[Ali_]

Recently noticed that, on smooth surfaces, I can hear a relatively quiet sort of humming, "ooh" noise up front. It's more prominent under throttle and only over 40mph, becoming unnoticeable over 70 as road noise takes over. Strangely, it disappeared with the recent wet weather but came back when it dried up! It's not related to engine speed or gear at all. The only things I can think of are wheel bearing, driveshaft or a bad tyre.

Any other ideas or experience? The one real oddity is the pitch of the noise never changes, regardless of road speed.

 

[cue2]

Tyres?
A swap front to rear would then produce a change in noise. Have you looked at inner tyre wear on the rear?

 

[Ali_]

The wheels that are on the front were on the back until recently. Coincidence?

 

[Erik Loye]

Tyres with a rough transverse pattern tends to make more noise than tyres with wide grooves circularly.
See types here Buy cheap Michelin 225/40 R18 Tyres online @ mytyres.co.uk
The Pilot Sport PA4 is the first (noisy) and the Pilot Sport 3 is the "silent" ones.
A rough transverse pattern often goes "heel and toe" especially fitted at the rear wheels on a front wheel drive car.

 

[symon]

I am going to say tyres as well.

The fact the noise dissapears when the road is wet suggests the water is reducing the tyre noise on the road.

 

[Ali_]

I guess I'll put up with until I can trash the fronts then go for Goodyears. The Dunlops aren't bad, just not great. I had the Pilot Supersports on the Evo and have to say I thought they were overrated.

 

[Peter Bjorkdahl]

I had last year a similar noise as yours. IF I remember Right it was also less noise while raining.
It was The left front wheel bearing.
Does your sound change while steering? Mine sounded worse in Right bends and less in left ones.

Peter Björkdahl

 

[Ali_]

I'll double check Peter. Need to find a left/right bend I can take over 40mph!

 

[symon]

If it is the wheel bearing you can often tell by jacking up the car and spinning the wheel.

I remember having one fail on a Fiat Coupe, and it sounded like I was being followed by a motorbike.

 

[Ali_]

Definitely not that loud. I spent last weekend saying to the wife "can you hear that, that noise, can you hear it?" and her looking at me as if I was mad.

 

[cue2]

And surely you haven't done the miles for a bearing issue?

 

[Ali_]

Only 12,000 miles, unless it's a bad one? Still very much under warranty.

 

[Erik Loye]

Only 12,000 miles, unless it's a bad one? Still very much under warranty.

In that cause I would go to the dealer and let them listen to the noise.

 

[TonyGr]

I got a note on my recent service invoice from Autolusso Penrith re just this issue. Dan said that they heard a noise during the road test and that they checked the bearings. He could find no play in the rears and only an acceptable amount in the fronts. He did point out that one rear tyre was significantly more worn than the other, something I was aware of and the reason (nothing sinister), but couldn't say categorically that the noise was from the tyre. I have subsequently done another 750 miles and the noise is not getting worse and I also noticed last night that in the wet it seems to quieten down; but was it being drowned out by the general wet road noise? I will be replacing the odd tyre before our main holiday and hopefully that will send the problem away.

 

[Ali_]

Dry road commute today and couldn't hear it this time! Did pressure wash the car yesterday, whether that has any bearing? Will wait and see!

 

[Ali_]

OK, even stranger, it came back today but it actually disappears on cornering! It's only there in straight line or gentle corner. Any lateral forces and it goes!

 

[mazor]

hmm, I think there may be an issue with your wheel bearings and not the tyres based on what you have just said.

It could be wear and tear, or the bearing could be damaged. Any hard lateral impact to the side of the wheel could cause damage. This is coming from past experience, when my car lost traction and hit kerb.

 

[gazc]

I had a rear tyre issue that I could have sworn was coming from the front. I would say that it changed on cornering too. Mine was at 30000 miles though so changing the tyres wasn't too much before they were due.

 

[TrevB]

I'm also getting a noise that sounds like it could be rear bearing rumble.
It's a "thrumming" noise which speeds up as the car does. I had it checked at the dealers a couple of months back and they didn't find a problem. I don't think they actually got it onto the ramps just tried a road test; when it was checked by the dealer they did a road test and declared it "normal". The comment I got was "one of our mechanics has the same car - it's what they sounds like". My previous G didn't have this noise - and neither does my mate's G. The only difference is the wheels and the brakes (18" wheels, and Brembo's). For the record, it's done 18k miles in 30 months.

During a couple of recent trips the rear passengers have commented on the noise (one of the comments came from a trained mechanic). The problem I've got is that the roads near the dealers are all potholed roads - not quiet enough to hear the noise. During the last trip, a trip to France on very smooth roads, even my wife noticed the noise - and she finally accepted I wasn't hearing things.

So - anyone had anything similar, and if so, what was the answer. It's going back to the dealer anyway, but it'd be handy to have some other views.

 

[Erik Loye]

The dealer has top jack up the rear wheels and put a spinner on. Then it'll be clear whether its the wheel bearings or tyre noise.
With 225/40-18" tyres they have to be shifted back to front every 8-10k miles, otherwise they get heel and toe that gives the wheel noise.