Wheel bearing, transmission or tyre whine?

[alanm]

For the past month or so my 2003 A2 tdi had developed a noise that took the form of a whine coming from the nearside that was most pronounced between 40 and 50 mph.

Initial diagnosis pointed to a transmission/gearbox or wheel bearing problem, despite the fact that gear changing has alsways been very smooth and easy.

Last week my local VW/Audi indy specialist in Cleethorpes did a cambelt, water pump change and I asked him to suss what was causing the noise. Couldn't find owt wrong with the transmission or wheel bearings. All he could find was that the RNS tyre, which was a Pirelli and not a Dunlop SP 9000 as fitted to the other wheels, had a number of slight flat spots towards the outer edge of its tread area.

Must admit I was very sceptical but I had the tryre changed yesterday and - hey presto - the noise is no more!

I've since been told that whenever an A2 owner complains of a wheel bearing/ transmission noise like I had, it usually turns out to be a tyre issue.

Anyone else had a similar experience with their A2?

[Skipton01]

Absolutely - every time I have a half worn front tyre, on hard cornering it sounds like my droplinks are banging away - soon cured with new rubber.

Cheers,

Mike

[Emm]

I would go for the Lamda sensor again...:)

[dan_b]

Interesting, I'm getting this from the rear at the moment, I posted a thread up about it a week or so ago and someone then suggested it could be a tyre issue. I do have two different tread patterns at the back (one Pirelli and one Dunlop), so sounds like it's the same.

[alanm]

Have just phoned the garage in Cleethorpes to confirm their diagnosis was correct and to ask what might have caused the flat spots on the Pirelli. Here are their suggestions:

1. The tyre + wheel might have been transferred from another car by the garage that sold me the car last August.

2. If 1. were the case, the tyre may have been run under-inflated or the suspension bushes or shock absorbers may have been worn on that car. Rear suspension on my car confirmed as fine.

3. The Pirelli may have been mis-shapen from new.

4. Rear end wheel alignment on the rear near side might have been out on my car. After having the tyre replaced I had 4 wheel tracking/alignment checked. The fronts were out but the rear was only marginally out and that was on the off-side. The affected tyre was on the rear near side.

Whatever the cause of the tyre problem, if ever I get any untoward wheel bearing/transmission harmonics, number one suspect will be that it's a tyre issue - particularly if gear changing is fine and there is no temperature differential between wheel hub pairs either at the front or rear of the car.

[spike]

Hi alanm
I recently fitted new Pirelli P6 tyres all round and the change coincided with the replacement of a front wheel bearing. Road noise is horrendous and I initially put this down to a fault with the new bearing. Luckily I have a spare set of wheels and was able to establish the tyres are to blame but this all took longer than the 30 day replacement deal offered by Mytyres. Not sure what to do next as they have asked me to get a garage to diagnose which specific ones are faulty and return them for inspection / exchange. All the treads run fairly true with no obvious external faults so it may be down to the tyre design. I've also lost about 5mpg - wish I had not been taken in by the Pirelli sales hype.

Cheers Spike

[Adrenaline]

i had exactly the same problem...and i thought it was
bearing wasted my time and garage time and they could
not find anything..turned out to be the worn out Conti's

never heard of a car being soo senstive to tyre condition

[dan_b]

Hmm, this noise seems to be getting worse - my other half has now noticed it. It now definitely manifests itself worse when I'm cornering on right-hand bends, and goes away on left-hand bends. Definitely coming from the rear - I'm suspecting a wheel bearing now, anybody else? I reckon this'll be covered by my Warranty, or am I deluded?!

[John H]

I had a noise that sounded like a wheel bearing.
It got worse, just as you would expect of a wheel bearing.
Took it to Audi (it's under warranty) and it was ... a wheel bearing.
They fixed it, free, and there is no more noise.

Moral of story ... bearings do fail, even on Audis.

[AlanA2]

Have you tried jacking the car up and checking for play, or spinning the wheel. If it was the bearing would think you would hear a slight rumble.

Alan

[dan_b]

@ Alan, I've not tried that yet no, will see if that shows anything
@ John - nice story! What age is your A2?