Wheel humming noise while on the motorway.

[boggysv]

Going to send my car to audi to have it looked at tomorrow. The front left side wheel is making some loud humming noise.

The noise is only audible while at high-ish speeds on the motorway going straight, and it's only from the front left side. It will only happen after driving for a while, so could it be heat related?

Could it be a wheel bearing issue or even a hub issue?
Anyone with similar experience? I've only got 12k miles on the car.

Dont think it's a tyre issue as the tyre seems to be wearing nicely, and it's only coming from one side.

 

[Spin140]

If definetly from the left front i would have said wheel bearing related.

Before I opened the post I thought it was going to be another diff whining thread, Audi recently had my S3 in to check for this but they said they couldn't hear anything and funnily enough changed both front wheel bearing under warranty, I'm convinced there was nothing wrong with them.

 

[boggysv]

Went to the dealer today to check out on the car.

It seems that they require 3 test drives totaling near to 100 miles to figure out it's the wheel bearing. I asked why couldnt they just lift the car up and see if there's any play in the wheel, and they claim that that wouldnt be conclusive enough...yer right, 3 test drives drinking up half a tank of fuel to diagnose a wheel bearing problem, and no work is done on the car yet!!

I wasnt happy, but decided it needs to be worked on anyways, so left the car and told them I want it tomorrow. They have the cheek to tell me that the fuel is low and they might not be able to do the after service test-drive to make sure everything is alright...No wonder BMW and Mercedes is selling so much better in this country.

Oh well, anyone have any idea why would a wheel bearing fail so early in it's life?

 

[paddy]

If its a wheel bearing it would be much worse on a corner. Roundabouts usually show up a shot bearing. there are many reasons why a bearing might fail. The bearing on the A3 is in a small housing that bolts to the disc. If your disc over heats it will cook the grease out of the bearing....just an example. i am suprised you can hear a bearing on a motorway in a strait line and not hear it rumble like hell on a corner.

 

[Slimbaldy]

There double cased bearings so if you tyy to wobble the wheel it still won't show, One of mine failed at 32,000.........Sort of a grinding noise faint at times then quite loud.

 

[paddy]

If it starts humming " three wheels on my wagon"....worry

 

[boggysv]

Lol...they broke two of these while trying to open the yield bolt, car is still in the dealer garage and they are not sure how to open the bolt to replace the bearing.

My warranty runs out in two months, maybe I'll ask them to replace all 4 bearings since the first one failed so early, and is now facing removal problems. Would that be an unreasonable request?

The workshop foremen recommended replacing all 4 for safety sake, but the warranty guy dont seem too happy about the idea.

 

[paddy]

If thats the centre bolt then ther manual says Hexagon bolt, 200 Nm and turn 180° furtherq M16 x 1.5 x 70q Always renew if removedq Before securing, clean threads in CV joint using a thread tap.Vehicle must be standing on the ground when tightening

Cant see you undoing that with a soft key like the one in your picture....200 Nm and turn 180° further is a lot. If they get it out make sure they give it to you so they dont re use it !
I would use a good quality 1/2" drive socket drive, they are going to need that to torque it up properly anyway.

 

[boggysv]

Yea, that bolt should be one use only, but they just cant open it. The replacement bearing has one more bolt in the box.

Thanks for the heads-up on the torque requirements. I didnt know how tight it needs to be, but the lead technician was there when they were fixing it, it's not up to me to tell them what to use. They have a beefy socket wrench on the tool table anyways, I understand that they broke two of those before using the socket wrench, but still couldnt open it up.

More concerned about the other bearings though.

 

[c_w]

They should have 3/4" drive stuff for driveshaft/hub bolts, makes much less fuss as 1/2" generally bends or snaps. Or a powerful impact airgun.

 

[PW-Motorsport]

This is the correct tool for removing the hub bolt bearing carrier.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400112577444
Hope this helps....

 

[c_w]

Yep that's 3/4" drive; sooo much stronger than 1/2" - does seem strange a dealer would be using what look like 1/2" drive wheelbraces!!

 

[RobinA3]

why is it so hard for them to change the wheel bearing?
surely they must have the crrect tools to do the job, i did mine on the driveway a few weekends ago and never had any problems, i was using 1/2'' halfords sockets.

 

[phil76]

Daft i know but are you sure its not the tyres ? i had this otherday on the motorway also and its them