Droning\Whining sound

Hi I have a Fabia 1, Y reg, 50,000 miles. Recently I have noticed a whining sound and slight vibration from the front of the car. It is more noticeable at higher speeds on dual carriageways and motorways. I don’t hear anything when the car is stationary with the engine running. I was wondering if it could be a problem with the transmission. I realise its not much to go on but does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Sounds more likely to be a Wheel Bearing. Not un heard of to go at 50k.

Would defiantly explain it being louder at speed.. have you noticed your mpg dipping slightly? After a medium - long drive just touch the wheels and you might find one of them is warmer then the others as a bad / loose bearing causes more friction.

Oh, and welcome to Briskoda

Edited 18 May, 201016 yr by Rob.

Maybe wind noise , vibrating splashguard under the engine or other loose items at the front.

You'll often find a wheel bearing is noisier when cornering; for example if you hear a noise when going round a left hand corner it's likely the load bearing front right wheel bearing is at fault.

I've just had a R/H/F wheel bearing replaced after just 16K miles! Thank god I spotted it the day the warranty ran out!

DB

could be road noise, my tyres are terrible. if you turn the wheel it gets quieter, then when you straighten up its like a land rover on offroad tyres

Thanks for that Rob,

Yes I have noticed that my MPG has dropped recently. I initially thought it may be brakes but I couldn’t feel any heat in either wheel and the sound doesn’t appear to come from one side in particular, although its hard to tell. If it is a wheel bearing do you think its safe to drive. I do a 40 mile return commute. The car is booked in for an MOT on Monday so I`ll get it looked at then.

Can't say for sure if it's safe as don't know for sure what it is or how bad it is..

But my mechanic said to me that worn bearings are ok to drive on.. but that's not to say horror stories of wheels coming off at speed haven't been heard..

Yes I think I’ll try and use it as little as possible just in case. I’ll let you know what the garage find. Given the symptoms it makes sense that it’s a wheel bearing problem. I suppose I should prepare myself for a nasty bill.

Thanks for everyone’s comments.

My front off-side wheel bearing has gone again (only after 2 years/~6000 miles so none to impressed). The droning noise and vibrations in the foot-well are quite obvious. I've just been quoted £180 to fix from my local independent garage (not a VAG specialist) as they get the complete hub assembly in rather than the bearings themselves. Skoda was significantly more expensive as they charge £82.25/hour labour. Just mulling up my options but it needs doing before I get to number 11 on the radio to try and block the noise! Just another bit of shoddy workmanship by VW.

Hi,

Well I took it to my local independent garage for its MOT. They could hear the whining when running on the road and suspected a bearing problem however they couldn’t identify which side the noise was coming from. They advised me to run it until the noise is more evident and they would replace the bearing when they could identify which side it was. It passed the MOT. After a couple of days of doing 40-50 miles it appears to be getting more nosily and I think it’s the passenger side. I’ll be taking it in again soon I’m not too happy running it for long distances or at speed on the motorway.

Thanks for your comments everyone, great forum.

I had a droning whining sound - now I leave my girlfriend at home when I go for a drive!

A mechanic I used to use actually kept a stethoscope to hand for identifying bad bearings.. he'd literally pop it up on the lift and then listen for crucnching as he turned the wheel by hand!

I remember the first time I encountered a Fabia with a droning noise. It was specifically hard to pinpoint as both front wheel bearings had gone at 10,000 miles.

Just to update this post

I had driven another 300 miles and the noise noise got progressively worse. When I could clearly hear it at under 30 miles/hr I took it back to my local garage to have another look. I still wasn’t sure what side it was coming from but thought it may be the Passenger side front Hub/Bearing.

After having a look on the ramp they replaced the Drivers side Hub and the noise has definitely gone. It just shows that it can be very hard as a driver to diagnose which side the faulty bearing is.

Anyway the car is running fine and I am £153 lighter in the pocket.

Thanks for everyone’s comments.

Thanks for the report back.. makes all these posts fantastically useful for future reference.

I think all cars car throw sounds around.. I've got rattles in my Fabia (like most) but I can't pin point some of them.. Even holding the glove box tight doesn't stop all of them (though, most of them.. hehe).