durutti

I was coming back from a trip to NYC when the noise became apparent. A bit of background in case it is relevant. I has hit on the left front side about 2 months ago. Insurance paid $10K to fix it with a new hood, bumper, fender, and 2 new springs. Driving to drop it off at the collision center, of course my brake pad light comes on. 5 weeks later, get it back, and everything seems fine. Put new pads in, took a few days to firm up, but everything is fine now. Coming back from NYC, I am playing some loud music, and about 2 hours in, I turn it off and then hear the noise. Wasn't even sure if there was a noise at first, and only because of some slow traffic did I notice it. Mainly can hear from 20 to 55, lower and the resonance is too low to notice, higher than 55 and the whine gets lost in the noise of the car. Roll down windows and hear nothing. The tone fluctuates based on speed of the car, not RPM. I am thinking maybe a wheel bearing or axel? I am going to post some videos, but it is hard to hear. Thanks in advance.

durutti

I recorded it as best I can. It becomes most noticeable at 2:00 mins in as your can hear the tone wind down as the car slows.

durutti

I jacked the front end up, and recorded the noise as I turned the wheels on each side. I noticed a noise on the drivers side, barely discernible, and nothing on the passenger side. At the 25 second mark on the drivers side, you can hear it as my hand bottoms out. Very faint.
Drivers Side
Passenger Side

Mesquite77

Well, if this were an older car with 150K miles on it, then these are classic symptoms of wheel bearings going out. They creep up on you and go bad slowly. In your case, maybe the accident spead things up? BTW, trying to guess which bearing is bad is notoriously difficult, best to change both at once, sound seems to travel around the drivetrain...

durutti

Thanks for the reply. You are correct, I have almost 200k miles on it, and they are certainly the original bearings. Seems like the hardest part of the job is the separation of the wheel bearing from the hub, and then having a press to press the new bearing into the old hub. Does anyone just sell the two together? Seems like a no Brainerd for a part time diy guy like me. Otherwise I will have to see if my indie mech will do it for me. And you are right, may as well do both the front bearings at the same time. Any advice on quality bearings out there. Thanks again.

Airbag

well given the fact your brake pad warning light is on ..id start there. i think its your wheel bearing though.

Mesquite77

I have DIY'd the pressing part using the threaded bolts with heavy steel "washers" of just the right diameter, never tried it (yet) on my Audis.

I.e., this, and some grease work, check the diameters you need: https://www.fcpeuro.com/Audi-parts/W...ring-Tool-Kit/

I use a $70 kit from Amazon, works fine. Italian bearings, SKF seem to hit a nice price/quality point, at least for my J.A. Pan cars.

durutti

That turned out to be a broken sensor. ECS Tuning is sending a replacement.

Airbag

damn that sucks.. i hate seeing the tie fighter on my car lol

sounds like you are in for some wheel bearing grunting.

durutti

So, I am in the middle of doing the wheel bearings, and what an ordeal. Tried several methods to get the bearing and hub to release, including the slide hammer, and nothing was working. Used a chisel to break through the corrosion, and I noticed two things. I did some damage with the banging and chisel, and there seems to be almost some corrosion on the part that the hub and bearing attach to. I was able to file down most of the damage on the drivers side, but I dont even know if it is possible to save the passenger side. Is there anything that can be done to salvage this? Thanks in advance.

Drivers side cleaned up

Passenger side

Close up of passenger side