Wheel noise - but is it a bearing? Fabia 2005 mkI basic

[2xw]

I have a persistent wheel noise that increases with speed but is intermittent - like a swish swish swish faster and faster until at 70 it sounds like a low drone. 

 

At first, I considered this to be a bearing but when on a jack the wheel has no play in it and is fairly solid, and at low speeds the noise is not constant. 

 

Before I spend some considerable time and back breaking labour replacing my own bearing, is there anything else it could be? 

 

The noise sounds no different on breaking. The car is old with high mileage but reasonably well looked after. The noise doesn't change when turning corners but the steering wheel does vibrate slightly (although I did put this down to just being old...) 

 

Could it be disks, pad, or calipers and is there any "quick tests" I can do without getting it up on a ramp?  

[TMB]

Noisy bearings don't always have play in them. Is the noise coming from front or back?

[2xw]

It's coming front the front left. Might try jacking it up and turning them? 

[sepulchrave]

Check for a blimp on the tyre while it's jacked up.

[Breezy_Pete]

Also, with the relevant corner jacked up and suitably supported by an axle stand, give the wheel a spin whilst holding the road spring above the top of the tyre.

I'm told you'll feel the vibration of a bad bearing 'amplified' by the spring, if there's anything wrong with it. 

Maybe compare with the other side if it's not clear one way or the other.

[SuperbTWM]

If you think its the bearing just change it. All the noisy bearings I've ever had have all had zero play in them and none could be pin pointed by just turning the wheel free hand or any of the other tricks you can do.

 

By all means try but don't think its not the bearing just because you can't prove it is the bearing

 

 

 

Edited 5 May, 2019 by SuperbTWM

[2xw]

An update: it was the bearing, and it was (predictably) a massive pain in the a*** to replace. Whilst I had the hub off (!) We took the time to replace the disks and pads too. 

[Breezy_Pete]

9 hours ago, 2xw said:

massive pain in the a*** to replace

 

Hopefully that didn't involve any pressing forces on the hub face that the wheel bolts onto?

[2xw]

On 17/05/2019 at 09:30, Wino said:

 

Hopefully that didn't involve any pressing forces on the hub face that the wheel bolts onto?

Yes it needed the entire thing taking off and pressing in with a press. Then the hub face, which was too large for the disc to fit over (wrong part from europarts I suspect), was ground down to fit. 

 

Other things that were a massive hassle included unplugging the ABS

[Breezy_Pete]

Nightmare.

Might be worth using a Skoda/VW group specialist independent garage if you ever need similar work doing again. They'll be more clued up about getting the right parts and using the right tooling for the job.

[2xw]

Definitely. In my defense it was an £800 car 5 years ago so anything over £200 and it's getting scrapped. 

 

However if anyone is reading this my advice would be to get a garage to do it!

Or at the very least ensure you have the right part by making sure the disc fits over it first, and use the proper half moon bearing puller tool!