Growling / humming sound while driving, 98 s90 please help!

Nathan007 · Post by **Nathan007** » 30 Nov 2016, 13:19

Hello Folks! This is my first post on this forum.

I own a 1998 Volvo S90 with about 225 000km, i noticed a while ago a humming/growling sound while driving and assumed my messed up tires were the culprit, or worst case i had a wheel bearin slowly going.

I get a kind of humming , even slightly growling sound when i drive, starts at about 30 km/h and really becomes loud at 40-50 km/h, and will be overshadowed by windnoise and tire noise... I do feel a slight rapid pulse vibration coming from the whole floor at highway speed (100km/h).

My mechanic and i checked the car on a lift, i do have a very slightly worn rear right wheel bearing (slightly noisy but not loose), and he detected some noise coming from the diff pinion area (where the driveshaft enters the diff). No loose in the driveshaft.

Any clue what it could be??

Note; wheel bearings are originals, driveshaft ujoints/support/bearing, everything is original.. I do now want to spend a fortune on a car i paid 2 grand 3 years ago, but i dont want to destroy it neither..

Any imput will be appreciated!!

s10lowrider1994 · Post by **s10lowrider1994** » 09 Dec 2016, 15:43

Does it stop if you put the car in neutral?

Jeff Schubert · Post by **Jeff Schubert** » 12 Dec 2016, 23:08

Does it improve as you are going around sweeping corners? Ive found front wheel bearings that growl, that will get quiet going around corners. Not like stoplight/intersection corners, but back country type, long windy corners. Depending on the direction of turn, should indicate which side is failing.

Maybe next time after you drive it, check near the wheel hubs to see if they are hot. Bad bearings can get extremely HOT, so proceed with safety in mind.

Hope that helped, good luck!

Volvo2009 · Post by **Volvo2009** » 14 Dec 2016, 12:09

I hear same noise from my 960 (1996) while driving on highway. Noise increases with higher rpm, and decrease on low one. I suspect it has to do with the fuel pump.
The car has 236,000 km (146K miles)

Volvo2009 · Post by **Volvo2009** » 16 Dec 2016, 11:54

s10lowrider1994 wrote:Does it stop if you put the car in neutral?

In my case, no it does not. Only when I reduce speed (and rpm) the noise seem to subside.