Wheel bearing going?

GeoffT

GeoffT

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Just noticed today a sort of "pattering" sound from the front left of the car when going round a steady right hand bend (large traffic island). Went round again on a different lane to make sure it wasn't surface related, but the noise was the same. It is not apparant on left hand bends or on the straight. Does this sound like the near side wheel bearing going?

It's only done 5K, but a search reveals that this is not unheard of even at that mileage, sadly.
 
Sounds like it could well be. I've just had a rear wheel bearing changed on mine. On the right side of the car, and made a noise when turning left but not right.

Annoying I think one of my front ones is going as well :(

My car has done 80k however.

You can always jack the car up and see if you can feel any play in it.
 
This is worrying. It seems that there are quite a lot of wheel bearing posts. Common fault on the mkv platform, or just 8P A3s?
 
Depends on age - afaik none of mine have been replaced but will have to check the service records
 
bacardi said:
the "pattering" sound, did it sound metallic?
Click to expand...

Hard to describe really. Not sure I would call it metallic, more like the sort of tyre noise you get on concrete surfaces, but oscillating rather than constant.
 
ahhh, ok, I know the noise you're talking of

It does sound like a wheel bearing, When almost all of mine have gone they've sounded similar, but you could also hear some griding type noise at low speed too, that's the way I usually get the dealer to admit there's a problem, the pattering noise they usually try to say is tyre wear
 
Why do so many A3 wheel bearings fail? Are they under-specified or over-exposed to water etc?
 
absolutely no idea, I do drive it hard but it should be able to cope with it, I wondered if it was "over" tyred, too much latent grip but figured that the Audi chaps would have taken all wheel sizes into account when designing it

The really annoying part is trying to get any form of response from Audi over it, they don't want to admit anything (which I guess is understandable in this day and age) but I'm sure they should show more interest in a customer whose had 13 wheel bearings fitted to one of their cars
 
Hmm - I suspect they're operating at the limit of their design envelope under normal conditions and little more is required to take them outside it.
 
bacardi said:
ahhh, ok, I know the noise you're talking of

It does sound like a wheel bearing, When almost all of mine have gone they've sounded similar, but you could also hear some griding type noise at low speed too, that's the way I usually get the dealer to admit there's a problem, the pattering noise they usually try to say is tyre wear
Click to expand...

So do you reckon I should wait until it gets a bit more obvious before I take it to the dealer?
 
wrong person to ask on this one

I personally think its a very serious safety issue

The amount of point blank rejection I've had from dealers is quite scary when you think about it

The only thing I'd say is - don't take no for an answer!
 
Car went to the dealers today and they have changed a faulty wheel bearing. The odd thing is they say the offside one was faulty, yet the noise I was hearing seemed to be from the nearside on right hand bends, which I would have thought meant the nearside one.

Haven't had a chance to drive it yet (it was picked up and returned to SWMBOs workplace), hope they haven't done the wrong one.

Is 5000 miles a record for a wheel bearing to go faulty?
 
Well, whichever bearing they replaced was the right one, the noise has gone.
 
Experiencing the same problem now, have an appointment at the dealers on monday. Anything I should be aware of or should expect the dealers to say (to avoid replacement)? Thanks.
 
I didn't notice a pattering noise with my wheel bearing failure.
I did notice a low speed grinding noise and feel through the wheel/pedals.
My dealer also attempted to pass it off as tyre noise and tried to get me to replace perfectly good tyres....
It's the only time I've stormed out of a dealer, very visibly angry.
In fact, I may have uttered "stick your Audi up your ar*e" on the way out.
Honestly, I was so angry with their assumption that I'm a clueless idiot, ready to be ripped off.

If you're pretty sure it's a wheel bearing, DO NOT let them try and pass it off as tyre noise!!!!:banghead:
 
well so far 10k and no wheel bearing issues. I think wheel bearing lifespan is not predictable but one would assume at least 40k out of them....

I have a Clio with 180k and original wheel bearings and shock absorbers still fine. OK the shock absorbers are not as new but pass MOT with 5 stars...

So some people criticize french cars but in terms of engineering they are fine, at least the Peugeot and the Renault I had/have... Not refined in the interior and driving not exciting but I can only say very reliable... I am afraid I can't say the same of VAG products... My S3 is fine but My mums MK4 Golf is been a pain from gearbox to suspension, to water pumps, etc....

Pedro
 
Mine went around the 30k mile mark.
Of course you have to remember, according to the dealer, all of the above was a figment of my imagination.
So feel free to dismiss me as readily as they did.
 
I dream of 30k out of a bearing, hell I'd settle for 10k, so far I've averaged 6k
 
I have a similar issue, but have had it up on the ramps and there is no sign of bearing noise or wheel movement from any wheel, let alone the one I think the noise is coming from.

However, one of the wheels appears to be a little out of shape, the mechanic thought this might be to blame, but I would have thought I'd feel the vibration through the steering wheel (which I don't) if the wheel was so out of shape it would make a noise..

Any ideas?

Regards

Rob
 
Shocks have been known to make noise?
Someone once described it as a rubber ball being bounced around the inside of an empty plastic coke bottle, which was genius.
 
Not thought of that, but to the noise increases in frequency with wheel speed and almost becomes a grinding noise as the car comes to a stop which is similar previous wheel bearing problems I've had (on my mk3 escort 17 years ago!)

Rob
 
well, i certainly hope it's a problem that can be found for me, i hate those "mysterious" things that can either be this or that. My noise doesn't seem to happen ALL the time, but i can defintely hear it when it happens. Let's just hope it produces itself when i go in on Monday. Otherwise it's gonna be one of those days - it's just your imagination sir...
 
katsumoto said:
well, i certainly hope it's a problem that can be found for me, i hate those "mysterious" things that can either be this or that. My noise doesn't seem to happen ALL the time, but i can defintely hear it when it happens. Let's just hope it produces itself when i go in on Monday. Otherwise it's gonna be one of those days - it's just your imagination sir...
Click to expand...

With mine you could only hear it on a reasonably fast right hand corner. But you could always hear it on such corners, so it wasn't intermittant in that sense.

My dealer replaced it without question.
 
audi upgrades
A fair bit of a delay but I thought I'd let you know I got this sorted. Purchased the bearings from eurocarparts with 30% off so ended up being a cheap fix.

Thanks all for your help. :)
 
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