Probable wheel bearing noise - prognosis/range?

tupholme

Member
Hi all,

I’m getting a very noticeable knocking/clunking apparently from the front of my A2 1.6FSI at certain speeds. It’s intermittent when driving more slowly but then comes in strongly around 60mph, eases off as I speed up but then back more strongly around 70mph etc..

Having read quite a few threads on this I believe it’s most likely one or more wheel bearings. Putting the clutch in or even slipping the car into neutral doesn’t make a difference (apart from the decrease in speed), it doesn’t seem directly related to revs or acceleration, the steering is true and the engine temperature is normal. The wheel nuts are all tight and the tyres inflated, with no changes in that department for six months.

This morning I tried listening to the noise while I steered around a bit and at lower speeds the noise definitely seemed to increase when I put any tension on the steering wheel. I’m in a suburban area so couldn’t get up to motorway speeds but yesterday I was on the M1 and there definitely was noise at higher speeds when in general one isn’t steering much.

My question is, is it safe to continue driving or to put it another way, what is the prognosis for this fault? I’d say I’ve driven about 300 miles since I first noticed something awry. I’m away from home and ideally I’d like to get back (another 200) before going to the dealer for a fix. Partly that’s because it would be next week before I could even get it looked at here and partly because even then they may not have the special tool that is so often mentioned. Back at home I could get it all organised in advance and minimise the disruption.

Thanks for any advice and experience you can share!

Jeff
 
Hi all,

I’m getting a very noticeable knocking/clunking apparently from the front of my A2 1.6FSI at certain speeds. It’s intermittent when driving more slowly but then comes in strongly around 60mph, eases off as I speed up but then back more strongly around 70mph etc..

Having read quite a few threads on this I believe it’s most likely one or more wheel bearings. Putting the clutch in or even slipping the car into neutral doesn’t make a difference (apart from the decrease in speed), it doesn’t seem directly related to revs or acceleration, the steering is true and the engine temperature is normal. The wheel nuts are all tight and the tyres inflated, with no changes in that department for six months.

This morning I tried listening to the noise while I steered around a bit and at lower speeds the noise definitely seemed to increase when I put any tension on the steering wheel. I’m in a suburban area so couldn’t get up to motorway speeds but yesterday I was on the M1 and there definitely was noise at higher speeds when in general one isn’t steering much.

My question is, is it safe to continue driving or to put it another way, what is the prognosis for this fault? I’d say I’ve driven about 300 miles since I first noticed something awry. I’m away from home and ideally I’d like to get back (another 200) before going to the dealer for a fix. Partly that’s because it would be next week before I could even get it looked at here and partly because even then they may not have the special tool that is so often mentioned. Back at home I could get it all organised in advance and minimise the disruption.

Thanks for any advice and experience you can share!

Jeff
Hi @tupholme, it does sound like wheel bearing, CV joint or tyre drumming, some people wont give advice on this sort of thing or brakes as there is always the, what if the advice is wrong and you mow down a bus stop que of children scenario, so I will word my response carefully, my garage of choice always has a waiting list of around 2-3 weeks, if this was me I would have the tyres checked by a professional tomorrow and then if the tyres are ok book the car in the garage on Monday, I would keep on driving as long as the noise didn’t get any louder and the brakes and steering still felt normal. You may choose to do the same or different. Note a wheel bearing could fail with no notice resulting in a locked up wheel and then the resulting lack of ability to steer in a straight line.
 
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Here's an alternative possible explanation. Is your undertray slightly adrift? That can cause quite horrendous noise in some circumstances.
 
Check if the bearing gets hot after driving for while. If the temperature is ok it is normally nothing to worry about until you get it replaced.

 
It’s very difficult to advise from your description. Are you away from home with the car?
If It were me I’d buy a set of axel stands, cheap and you can never have too many. Lift the car on its emergency jack, get a stand under and check each corner and make a decision.
Rear bearings are easy, fronts need a tool that is readily available via eBay, make sure you order the correct size.
 
Thanks @philward but I’m a computer guy not a car guy... no way I could even think about doing the bearings myself. And also, where I am away from home at the moment the only parking is in a sloping car park, nothing flat! All I can say about the wheel bolts is that they’re not loose, and that I’ve had nothing done to them in six months.

Anyway, the results of this morning’s further investigations are as follows:

The undertray looked solid, nothing apparently adrift or loose underneath the car.

After a few miles’ driving the front hubs were warm but not hot, although the rear were pair were cool. Nothing alarming.

After a couple of false starts I ended up at Eden Tyres (https://www.edentyres.com) and found some helpful guys who got it up on the ramp. Initial thought was near side wheel bearing but then a new diagnosis of driveshaft. There was an identifiable noise from the near side front wheel when spinning it (I couldn’t tell you what it sounded like as I have hearing problems) but no play in the wheel itself. On the other hand, I don’t have any vibration in the steering wheel or the car in general, the drive feels normal and the noise is the only symptom. (Front tyres do need changing but they weren’t deemed responsible for the current problem.)

To me as a non-expert this is all beginning to sound quite fundamental and as though I should get it sorted before trying that long journey home. I note the potential consequences for steering should the bearings or the driveshaft completely fail!
 
Thanks for all the helpful advice but one more question to help me get ahead of the conversation with the dealership tomorrow morning, if that’s OK, and please excuse my ignorance not only of A2 workings but of cars in general..!

If this turns out to be a driveshaft/CV joint problem, would fixing or even looking at that entail the use of the special wheel bearing tool? Or could they get access to what’s needed without that level of disassembly? Putting it another way, would that kind of problem be best fixed by the dealer or could I go anywhere? Personally I prefer to go to the dealer (I know it’s expensive) but being away from home, if they can’t look at it for a while, I’d consider going somewhere else if were safe to do so.
 
If the bearing is OK, the special tool is not required. As long as they know how to secure the outer end of the drive shaft (with Loctite 275), any garage should be able to do it. VW/Audi dealership would be best though.

RAB
 
My wheel bearings where absolutely shot, they had no knocks though, just the rumble. Best hope it is not wheel beaings, they are one of the toughest of jobs for DIY.
 
Putting it another way, would that kind of problem be best fixed by the dealer or could I go anywhere? Personally I prefer to go to the dealer (I know it’s expensive) but being away from home, if they can’t look at it for a while, I’d consider going somewhere else if were safe to do so.
You could google "audi independant near me"
Or, give us a clue where you are, and someone may suggest one.
Mac.
 
Putting it another way, would that kind of problem be best fixed by the dealer or could I go anywhere? Personally I prefer to go to the dealer (I know it’s expensive) but being away from home, if they can’t look at it for a while, I’d consider going somewhere else if were safe to do so.

Don't go to a main dealer. They have no real interest in maintaining elderly models, and will probably charge an absolute fortune. Any independent VAG specialist will be familiar with problems like this, get you sorted quickly, and all for a fair price.
 
Don't go to a main dealer. They have no real interest in maintaining elderly models, and will probably charge an absolute fortune.

Don't tar them all with same brush. Not so long ago, I had a clutch guide sleeve etc replaced on a Lupo 3L by Caffyns VW Eastbourne for less than £250.

RAB
 
Hi all,

I’m getting a very noticeable knocking/clunking apparently from the front of my A2 1.6FSI at certain speeds. It’s intermittent when driving more slowly but then comes in strongly around 60mph, eases off as I speed up but then back more strongly around 70mph etc..

Having read quite a few threads on this I believe it’s most likely one or more wheel bearings. Putting the clutch in or even slipping the car into neutral doesn’t make a difference (apart from the decrease in speed), it doesn’t seem directly related to revs or acceleration, the steering is true and the engine temperature is normal. The wheel nuts are all tight and the tyres inflated, with no changes in that department for six months.

This morning I tried listening to the noise while I steered around a bit and at lower speeds the noise definitely seemed to increase when I put any tension on the steering wheel. I’m in a suburban area so couldn’t get up to motorway speeds but yesterday I was on the M1 and there definitely was noise at higher speeds when in general one isn’t steering much.

My question is, is it safe to continue driving or to put it another way, what is the prognosis for this fault? I’d say I’ve driven about 300 miles since I first noticed something awry. I’m away from home and ideally I’d like to get back (another 200) before going to the dealer for a fix. Partly that’s because it would be next week before I could even get it looked at here and partly because even then they may not have the special tool that is so often mentioned. Back at home I could get it all organised in advance and minimise the disruption.

Thanks for any advice and experience you can share!

Jeff

Hi Jeff, difficult to provide advice based on the description and I’m no mechanic however I’ve previously had a clunking from the front of my previous A2 and it turned out the anti-roll bar was loose, the specialist I took it to replaced something cheap (probably a bush or something) and charged me £15. This was 15 years ago and can’t remember exactly however it might be a cheap/free thing to check first.

Jeetesh
 
Wheel bearings normally make a whining noise that increases with speed drive shaft CV joints can clunk and rattle,try driving very slowly in a circle with full lock on in both directions a clunking noise is likely to be the outer CV joint.
 
Many thanks @RAB , @oneflewover , @steve_c , @Jeetesh , @Naedugs and especially @PlasticMac - top suggestion to go with an independent specialist. Kind of obvious in retrospect but I wouldn’t really have thought about that as the dealer is very convenient for me at home and so the easy/lazy option, plus the A2 has been such a great car that in ten years only a couple of things have needed doing to it apart from routine visits.

The car is now with Autotechnik in Nottingham (http://www.nottsautotechnik.co.uk) who were able to look at it this morning when I would have had to wait until Wednesday for the dealership. They’ve diagnosed near side wheel bearing and it will be fixed in the morning, and yes they do have the special tool. Labour cost is less than half what the dealer would charge. If this works out I’ll be inclined to seek out a local independent for future work; I wasn’t impressed last year when the dealership disowned my Open Sky roof!

Points taken about the quality of the noise, but we had a road test before he put it on the ramp so I’m going to have to go with it for now. Maybe it’s the CV joint as well! The main thing for me is that it’s being worked on rather than sitting around half broken and I’m in with a good chance of getting moving again and salvaging the second half of the week.
 
All done at Autotechnik in 24 hours. I’ve driven a carefree hundred miles this afternoon and it not only sounds better but feels a lot tighter and smoother as well. The bearings had obviously been going for a while without me noticing!

Thanks again everyone for the input, and helping me to end up with a good result.
 
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