Bearing gone or tyre noise

[stregavrs]

Hi all,

I use my Fabia VRS on my 67 mile each way commute to work. I have had the car 3 months now and it has always made a droning noise. So I took it to my garage and they said it was actually the noise of my tyres. The tyres are fine a have bags of life left in them so off I went. Recently the noise has got a little louder. Either that or I have notice it more, BUT I have to admit it varies between road surfaces. For example on an 'A' road it barely noticeable over the general noise of the car on the road etc. But on the M25 it is very very noticeable. When driving around town at normal speeds there is no noise at all. Any help would be much appreciated as if it's thought that it is a bearing I would like to nip it in the bud asap. Thanks

[Brianpilman]

It will be tyre noise wheel bearing noise on a nice smooth road will be a whirring noise which will get louder the faster your going. 45 profile is quite low so will be a lot more noisy than other tyres

[stregavrs]

Thanks. The noise does get louder the faster I go though..... But doesn't do it much under 50mph. Found this on you tube and mine sounds similar

Edited 7 October, 2011 by stregavrs

[Brianpilman]

Try jacking each corner up in turn and pushing pulling top and bottom of wheel at same time to check for play in any wheel bearings. Does it seem to come from one side of car more than the other? Are tyre pressures ok?

[stregavrs]

ok, I will try that. It doesn't seem to come from a specific side, which is why it's baffling me. Tyre pressures are slightly above what they are meant to be. Only by a couple of psi

[Funky Fab]

They not Federal tyres are they?? Or budget tyres.

[stregavrs]

The fronts are goodyear eagles and the rears Marangoni Zeta whoever or whatever they are, these were both on the car when bought.

[ollymonkeynuts]

Could be 'stepped', thats what happened to mine. Cheapo tyres, had plenty of tread left, bascially as they wear they go kind of square. Just a thought.

[stevobeavo]

My wheel bearing was knackered for about 4-5 months, it sounded like someone grinding metal. Also will only happen if you turn in one direction....unless both of yours are buggered lol.

Also if it was a bearing it would stay the same level of noise on rough or smooth roads.

[stevobeavo]

Also pulling the wheel at the 6 oclock probably won't work due to the way the bearing are in the hub. That's what skoda told me anyway.

[stregavrs]

Ok, some excellent responses here. I think they may well have gone a tad square, so does this mean they are needing to be replaced? With regards to the noise its more of a humming rather than a metalic grinding noise and it defo varies between road surfaces and when I'm driving in straight lines, ie motorways. Ok I think it's safe to say it's the tyres then. Many thanks peeps.

[Brianpilman]

Also pulling the wheel at the 6 oclock probably won't work due to the way the bearing are in the hub. That's what skoda told me anyway.

What happens then for Mot check as I'm sure that's all Mot testers do as well?

[Chris Coates]

A humming noise that only appears above a certain speed could be:

Wheel bearing (note i've had 2 rear ones go, but forgot that the official part did say replace both sides - they did both go within 1000 miles though)

Unbalanced wheel - maybe a weight has come off? It's not unheard of.

Tracking could be off... Again not unheard of especially if you've hit any kerbs or speed bumps hard.

Tyres - could be, but i'd suspect this is the least likely.

Again, tips for jacking up and spinning the wheels and checking for play are essential, as are double checking the wheels are balanced.

[stevobeavo]

@brianpilman

No idea. Skoda diagnosed my wheel bearing as a diff bearing, so even they couldn't find it. Plus it went in for a mot with them and came back fine. Even unit18 couldn't be sure it was a wheel bearing at first.

If I was the op is change each wheel one at a time with the spare and go from there.

[Phil-J]

Tried jacking the car up in the air, then spinning the wheels whilst watching across the tread to see for distortion in the casing/tread?

[Funky Fab]

Bearing could have lost it's grease and is rusted up inside.

Saw my Mercedes mate mechanic change one on a Mercedes ML, everything was fine driving just noisy.

Turned out the bearing housing was all rusted up causing droning when driving.

[stregavrs]

All good tips and suggestions. I will try them tomorrow. If there is no play I guess it will be the tyres then. Thing is it doesn't make the noise particularly when going round a corner so as to decipher which side the bearing that is failing is. Thanks guys for all the suggestions.

[Funky Fab]

All good tips and suggestions. I will try them tomorrow. If there is no play I guess it will be the tyres then. Thing is it doesn't make the noise particularly when going round a corner so as to decipher which side the bearing that is failing is. Thanks guys for all the suggestions.

As I said with the Mercedes ML, it drove fine, there was no play! Just that the bearings were full of water and rust causing the noise. (Probably caught it before it was about to fail).

[Huxley vRS]

My front bearing had gone so I replaced with hub and bearing from tps £70. I too thought it was tyre noise with my tyre's been run flats I thought it was normal. One weekend when i was working on the car and it was up on the ramp a quick spin of the wheel and i could hear the bearing (sounded how youd expect a dry bearing to sound) replaced and been silent ever since

Oh and another thing when I was listening from drivers seat I couldnt tell if it was drivers side or passengers side but when I had a mate in passengers side he said he could hear that it was his side that the noise was coming from and it was fairly easy to tell... get someone sit in with you who knows a little about cars.

[AnotherGareth]

Generally one bearing will wear out before the other ... even if it is only a few months apart. So if the droning noise comes more from one corner it is probably a bearing, otherwise it is more likely to be the tyres.

We had Event tyres fitted to our Felicia - they were really noisy and there was noticeable vibration even after getting everything balanced and having the tracking adjusted - the difference was wonderful when I replaced them with Vredestein Quatrac 3 tyres. Tyres can make a big difference.

[stregavrs]

Some more good suggestions, I will get my bro to have a seat and see if he can work out which side its coming from. The fact that a garage who could have made plenty of ££££'s said it was only tyres make me think it's them. Time will tell. I will jack it up today and see if there are any tell tale signs. Thanks everyone. Top stuff.

[stregavrs]

Ok, seems to be making the humming noise at lower speeds now and also on all surfaces. Me thinks it's the bearing as suggested. I will jack it up on my return home and confirm either way. If it is the bearings, is it easier for me to replace the whole hub? If so is this an easy job, I'm fairly competent with car maintenance. thanks

[Huxley vRS]

Youll need a press mate and advisable to change hub and bearing at same time.

If your going for genuine I think you can only get the hub and bearing as a unit anyways and not seperate.

[Chris Coates]

Ok, seems to be making the humming noise at lower speeds now and also on all surfaces. Me thinks it's the bearing as suggested. I will jack it up on my return home and confirm either way. If it is the bearings, is it easier for me to replace the whole hub? If so is this an easy job, I'm fairly competent with car maintenance. thanks

If it's the rears it's relatively easy. If it's the fronts, not so easy.

I've managed to change both rear hubs easily enough - a puller might be needed just in case. If you've left it a while potentially the extra heat generated by broken bearings could have kind of 'welded' it onto the axle... At which point it might require a blowtorch to heat it up to get it off.

[Phil-J]

Have you checked the tyres?