Tell tail signs of wheel bearings...

[Craigus]

On there way out,

Im finding it abit difficult at minute as i have grooved brake discs, so i get the whirring noise under braking, with the pads hitting the grooves on the disc.

My gearbox makes noises too. I know what a knackerd one sounds like as a friend with his Lupo gti, was that bad you would drive it at 70 and u could feel the vibration through the floor in the footwell.

 

[Muttley]

Low to medium speed, straight road, no traffic. Weave the car from side to side, strongly (but without losing control). The noise should change, becoming louder when the failing bearing is on the outside of the turn (so louder turning left = dodgy offside bearing)

 

[keirravn]

jack the car up and check for play (unlikely as it would have to be really bad)

rotate the wheel and listen for a sort of whirring/dry bearing noise, if your brakes are too loud when doing this take the wheel off and ease the pads back put the wheel back on and spin it.

no noise = bearings ok

dry sort of noise (hard to describe) = bearings on way out

 

[keirravn]

ps pump your brakes before driving if you do the above

 

[Craigus]

Ive had both front wheels off and rotated both wheels both ways, no noise what so ever, doesnt feel lumpy.

When i spin it between different directions, when i was checking for play, the only thing i could hear was the gearbox, making a slight noise, but in saying that the gearbox oil is due a change as its been in for about 30k from the previous owner.

 

[stewbie55]

I thought I had a dodgy bearing but it turned out to be knackered rear tyres, turns out its quite a common problem especially if you're running GSD3's and they're getting on a bit.

 

[keirravn]

Ive had both front wheels off and rotated both wheels both ways, no noise what so ever, doesnt feel lumpy.

When i spin it between different directions, when i was checking for play, the only thing i could hear was the gearbox, making a slight noise, but in saying that the gearbox oil is due a change as its been in for about 30k from the previous owner.

going by that bro i would say your wheel bearings are safe then. they are quite solid on the leon anyway and seem to last ages (compared to lesser cars)

as to the noisy gearbox i think that maybe a lcr thing as mines is a bit loud too and has been for 2 years lol! maybe other people can confirm this?

 

[Deleted member 43482]

Id say check your tyres, my dad had a set of Khumos on his ST220 Mondeo and they made a hell of a racket, sounded like a knackered wheel bearing.

 

[Slimy]

I've just had the exact same conversation with Midland VW, they reckon the mysterious wheel bearing that I hear is in all likelyhood the tyres. I did ask what sort of tyres would be best, but she said it seems to be showing up with the sportier tyres as well as the high milers.

It does also explain why it was incredibly noisy when it was wet outside yesterday, but today in the dry they're quieter. As far as I know bearings don't 'get better'!!

 

[keirravn]

Id say check your tyres, my dad had a set of Khumos on his ST220 Mondeo and they made a hell of a racket, sounded like a knackered wheel bearing.

bit off topic here, but what like are the khumos?

 

[Willie]

Low to medium speed, straight road, no traffic. Weave the car from side to side, strongly (but without losing control). The noise should change, becoming louder when the failing bearing is on the outside of the turn (so louder turning left = dodgy offside bearing)

This is the only way to tell about the bearings on the LCR as they don't show the usual signs. Mine was a very subtle noise but you know your own car and can spot a new noise.

jack the car up and check for play (unlikely as it would have to be really bad)

rotate the wheel and listen for a sort of whirring/dry bearing noise, if your brakes are too loud when doing this take the wheel off and ease the pads back put the wheel back on and spin it.

no noise = bearings ok

dry sort of noise (hard to describe) = bearings on way out

As above, this doesn't work for the LCR

 

[keirravn]

This is the only way to tell about the bearings on the LCR as they don't show the usual signs. Mine was a very subtle noise but you know your own car and can spot a new noise.


As above, this doesn't work for the LCR

i could be wrong but i think a wheel bearing is a wheel bearing, the first stage of it going is that the bearing will dry out at which point, like any dry bearing, it will make a noise.

after the bearing has been run dry for a while it will begin to detiorate, at which point it will make more noise and allow play in the hub.

im no mechanic so i won't argue the point, but i would be really surprised if you were unable to hear a dry bearing when you spin the wheel, surely that defies mechanical logic?

and if the bearing is beggining to detiorate you would have play in the wheel im sure.

iv seen willies posts in loads of other threads and he/you really seem to know your stuff, so if i were everyone else id listen to him on this one, but if/when i think my bearings are on the way out, the method i know will be my first point of checking it out.

 

[Willie]

i could be wrong but i think a wheel bearing is a wheel bearing, the first stage of it going is that the bearing will dry out at which point, like any dry bearing, it will make a noise.

after the bearing has been run dry for a while it will begin to detiorate, at which point it will make more noise and allow play in the hub.

im no mechanic so i won't argue the point, but i would be really surprised if you were unable to hear a dry bearing when you spin the wheel, surely that defies mechanical logic?

and if the bearing is beggining to detiorate you would have play in the wheel im sure.

iv seen willies posts in loads of other threads and he/you really seem to know your stuff, so if i were everyone else id listen to him on this one, but if/when i think my bearings are on the way out, the method i know will be my first point of checking it out.

Yup these do seem to defy logic and had me and several mechanics baffled but eventually we made a sort of educated guess at when one was the problem and thankfully got it right.

Was a complete bastid to get out too.

Mine hadn't dried out but there was obviously a bit of extra play that gave the running noise but this extra play was so little it was impossible to detect by normal methods.

Same with the ball joints, different method of detection to normal ones also different symptoms of wear.

 

[Muttley]

From what I've seen, modern fwd cars have heavily engineered front wheel bearings, and those on the Golf-IV-platform cars are double-row ball or roller bearings which simply don't show up any noticable play even when worn to the point of groaning loudly and vibrating the car. There is, after all, a lot of power being transmitted tto the car through these bearings.

Certainly when the front wheel bearing went in my old TDI Ibiza, the noise was almost frightning, yet there was no detectable play when the wheel was jacked up and rocked. The local garage mechanics taught me the weaving trick, diagnosed and fixed the correct bearing.

 

[MarkWales]

what are the rears like - I have replaced both fronts and now seem to have a noise from rear

 

[keirravn]

o well you learn something new every day i guess

and no noise when spinning the wheel either? il probably have to eat my hat or some such when one of my bearings go, il post back then lol.

im also wondering how many people will become paranoid to there bearings going after reading this thread ...

 

[Willie]

A simple weave test will diagnose the bearing and negate any other issues

 

[flak monkey]

I am having the same problem at the moment on my Fr TDi slight humming and vibration when turning gently left at 30mph+ Cant feel any play in the wheel when jacked up.

Looks like a call to local dealer is in order tomorrow morning and try and get it changed this week. Definately getting worse though

The cars only covered 55000 miles as well....

 

[Willie]

Sounds like a bearing.
Try the weave test at about 60MPH and you will be able to tell which side and for sure that its nothing else