hey guys, I purchased a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro a few months ago, and since then I've had this developing annoyance, and I'm not sure what it is. I'm going to try my best to describe it, so here goes:

While driving the car, once you get above say 25mph, there is a lot of noise coming from the back left wheel area. But the catch is, it only exists when the car is going straight or turning to the right. When you turn the car left it goes away completely. It's causing vibration at certain speeds that causes something under the airbag cover in the back left of the vehicle to vibrate and create a very annoying noise while driving.

Since it only exists when the car is going straight or turning right, I think it has something to do with the suspension and when it's compressed. Obviously when you are turning right, the suspension gets compressed, and while driving straight, I've had the noise jump in and out while going over bumps in the road.

I know it has nothing to do with the engine speed, only the speed the car is moving. I also took it to my mechanic and he said he's pretty sure it's not the wheel bearing or the hub because it would do it all the time, but he has no idea what it is.

A little more info: I recently got my tires rotated (front to back, back to front) to see if that would fix it, and it didn't. One of the tires is different from the rest, but it's on the other side of the car.

Any ideas? Any more information needed?

 

It's about 95% chance the wheel bearing. Get a different mechanic. It probably DOES make noise at all times, but you can't hear it until you get up to 25mph because below that it's not stressing the bearing enough for you to hear it. Also, the A4 is known to eat wheel bearings like popcorn. The fact that it's coming from the left, and you hear it when turning right, and it goes away when turning left, adds to the diagnosis - when you turn right, you load the left side of the car, placing additional strain on the bearing. When you turn left, you unload that side of the car and the noise goes away.

A friend had a wheel-bearing-related noise recently but it turned out to be worn rear brake pads/rotors. That why I only said 95% chance it's the bearing. That being said, with the history of the A4 and wheel bearings, it's the bearing. Order it from www.germanautoparts.com or www.ecstuning.com for around $50, get it pressed in, and you'll then be able to hear your next wheel bearing beginning to fail (it's seriously that common).

 

^^^+ 1 its also easy to replace yourself. Like imthedevil(upstateNYa4) said just get the HUB assembly off bring it into a shop to get the new bearing pressed in then put the HUB back on and your set. I did mine a year ago and it took two hours including the time to go to the shop.

 

i was gonna say make sure all your weights are on your wheels because that will cause a vibration and humming sound.

 

definelty a wheel bearing, not sure, wanna find out, raise the left wheel and jiggle it side to side, if theres play, there you go, its about a $200, get a wheel bearing form blauparts for like 50 and the job is aroudn 150. the rear bearings always fail for reason.

 

Your left wheel bearing is shot. When you turn to the right, it puts additional load on the left bearings. The fact that it only happens when you are straight or turned one way guarantees that it is a wheel bearing.

You will need a hub-tamer to put the new bearing in, or you can remove the entire wheel bearing assembly and press in the new bearing like I did the old-skool way.

 

If the wheel bearing is so bad that it has play, it will be at 12 o clock and 6 o clock, not 3 and 9. But rarely do people let wheel bearing get so bad that they have play. The car would feel like an 7.0 earth quake.

Want a better way to test? Get down and smell the center of your wheels really close. The one that smells like total sheit is the one with the toasted bearing.