HELP!! Loud humming noise at 45+ mph!!

[jonsaudi]

Okay, for the past couple of months my steering wheel vibrates while braking to a slow/stop. I've asked this question before and several people said I need to get my brakes (pads, rotors) replaced. I figured I need to get that done soon as I have $$.

BUT now lately, the car makes a humming noise while cruising between 45-60mph!! Does this have to do with the brakes being bad or my guess is the bearings are toast too?? What do you guys think???

[I Audi5K I]

does it do it when you make turns? when was your last tire rotation?

[jonsaudi]

Yeah it does make the noise too while turning & driving in curves. Last tire rotation was on last maint sched @ 70k.. I'm at 76k as of the present time..

[jonsaudi]

Anyone else have an idea???

[msharifi]

I think its the tires making the sound... How is your tire treads? Mine makes that sound because my tires needs to be replaced. Does the car/steering wheel shake when driving 45 mph?

[infernocl]

if the hum:

suddenly appears at 45mph, it's the brakes

quiet and gets louder with speed, it's wheel bearing

also low speed steering wheel shake can be loose lug bolts, or less likely bad wheel bearing.

[jonsaudi]

Yeah, the humming noise starts @ 45mph then kinda gets louder by 50+, then @ 60mph, the noise gets lower almost back to normal. When I slow down from 60 to 50, the noise is audible, then below 45mph, the noise diminishes. So really all the noise happens between 45 and 60 mph. You think they're b/c of bad brakes for sure?? why does it do that???

[infernocl]

it's not the brakes, brake issue would be really bad as speed increases

could be wheel bearing or bad tires

[nvr_follow]

I'm experiencing similar issues, no vibration though. I'm running winters that are at the end of their lifespan, so I am attirbuting it shot tires. Since the noise varies based on temps and road conditions, it must be tire noise.

[SinisterA4]

Fuel filter??? If it's just a humming noise now. Does the humming come from the passenger rear side of the car?

[I Audi5K I]

sorry for not getting back...go with bearings, maybe tire tread issues. I had this same problem on my jeep. Started at 50 went away at 65. It was wheel bearings

[nvr_follow]

Wheel bearing noise will go away at higher speeds?

[diztek]

im thinking cupped tires. try and rotate them and see if they still do it. but its wierd cuz if they were cupped tires, you would have noticed them right after you last rotated.

[jonsaudi]

Thanks for the inputs guys. I know it's not fuel filter for sure b/c I've heard how that's like and it's not close to what I'm hearing. The noise seems to come from the front driver side. It can be heard louder when I'm cruising @ 45-50 mph. The humming noise sound like you can hear the wheel spinning in a whobbly way.

I'm thinking bearings. I figured I get them done at the same time I get my brakes replaced. Is that a good idea? Would it be costly to do both brakes and bearings at the same time?? Or one after the other??

[abradley]

check around the axel boot for grease or a tear or if it is loose. just had to replace my bearing and axel because dirt got in and trashed everything. thought it was the tires at first too because i didn't notice the boot

[AudiA4Turbo22]

Defective Tire! I Heard This In A Benz Once Sounds Like Snow Tires!

[Hotel Guy]

Just had this same issue. Turned out to be a bad wheel bearing. One way to check is to make some quick side-to-side turns at 45+ mph and listen to see if the the pitch of the hum changes when you change direction.

Bearing was $60 and the install took about an hour. Nothing too bad.

[jonsaudi]

bump.

I just had to bring this up again b/c the noise is getting louder when cruising between 45-55 mph. I have a feeling it's wheel bearing. But how can I tell which wheel is shot?? My wife's FWD car had wheel bearing problem too, so what I did is jack up the driver side rear wheel, spun the wheel, then went to the passnger side and did the same thing. I was able to find the problem that way, but since my car is AWD, how can I spin one wheel w/o having to have the other side spin too? Does it mean I have to jack up all fours sides of the vehicle? Jack up the front side, or back side axle? How??

[04QuattroTurbo]

When was the last time you balanced the wheels?

[jonsaudi]

wheel balancing? Well, I think the last time was when I got the car with new wheels like 1.5 years ago..

[smarrick]

Definatley sounds like a wheel bearing.

Diag: Turn to left at little at speed and it gets louder, turn right a little at speed it goes away a little. It's the right side. Visa Versa

[jonsaudi]

The thing is the noise is not as audible at low speed than at 45-55 mph, then at 60+ mph, it sounds normal. I don't know, but I'll try making those quick turns and do my best to hear which side sounds louder...

[jonsaudi]

Oh yeah..and where's cheapest place that I can buy wheel bearings?

[toddstebleton]

Definatley sounds like a wheel bearing.

Diag: Turn to left at little at speed and it gets louder, turn right a little at speed it goes away a little. It's the right side. Visa Versa

Glad it's tires, that makes life easier. Be sure to rotate them every 6K miles.

However, if it was bearings...

....if one bearing is bad, the other is right around the corner most likely. Change both at the same time.

[Mimon]

I came in to read about this problem yesterday. It happened to me going 95mph on the highway. The noise would start after 45mph. But going under 45mph everything was normal. Today I looked under, I discovered that the plastic cover under the car had come off a little. Which made sense it only started after 45mph because of the wind it would start shaking and make a shaky like pump noise. Just wanted to put that out there for the people that might freak out like I did. But it was only the plastic cover under the front end!

[owdidave]

Bump! Reading through posts, including this one from Old Guy: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129472 Similar issue, but the rumble, vibration, or simply put, "road noise" is constant from a standing start all the way up to highway speeds. Loud enough to be of concern. Heard clearly when coming to a stop as well. Almost sounds like driving over the shoulder ribs on the highway. Not pulsating, no steering wheel vibrations, just "noise"! Gonna do the 12:00 - 6:00 check soon to see if wheel bearings, but other "tests" like driving and turning left or right produces no change in sound. Also, am running BF Goodrich Traction T/A 205/65R15's - could it be these???? Anyone else have them? Going to rotate (front to back, as this are directional) to see if any change too. But I would seriously like to try a different set of wheels / tires to confirm it's not the tires.

[owdidave]

Well, checked bearings, they appear ok (no movement). Front tires are ok (even wear). Back tires have uneven wear (inside worn more than out), so didn't want to rotate them.

Further analysis of the "noise" is that it almost sounds like it could be the differential or drive shaft, maybe even the tranny(???). As described above, it's a rumble or "roaring" sound that comes up into the car from the floor, I'd say mostly the front. Again, noise is affected by speed of car. Like when I slow down, the sound changes as the rotation of whatever it is making this noise slows down, the noise itself winds down. Guess I can't rule out tires until I put a different set on. Any thoughts?

[mlchael4]

My guess would also be wheel bearing.
I'd jack the suspected area up and give the wheel a good spin.
If the wheel bearing is bad you should hear a humming noise.

[dirtybrd]

Bump? I'm sure he had this fixed last year.

[mlchael4]

Hmmm, your probably right, but ya never know.
Dam date police.


Just kidding.
I never look at the origin dates on posts, just the last post date.
Note to self...

[jonsaudi]

I still have the noise problem. the tire treads are still good. They're Kumho Escta AST's. I didn't have the noise when they were new. I'm starting to think diff or axle something of that matter.. is this common on B6's??

[mlchael4]

Have you tried listening to the wheel(s) spin with it in the air?
The only other thing I can think of is you may have a separated belt in one of your tires.
If the face of the tread has sort of a wave to it, (meaning it's not smooth across the face) that could do it.

[owdidave]

My "humming" was definitely the tires. I swapped them out and that particular noise went away. Now have a slightly different noise, again at certain speeds, that I'm sure are related to the "new" tires, perhaps due to design (?) - they're Continental ContiExtreme Contact. However, this is much more tolerable so it's all good. Well, almost, I mean, why have any noise at all?!?!

[jonsaudi]

Update: The noise was due to the excessive tire tread wear on my Kumho Ecstas...it's true that you get what u pay for. I replaced them with mid-range Falken 912's..I know they're not a big jump in quality but they sure are low noise compared to the Kumho's. So since the tire replacement, the noise is gone!!