Funny Noises - UPDATED / FIXED

[seat_rich]

For the first time in a while, the wife was in the car, which meant I turned the stereo down, and noticed a funny noise...

There's a strange pulsing / rumbling noise which gets faster with the car's speed (not the engine revs).

Everything else seems to be working fine and there's no vibration through the wheel / pulling to one side / vibrations under braking.

Only thing is the mpg seems to have dropped over the last few months from roughly 62mpg to 58mpg, but I put that down to the weather.

Any ideas?

 

[seat_rich]

Bumpity bump bump

 

[Chriswaite130]

Front tyres in good nick? Not a droning noise it it? It come from a particular side?

 

[seat_rich]

Front tyres in good nick? Not a droning noise it it? It come from a particular side?

Yup, pressures and tread are fine.

It's kind of hard to describe, it's not so much droning as throbbing. If it wasn't for the fact that the steering wheel is perfectly smooth / vibration free, I'd assume it was a buckled wheel.

 

[seat_rich]

Should have added as well that it sounds like it's coming from the front of the car, and is noisiest / most resonant between 30mph - 40mph.

 

[Boo]

Possibly a wheel bearing that has collapsed ?

 

[theycallmepaul]

Im assuing I have this exact problem to
just came on to look for answers
exact same symptoms so will keep an eye on this

 

[IainW]

I've got a noisy wheel bearing at the moment and I'd describe it as a droning noise, from 30mph upwards, where it gets louder. It also gets louder as I slow down. Does that sound familiar?

 

[seat_rich]

Possibly a wheel bearing that has collapsed ?

Expensive fix?

 

[Chriswaite130]

Wheel bearing cost me just over £50 inc. VAT from TMS

 

[zoheb]

I had this several months ago. was the wheel bearings

 

[Chriswaite130]

Does it get louder if you go around a corner?

 

[theycallmepaul]

could the wheel bearing also have the effect of making the car a bit un settled ?
seems to want to dive off the road on even the smallest of bumps

 

[DEAN0]

Wheel bearing cost me just over £50 inc. VAT from TMS

Did you replace this yourself ? - any special tooling required ?

 

[Chriswaite130]

could the wheel bearing also have the effect of making the car a bit un settled ?
seems to want to dive off the road on even the smallest of bumps

It didnt have that affect with me? Just gradually got more noisey

 

[Chriswaite130]

Did you replace this yourself ? - any special tooling required ?

Na I didnt mate, I'm mates with a mechanic so left it with him, so dont know what was involved. Sorry.

 

[theycallmepaul]

It didnt have that affect with me? Just gradually got more noisey

ah may be totally unrelated then ... another thing to get checked out great

 

[Boo]

Did you replace this yourself ? - any special tooling required ?

You dont need any specific tools to replace the wheel bearings. You do need lots of patience and to remember not to over tighten them. Lots of copper slip and grease too. I did my rear wheel bearings on the Arosa and it took around an hour to do each side but, I am a girl and was a bit wimpy when it came to putting the caps back on. Compared to all the other potential problems it could be, the wheel bearings are the most obvious problem and the cheapest to fix.

 

[DEAN0]

You dont need any specific tools to replace the wheel bearings. You do need lots of patience and to remember not to over tighten them. Lots of copper slip and grease too. I did my rear wheel bearings on the Arosa and it took around an hour to do each side but, I am a girl and was a bit wimpy when it came to putting the caps back on. Compared to all the other potential problems it could be, the wheel bearings are the most obvious problem and the cheapest to fix.

The front wheel bearings on the Mk4 come as an assembly (bearing, hub and ABS sensor ring) - If they are not pressed in correctly - you kill the abs ring and potentially the bearings when pressing them in.

I just wondered if anyone had managed it without the special tool.

 

[seat_rich]

Just an update for everyone:

Took it to my friendly local mechanic (having some other work done), and he took it for a quick spin. Nearly instantly diagnosed it as a deformed tyre, and when he showed me, there's a massive lump on the nearside rear tyre that you can't see, but you can definitely feel.

When checking the tyres previously, I just checked the pressure and tread. Didn't think to give them a good grope, but I know for next time!