. It could also be: a CV joint (not very usual at your mileage and they have a tendency to click and rumble rather just hum), a tyre problem but prolly not. A wheel bearing is easy to fix, and normally will be replaced as a pair per wheel, inner and outer.

Hi Confused;

You do seem to be having bad luck with your Fabia!! On the subject of your bearings, I havent had a bearing go (touchwood) since the days when I owned a Triumph Herald and Austin Allegro!!

I was thinking, it it was at low speed, could it just be the power steering pump under load? Unlikely I know?

Not much help I know but just a thought.

Regards

Grahame

Thanks for the replies guys. Just jacked up the car... the drivers side front seems to either be catching on something (brake disk maybe?) or its the bearing thats making the whirring noise.

I took a crap video, I noticed that both the wheels make a clonk when rotating back to forth, but not sure if this is normal? Only the drivers side one made an audible scratching/whirring though when rotated. Was no movement from top/bottom or left/right when pulling, just the scraping noise when rotating

Getting it booked in again :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQoyxMJ7K4k

Edited 30 August, 201015 yr by Confused_Cheese

Well, I was sceptical at first but it turned out to be the tyres!

The clonking back and forth is the diff... the scraping is the brake pads, nothing to worry about apparently! As I say, when the dealer said it was the tyres i didn't believe them at first. I guess I was lucky as they had seen a car previously making the same noise when turning right... they'd replaced the driveshafts, bearings, stripped the gearbox and a few other things before trying swapping over some tyres from a demo vehicle. It seems to only affect continentals and they believe its something to do with the tyre wall rubbing on the rim under sharpish turning.

either way, had 2 bridgestones fitted to the front, noise is gone

Thanks for posting back confused! Very interesting result and glad it's ok.

Had exactly the same problem but with both front wheels (with Continentrals). A kind of scraping noise when turning. Had the car checked by the Skoda dealer twice but they couldn't find the problem. I didn't panic as I had seen this same thing on a Fiesta with Continentals a few years ago. At that time, the Ford dealer just put some lubricant where the tyre wall met the rim and problem gone.

Had to change my front tyres a few weeks ago. Stuck with Continentals but so far the problem hasn't come back. Glad to hear you got to the bottom of this.

It wasn't explained to me that they thought it was the rim rubbing against the tyre before they were replaced otherwise it would of had a date with some silicone grease. I assumed they just thought the tyre was screwed... The drivers side one was down to about 3mm anyway and some slight cracking so would of replaced soon in the next few months. Passenger side had about 5 mm left so was either replaced or an alignment may be needed!

Edited 12 September, 201015 yr by Confused_Cheese

that's a big difference in wear 3<5mm, could it mean something else.