south_bound Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi, I did a 300 mile round trip this week and started to hear a rumbling noise on the motorway at specific speeds. Basically this happens as I get to 58mph on the speedo, then goes away when I accelerate faster, but comes back at 68mph. Again it disappears, or at least is very much reduced above this at least up to 75mph. It is not engine related as the noise is the same if I accelerate, decelerate or just coast in neutral, uphill or downhill and not affected by bends in the road. I can't tell where the noise is coming from exactly because I am driving and can't crawl around at the same time, but I'll ask my passenger to do this next time I have one. Apart from that there is no change in the car handling or fuel consumption. I just got the timing belt done last week so thought maybe they didn't tighten up the under engine tray or something and that this was causing vibration - but I checked this and it all looks ok. I got new front tyres about a month ago as well so I thought maybe its balancing but the balancing weights and pressures look to be ok. Its weird that it comes and goes at exact speeds. Is there anything mechanical I can check before taking it in to a mechanic, bearing in mind I don't have a ramp but can take off wheels and crawl around the car if needed. thanks in advance for any iseas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Sorry, the last sentance should read "thanks in advance for any ideas." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6 Lover Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Could be the beginning of a failing wheel bearing, literally just on the start of failing, the odd grumble at set speeds...what car and age is it fella? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredfox Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 user name gives info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Hi, yes car info is under the user name - 2007 Mk2, 106,000 miles on the clock. Is there a way I can test to see if it is definitivly a wheel bearing on the way out, and is it difficult or expensive to do? Also is it something I can let get a bit worse or should I get it seen to straight away? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 If the bearing is going it will happen under load but raising the car and spinning the wheels will make no noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 Did a bit of research on the internet last night - will raise the car and wiggle the wheels to see if there is any play when I get time. Looks basically like what they do at MOT time and if the youtube videos are anything to go by I should be able to "feel" it. Doesn't sound like too much of a pain to replace hubs on a Mk2 Focus either so might just give it a go. It made me think - a couple of years ago I got my car towed away for illegal parking, and shortly after that noticed flat spots on the rear tyres, as if it had been dregged with the hand brake on. This caused vibrations at motorway speeds so I had to change the tyres - could this vibration have accelerated any problems in the bearings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeebowhite Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Quite probably would have done something as to what is another matter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Still haven't got around to looking at this, but will have to find some time over the weekend especially as I have a 2,500 mile trip planned in July for holidays. Would bad bearings be someting that tends to deteriorate quickly once it starts to get noisy, or can it generally be left a while without too much risk? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONDEO TXS 2.2 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 They tend to deteriorate quickly - fix it before your trip. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 OK, so today I jacked up each corner of the car one at a time. Each wheel rotates freely (obviously the front ones a bit less due to the transmission) and there was no play when I tried to wiggle them in the vertical direction. There was a very slight rubbing sound on all of them but soulnded normal enough to my untrained ear. I will have to listen out for the noise again next time I get up some motorway speed and any changes over time. What is the normal life expectancy of wheel bearings? I just worked out that 100,000 miles means they have done about 50 million revolutions - a useless fact I know but sounds quite a lot and so maybe they deserve to be retired off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6 Lover Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Thumbs up to you for working that one out, jeez I'm useless at maths!! I think all wheels make a slight noise when rotating,I recently switched tyres,front to back and vice versa and always check for worn bearings while its off the ground..car has 52k miles so bearings still ok...not sure on the longtivity of bearings though!!!! Anybody know?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerFlame Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 My old fiesta needed two replacing after around 80k, and the other two and 120k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6 Lover Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Hi GingerFlame, would that be the front 2 first, followed by the back, as that sounds like they lasted well to me,almost to the point of (if I'm correct) the rears lasting almost twice as long as the front bearings. Nice colour choice on the fez! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerFlame Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Hi GingerFlame, would that be the front 2 first, followed by the back, as that sounds like they lasted well to me,almost to the point of (if I'm correct) the rears lasting almost twice as long as the front bearings. Nice colour choice on the fez! It went 1 of each at a time, strange I know :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V6 Lover Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Well that's solved...still sort of surprises me how long one these bearing things actually lasts,they don't exactly cost the earth...but the fitting might, if your diy skills are anything like mine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerFlame Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Well that's solved...still sort of surprises me how long one these bearing things actually lasts,they don't exactly cost the earth...but the fitting might, if your diy skills are anything like mine...I changed two myself as I needed the MOT doing next day. Wasn't too hard of a job, just took time & patience.. and a puller, and a cutting disc.. and a hammer.. and a chissel.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 I decided to go ahead with the 2,500 mile drive anyway as I didn't have time to spot it out beforehand. All went well on that front but had other problems which set me back the cost of a fuel filter, glow plugs, EGR delete and new windscreen so had other things to worry about. I drove another car for a bit last week which had so much noise coming from the back wheels that I thought they would fall off at any moment, so that gave me more confidence that my bearings are good for a while yet. I will keep listenning out for any chance in noise though and be ready to change them as soon as it sounds more urgent. Got another trip to Italy next month coming up so willl see for that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 Quick update on this - the rumbling noise is still there and possibly getting a bit louder but not by much. Popped into my local indy garage who I've used before this morning to get them to take a look and quote for the job. He took it out for a spin and is 99% sure its not the bearings but showed me that the tyres are a bit deformed. Basically if you spin the wheel and hold your hand against the tread near the inside of the tyre then you can feel bumps as it spins past your hand. He didn't know what causes this but suggested I change the tyre when it needs doing (got a few '000 miles on it yet) and see if the rumbling noise goes away. That's one less bill to pay and impressed that the guy was honest enough to basically turn down a repair job that doesn't need doing - not all of them would do that I'm sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark M Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I had a similar issue, a rumbling noise that sounded to be coming from the rear. Sounded just like a wheel bearing was going but they all checked out ok (by myself and the mot station). As my tyres were rather poor (lethal) in the wet I changed them for some michelin ps3's and the rumbling noise was instantly fixed. Tyre's weren't deformed they were just cheap and nasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south_bound Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 My tyres are Michelin Primacy so not cheap (but maybe nasty). The noise started at about 20,000 miles of wear and there is plenty of tread left on them so will see if this is fixed when I change them. A new set of tyres is probably as expensive as new bearings anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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