[phuz]

I am curious if someone can chime in with experience in this department.
I have been blessed and never had to deal with one so I am not sure what I should be looking for.

The previous owner of our S40T5AWD has Heico springs on it and I am not sure how much extra stress that puts on the wheel bearings. I had to swap cars with my GF this morning because she has a much longer commute to work than I do and she heard a noise when leaving for work that she described as nails on a chalkboard when driving and braking. There has been another noise which I have witnessed and intended to address which almost sounds like a piece of plastic rubbing against the tire, and it only occurs when coming to a stop. (Remember the days of putting a playing card on your back tire on your bicycle? lol)

When she stopped by my office to swap cars, I took hers out and beat on it pretty aggressively but was not able to reproduce the squealing; could only reproduce the rubbing sound.

The wheel wells are unobstructed and nothing is coming into contact with any wheels/tires, and all 4 corners are fine as far as brakes go. I am going to pull the wheel off after work this afternoon, but I doubt I will visibly see anything.

My first thought is wheel bearing, but since I haven't ever experienced one, I am not positive.

 

[dali]

Re: Wheel bearing failures (phuz)

"Nails on a chalkboard" sounds more like a small rock caught between the brake disc and shield. Quite common on S40N/V50.

AFAIK a bad wheel bearing is more of a low grumbling noise. If it is a wheel bearing the noise should increase when you turn, bad left wheel bearing sounds more when you turn right and vice versa.

 

[phuz]

I am hoping that is what happened.

I drove it for 60 miles at lunch and picked up my buddy who is a full-time mechanic. He didn't think wheel bearing either, and we concluded that the rubber/plastic noise that we hear when stopping could be from the vibrations of these aggressive tires coupled with the really stiff springs....just causing something that is already loose to vibrate.
I hope that's all. I did the side-to-side test and didn't hear a chance in audible pattern so it should be OK...and I would think so with only 40k on the car.

 

[-ForceFed-]

Re: (phuz)

Yeah doesnt sound like a wheel bearing issue. Wheel bearing noise is best described as a groaning noise and the side to side weight transfer test should seal the deal.

 

[Bigblk4]

Re: (ForceFed Motorsports)

a wheel bearing going bad (had a few of these from beating on the auto-x car) will sound like a howl when put under stress at high speeds. you will hear it and it sounds like a washing machine on spin cycle. Speed dependant as well.

 

[dannyman1035]

Re: Wheel bearing failures (phuz)

wheel bearing noise is gonna sound like a whirring noise....think of two soft materials rubbing together, and the faster you go the louder it gets. i had my front wheel bearings replaced a few months ago...

side note....anyone else sick of the reliability of these cars???

 

[-ForceFed-]

Re: Wheel bearing failures (dannyman1035)

Ima volvo tech only reason i bought the S40 was because i can fix it myself for fairly cheap... otherwise no i would not own one lol.

 

[dannyman1035]

Re: Wheel bearing failures (ForceFed Motorsports)

Quote, originally posted by ForceFed Motorsports »

Ima volvo tech only reason i bought the S40 was because i can fix it myself for fairly cheap... otherwise no i would not own one lol.

haha unfair! I expected a lot more...now i'm trying to unload this damn thing

 

[phuz]

Wheel bearing replacement isn't too big a deal, but it gets costly if you start replacing stuff that doesn't need to be replaced

And I'm with you on that one...if I had to pay dealer labor and costs, there is no way I could afford my car, lol

 

[marcm1]

Re: (phuz)

I got a noise I can't figure out just had new tires put on 2 weeks ago went back with stock mich. mxm4 17" that came on car but I have a noise comming from front of car that when you start going not that bad but when you get to about 45 it gets loader like a rough road noise or something have had car back to tire dealer 3 times for rebalancing and they say they have them perfect so what should I do?

 

[-ForceFed-]

Re: (marcm1)

Wouldnt hurt to have your front wheel bearings checked. They should be able to drive the car on a rack and using a stethoscope easily be able to hear a groaning.

 

[jdsr917]

Re: (ForceFed Motorsports)

Brakes ? What pad you using, when did u have them changed ?

 

[zerocover]

Re: Wheel bearing failures (phuz)

Quote, originally posted by phuz »

I am curious if someone can chime in with experience in this department. I have been blessed and never had to deal with one so I am not sure what I should be looking for. The previous owner of our S40T5AWD has Heico springs on it and I am not sure how much extra stress that puts on the wheel bearings. I had to swap cars with my GF this morning because she has a much longer commute to work than I do and she heard a noise when leaving for work that she described as nails on a chalkboard when driving and braking. There has been another noise which I have witnessed and intended to address which almost sounds like a piece of plastic rubbing against the tire, and it only occurs when coming to a stop. (Remember the days of putting a playing card on your back tire on your bicycle? lol) When she stopped by my office to swap cars, I took hers out and beat on it pretty aggressively but was not able to reproduce the squealing; could only reproduce the rubbing sound. The wheel wells are unobstructed and nothing is coming into contact with any wheels/tires, and all 4 corners are fine as far as brakes go. I am going to pull the wheel off after work this afternoon, but I doubt I will visibly see anything. My first thought is wheel bearing, but since I haven't ever experienced one, I am not positive.

I also get the second sound. Its like a click when coming to a stop or accelerating hard. This is because of the springs.

We have very temperamental strut top bearings, when doing a spring install if your not careful they will open spilling out ball bearings. My self and a few of the mazda 3 guys have put the bearings back in thinking it would be fine. But we all get a clicking sound when stopping. Its a $30 part replacing it makes the click go away. If you paid a shop to put in the springs, then it prob opened up on them.

I only get the click from the side where the bearing opened, the other side I was careful with.

As far as the first noise is concerned its prob a rock in the brakes. Happens all the time it goes away after a day or so.

(edit: strut)

 

[-ForceFed-]

Re: Wheel bearing failures (zerocover)

Haha the right side strut bearing came apart on me as well. Didnt realize it did that and i yanked on it lol. I rebuilt it though and have no click so i dunno maybe you guys didnt put it back correctly.

Its also common to hear clicking from the axles inside the diff. when stopping and starting but is considered normal, just as a heads up.