whats this droning noise?

[rbertnitro 0]

Morning all.

about a week ago after a 200mile round trip i suddenly started getting a loud droning noise coming from the front it seems like its from the driver side but as im driving somtimes it appers dead centre.Its really low and bassy and sounds just like a deep engine noise.Funny thing is its hardly noticable up to about 45-50ish then when i hit 60 it gets very very loud to the point i struggle to hear the engine,after about 80ish it starts to fade though.

Ive checked both wheels and the bearings seem secure enough although i would of expected a more higher pitched whining from a bearing.

Left/right steering makes no diffrence and it only quietens bellow about 50mph

Def a driveline issue as its the same free wheeling with clutch in or in neutral

Im going to have a look at cvs and driveshafts and possibly check the gbox oil but how do i go about determining if a cv or driveshaft is shot and how much movement should there be?

This def sounds serious as its very very loud and im wanting to get to the bottom of it asap Your wisdom will be greatly appreciated

cheers

[Nex 17]

Even with them feeling pretty secure l would still guess this is a wheel bearing issue. I had to change one of mine recently and it looked fine and was nice and tight but changed it and the noise is gone so it was the problem on mine. I suspect it might be the same for you?

[rbertnitro 0]

thanks nex thats the first thing that came to mind,so i ordered 2 bearings anyway hopefully they arrive quick and thats all it is

[Nex 17]

Here hoping for you dude

Did you order the Hubs as well or just the bearings?

[rbertnitro 0]

yeah i got 2 hubs aswell,since they were cheap enough.

I thing thats worrying me is when i go to do them im going to use a special wheel bearing puller/pusher tool to instal them,and when i get to the part where the cup has to rest on the inner race and push the hub in the inner race is in 2 halfs with a small gap between them im thinking the force of pressing in might push these 2 half together close the gap and wreck the bearing.ive never used the special tool before

[Nex 17]

I didn’t have a bearing puller when l did them (unfortunately lol) but being a bearing tool it should be fine l would have thought buddy

[rbertnitro 0]

ive got a huge sledge hammer on standby if the tool fails lol hopefully new bearings will do the job though.

I might drain and top up my gbox oil when im at it just to be sure,is the gbox filler/drain easy to get to with it up on stands? what kind of oil should i be looking at?

[eastwood john 1]

vw manual transmission (front wheel drive) is G50 (synthetic)gear oil sae 75w90

[Daverse 175]

make sure you can take the fill plug off before you can drain it, as if you drain it and the fill nut is knackered then your really in the doggy doo!

[rbertnitro 0]

cheers guys,ive got my bearings,hubs and bearing tool kit ready to go,i also went ahead and picked up a driver side driveshaft as when i had a look the rubbers on it were looking a bit sad.Im wanting to know if i will be able to navigate the shaft into both ends without having to undo anything on the hub carrier apart from caliper? as i really dont have a rodend separator and the bolts look like they will be trouble

[adamcollings 0]

Does sound a lot like a bearing, I hope that sorts it for you. However, if it doesn't then check out your tyres. If you've hit a pothole or something and warped one of the tyres slightly it will create the same sort of noise as a worn bearing.

[rbertnitro 0]

Now that you mention that adam when i was away with the car on a short holiday a while ago i didhave to pop into a local place when there to get a tyre as i ended up with a nail in the left one. so now i have one new tyre and one half worn on the front.Although the handling/steering feedback is perfect still.

[oldmandon 1]

I have thought in the past that a wheel bearing was on it’s way out, and when I asked a mechanic to test drive the car, he just said thats tyre noise not bearing.

What make and type tyre did you have? was it budget or a hard tyre etc.

This may be your problem

[adamcollings 0]

You could always try swapping your fronts and rears and see if it changes where the noise comes from?

[rbertnitro 0]

Ive just started doing the bearings today only got one done so far as run into a spot of bother.Hub nut off ok,driveshaft spline out ok,hub and old bearing pulled out ok,then gave the inside a really good clean out.However when pressing the new bearing in with the tool i installed the rear circlip first then drove the bearing home with the press the bearing seems to have gone back to its limit but there isnt enough room to expose the groove for the front circlip,cleaned out the inside and gave it a good hard push but theres no way its gona move more to let the circlip fit in the groove.I did notice when i removed the old bearing it didnt even have a clip at the back just the front.Has anyone experienced this before? the new bearings and clips are physicaly identical to the ones that came out and proper vr6 mk3 ones theres mab 0.5mm to go but the bearing and clip is hard against its stop at the back.

Help anyone?