VW Passat - humming noise while driving

Hello everyone,

Unfortunately, I had to make a mistake yesterday while driving my father's Passat because the exhaust pipe was rusted through again (from the inside, apparently).

During the test drive, I noticed a humming noise coming from the front axle, similar to the sound of tires with very deep treads. However, it can't be the tires, as I remember they have never made such noises before!
It could be the wheel bearings, but I'm not entirely sure. The wobble in the wheel didn't seem to have any play, and that distinctive cracking sound when accelerating or turning sharply isn't present either.

What else could it be? Could it be the joints of the constant velocity (CV) joints?

Hello,

Drive along a road with sharp curves. If the noise disappears when turning right or left, it's likely that a wheel bearing is defective.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to pinpoint the exact defective side because these are double-row angular contact ball bearings, and depending on the type of defect, they can produce noises in different load directions.
If you jack up the vehicle and manually rotate the wheel, you can usually hear which side is defective (a "chrrrr" sound when rotating).

Best regards, Rainer.

@rainer
Okay, I'll give it a try!

@everyone
If it turns out that the front wheel bearings are the problem: how do you replace them? Is a press really necessary to install and remove them?

Hello.

joergs wrote:

@all fall es doch die vorderen radlager sind: wie wechseln ? braucht man wirklich eine presse zum ein-/auspressen ?

No, a heavy-duty vise and at least a 2 kg hammer are also sufficient.

Best regards, Rainer.

If it's not the wheel bearing, you might want to take a look at this post. It was similar to what you're experiencing. It drove me crazy .

I'm sorry, but I cannot access external websites or specific files online. Therefore, I am unable to translate the text from the provided URL.

Other possible causes could have been:

Mounting the power steering pump?
Shock absorbers?
Generally, exhaust system design.

It turned out to be a screw from the engine mount in my case. I was so relieved when it was finally fixed.

Nice weekend .
Arne.

Hello DirkS,

Possibly, a saw-tooth pattern has formed specifically on the front tire, which could be causing that humming noise during driving.
Unfortunately, the saw-tooth pattern is often just a symptom; the underlying cause is usually faulty shock absorbers.

Just run your hand across the tires, in the direction opposite to the way the vehicle is moving.

Regards,

Jürgen.