Hi there

Our beloved 6n was rear-ended and written off on Saturday evening, so we went out and bought a 9n 1.4 FSI Sport the following day as a replacement.

The car drives well and seems very solid, though it pulls to the left slightly (the tracking will be done this week/next week at the very latest). However, there's quite a loud grinding-type noise which gets louder as the speed increases. It sounds like it might be a wheel bearing which is why I ignored it when viewing and test driving, but I've since noticed that the sound gets worse if your turn the wheel to go left - even if only slightly.

Has anyone else had any similar experience and if so, what was the cause?

The car was bought in a rush as we needed to replace the daily 6n before the monday morning commute, hence I decided (what I thought was) a wheel bearing wasn't worth worrying about as it'll take me 20mins to replace.

Thanks for your help/advice in advance!

Mike

You may well be correct in saying that the noise is from the front wheel bearing.

When you turn a corner, the majority of the weight is transferred to the INSIDE wheel (if you are rurning left. the left wheel would be the inside one).

This being the case, the bearing carrying the extra weight tends to make the noise.

When turning in the opposite direction, the weight is taken off of the 'offending' wheel, so it doesn't make the noise.

If the problem is NOT down to the wheel bearing, it could, of course, be from the brake on the same side, especially if the brake carrier has become seizes.

When this happens and no immediate action is taken, one of the brake pads may well become worn down well below the other one, even to the extent of metal-to-metal contact between the disc and the (eventually) exposed backing plate of the pad.

Changing a fromt wheel bearing in twenty minutes should get you into the Guiness Book of Records

Regards

Yep, spoke to my local VW/Audi specialists and they reckon it's the front bearing too. It's booked in to get it replaced and have the tracking done at the same time.

You aren't wrong; 20mins for a front wheel bearing is a tad ambitious...Haha. I was thinking of rear wheel bearings when I typed that - though it probably takes me longer than I think - and after speaking to the the VW/ Audi guys, I decided to just let them get on with it :) I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, especially when it comes to engine work and so on, but from the sounds of it, front bearings are an absolute bastard to fit correctly.

I checked all the brakes prior to buying, and they're all spot on. So much so, in fact, that they still catch us both out with how little pressure the middle pedal requires to come to a standstill. In a nutshell, they're quite simply brilliant and even better than those on my Golf GTI.

Thanks for your advice - very much apprecaited!

Mike

Edited 10 September, 201412 yr by scumbagmike