Hum or Buzz sound increases with speed......any ideas? Topic is solved

Post by **Blacklab467** » 19 Jun 2022, 22:00

I've got a humming sound that seems to be coming from one of the front wheels or drivetrain, normally I'd be certain that it is one of the wheel bearings going bad, it gets worse the faster you go. Side loads while turning don't seem to affect the noise either way.
Today I jacked the car up to see if there was any play in either wheel and there wasn't, they both feel tight and can't replicate the noise at hand spinning speed. Tomorrow ill get all four wheels up and run the car and see what I can find out.
In my experience a bad wheel bearing is often loose and sloppy to the feel, it seems some users of the forum have had similar experiences to mine where the bearing feels fine but creates a humming or buzzing noise that abates with a new hub installed.
Any comments or feedback would be appreciated.
BTW: new GKN axles and new Volvo front end components entirely.

Post by **jonesg** » 20 Jun 2022, 01:49

it was the bearing on mine, so i turned the radio up.
Drove it for a year until the radio got too annoying.

Post by **abscate** » 20 Jun 2022, 03:40

My experience with the heavy sealed bearings is hand inspection is almost useless, I’ve had both false negatives and false positives. The swerve test has always worked for me too. Going underneath with a hose might help you sort out bearing from axle carrier bearing.

Buzzing? I had an AMC that did that a lot ……

Post by **Blacklab467** » 22 Jun 2022, 11:34

Update: an open road enabled me to conduct a good swerve test which isolated the noise to the right side wheel bearing. I've got a couple FAG's on their way here for tomorrow (wish there was a better way to say this) and will change both sides.

Post by **Blacklab467** » 22 Jun 2022, 20:56

Bearings showed up a day early so I changed them this afternoon and the noise is gone! Surprisingly the bearings felt fine when I spun them and were also tight. They'd been making noise since about December. It took about an hour and a half to change both sides, I took a shortcut and didn't remove the knuckle from the vehicle but rather changed them in situ.

Post by **abscate** » 23 Jun 2022, 02:44

Blacklab467 wrote: ↑22 Jun 2022, 11:34 Update: an open road enabled me to conduct a good swerve test which isolated the noise to the right side wheel bearing. I've got a couple FAG's on their way here for tomorrow (wish there was a better way to say this) and will change both sides.

Well done, that man

br0dy519 · Post by **br0dy519** » 23 Jun 2022, 20:46

Blacklab467 wrote: ↑22 Jun 2022, 11:34 Update: an open road enabled me to conduct a good swerve test which isolated the noise to the right side wheel bearing. I've got a couple FAG's on their way here for tomorrow (wish there was a better way to say this) and will change both sides.

Could you elaborate on the swerve test and how to perform/use it to diagnose? I'm chasing a similar issue, and want to verify if it's the bearing. The only difference is the buzz/hum can sort of be felt, maybe ever so slightly?

The only time I've ever replaced a wheel bearing was a rear one that failed and threw the ABS tone ring code, so I knew it had to be replaced. Never chased one like this before.

EDIT: Answered my own question. Wow this internet doo-hicky is a wonderful tool.

Post by **abscate** » 24 Jun 2022, 02:22

There is a magical speed of 35 mph where the road noise is minimal and bearing noise is max, tests perfect for the swerve test, and thst speed loads the bearing more to enhance the noise, too.

Post by **jonesg** » 24 Jun 2022, 09:48

Saturating it with liquid wrench proved it was bad , the groaning went away for 2 minutes.
Once it was out I could feel the bearing was bad by pressing the inner against the outer race and turning slowly back and forth, very slight roughness. But I let mine run for a long time before dealing with it so it was more obvious.

br0dy519 · Post by **br0dy519** » 30 Jun 2022, 11:34

Well it’s definitely my left side front bearing after the swerve test. Did the wheel bearing cause any sort of vibration for you guys? I can feel it almost harmonically through the steering wheel/gas pedal. looking at some of JRL’s old posts it looks like it could be the axle shaft too. Just want to make sure I replace the correct part. No play on the bearing on the jack but that seems irrelevant. I was thinking of maybe swapping the wheel too to make sure it’s not unbalanced etc.