Hi,
Ive got a Audi A4 B8 with the 2.0tdi. Ive noticed this bearing noise recently. I hear it when accelerating hard. Accelerating slightly on highway speeds, But i can hear it the best when turning left, and Even more when turning left and accelerating. Its coming from the front. I checked the front left wheel bearing for play, But it looked and felt ok. Here is a YouTube clip with the sound: 18 August 2021 - YouTube
I accelerate at highway speed, around 2 seconds in the clip.
Just because there’s no play at the wheel does not mean the bearing is good. A mechanic may use a stethoscope to listen to it. You could carefully see if hub is hotter on one side than the other after a drive, or use a temperature gun to compare temps.
Describe the sound. Grinding? Growling? Clicking?
In addition to the bearings, the CV joints would also be suspects.
Check the right wheel bearing. If you hear it when turning left, that would be my guess. When you turn left, the weight of the vehicle pitches right and puts a greater load on the right wheel bearing.
I’ll check that today
Checked the right bearing aswell. No play or noise when spinning the wheel. Really dont want to bring it to the mechanic as the prices Are skyhigh in Norway.
I will compare temps when going to work tommorow. Its a 15 minute drive so i should be able to feel the difference.
Nothing was hot. So Im pretty sure its not the wheel bearing But something Else, any ideas?
I’m assuming this rig is front wheel drive. Could be cv joints like vc mentioned above. Usually they will “click” or pop, though rather than make a growling bearing noise. May be that they “growl” like a bearing in early stages of failure and I’ve never noticed it, though. Could be bearing noise inside the differential/transmission. Make sure the trans is full of lube, make sure the cv joints aren’t slinging grease from torn boots. If the wheel bearings check out, cv joints don’t have play or torn boots, and the trans is full of the proper lube…I don’t know what else I’d do besides wait for the problem to prevent itself more clearly…
The video, the sound just comes across as road noise / background noise. I can’t tell a lot from the video. I’m sure it’s different in person.
With no weight on the bearing it won’t make much noise, you need to listen with a stethoscope @ 20 to 30 MPH.
A noisy wheel bearing won’t generate a noticeable amount of heat, most of the heat measured on the hub will be from the brake rotor.
This is what the inside of a noisy wheel bearing looks like (and there was no play) the damaged bearing race can be seen in the second picture;
I still think the most likely is a wheel bearing, but be sure to check to make sure the dust guards aren’t rubbing on the rotors.
There are no tears in the boots, everything looks good. Its a “bearing noise” there is no clicking, or howling. The noise isnt there when driving normally, everything sounds good then. But when i accelerate hard, or go 50-70mph and accelerate even slightly i can hear it. Its a FWD. This may sound dumb but i think that ill wait until i can hear it more clearly. I will get the car on a lift and check for play on the driveshaft etc next weekend.
I still havent managed to find a video of that exact sound or something similar
Drive normally and take a hard left. If the noise increases, replace right wheel bearing. Take a hard right. If the noise increases, replace the left wheel bearing. If there is no noise when turning fairly sharp at speed, I don’t think it’s a wheel bearing.
When i drive at around 80kmh or 50mph and turn left and accelerate the noise gets louder, when turning right its very faint.
I have a slight thought that it might be the this bearing Luz łożyska w skrzyni Audi A4 B8 2.0 TDI CAHA 170 KM - YouTube idk what that bearing is called specifically but its the “gearbox” bearing.
Also antoher piece of information that can help is that when i brake at 40 mph or higher the steering wheel shakes.
Then before you continue with a bearing diagnosis you should check the runout of your rotors. They should be less than .003" runout.
No noise if you do not accelerate?
