Hello
I have a problem with my 200 Mondeo estate. There is a strange humming noise coming from the back end - expecially prominent at 40 and 65 - 70. sounds like someone blowing over an empty bottle.
Took it into the Ford dealer and one of the mechanics went out and heard the noise and reckoned that it could be a wheel bearing ( 34K miles, still under Ford warranty ) The car went in to the dealer who in their wisdom, changed the rear brake pads ( because there was a TSB saying that a modified part cured a brake noise, when damp and slow moving, which was totally NOT what my car was doing ) they rang to tell me the car was fixed, that they had changed the pads, £135 thank you ! I wasn't best pleased at the bill, but if it had sorted the problem - thing is, it didn't - as soon as I drove the car down the road the noise was still there ! Personally I reckon all they did was looked through the TSB's and picked the one they thought would do the job, rather than thoroughly investigating the problem?
The car is going in tomorrow for them to look at it again -what else could it be apart from the bearing ?? it has discs on the rear but I had the wheels off and they don't bind suggesting they are not warped. They tried to charge me for 1 1/2 hours finding the problem last time ( which they obviously didn't )
In my experience, when a bearing starts to go, the inner or outer race gets a pit in it and this causes a noise - unfortunately, I think they check the bearing by rocking the wheel to see if the bearing is loose - surely you wouldn't be able to check for pitting this way ?!
I rang Ford this afternoon and a bloke said that I could possibly get the £135 back because they had " misdiagnosed" the problem ... yeah right ...
Any ideas chaps ??
cheers
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If it is the rear wheel bearings, the noise heard should get louder or quieter when you go around a bend, depending on which side the bearing has gone. ie, if it's the LH bearing and you go round a LH bend - the noise should be quieter; RH bend and the noise will get louder because of the additional loading on that wheel.
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Went in again today - was told they rechecked all the wheel bearings and they are ok ( how is this done as they have not touched any of the nuts, or taken anything apart ) they spent the day driving the car - even with someone in the boot and came to the conclusion that is is tyre noise.
Problem is, I have just spent the last 3 hours and 3 different types of tyre and yep - noise is still there !!
What I can\'t understand is that tyre noise would change pitch along with the speed of the car - this noise is constant pitch, like I said, like someone blowing over a bottle - the note remains the same at all speeds, even down to 10/20 MPH - it\'s just the loudness of it that changes at different speeds, - looks like I\'ll be ringing the garage again in th morning - at least they didn\'t charge me for what they did today so can\'t complain about the service for a change.
Grommitt
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you have checked the obvious like no bits of trim hanging off, no sticky out bits of window rubber, windows closing properly and all that sort of stuff ??
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yes, I even bent the aluminium heat guard a bit so it didn't trap any air and vibrate stuck some foam rubber behind the inner wing plastic panels to stop them vibrating - it definately sounds "mechanical" though - almost like the brakes rubbing, which I know they're not. Looked at everything I can think of - I still think most likely it's a wheel bearing.
Thanks for the suggestions though. See what the garage has to say tomorow - if they insist it's the tyres, I may say " ok, change the tyres and if the noise stops I pay for them, if it doesn't - you pay for them" what do you reckon ??
Grommitt
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No roof bars or badly fitting roof tracks ?
As for testing the wheel bearing, jack it up, one hand on top of wheel one on bottom (not left & right), try and wobble it - you should at least feel a metallic clicking if the bearing is bad enough to be making a noise.
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To add to Mark\'s comment, if the bearing is shot, you should also hear a rumble if you spin the wheel whilst the car\'s jacked up.
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Frustrating isn't it Use the rolling road to run the rear whhels If there is no noise then you have a wind related problem, if you know what I mean, if you have the noise get them to spin up only one wheel at a time to identify the side.
Had a similiar problem on a polo and it was due to the petrol air vent pipe being incorrect tie-wrapped to the cross been and ait was whistling over the coned end and resonating in the tank.
Good Luck and do not pay any bills. get them to direct any charges directly to Ford if you can
Regards Peter
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Guys,
Things have changed with wheel bearings. The sealed modern type no longer needs to have any play or rumble when the jacked up wheel is spun by hand before it will "drone" on the road.
This sounds so much like wheel bearings I'm amazed they don't just change them to prove it is/isn't.
Last rear one I did on a Mondeo was exactly as you describe in noise behaviour, there was no play at all and you couldn't reproduce the noise with load off the wheel.
Of course it could be other things but they are going to rather a lot of trouble to avoid the obvious.
D
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My thoughts exactly - the've changed the brakes so it isn't the pads, I've changed the tyres so it isn't them - it definately sounds like something mechanical ( brake hum, bearing hum ) making the noise - it's definately coming from the rear passenger wheel side !!
I've changed the bearings on a few cars when they got noisy - all I found was a small pit in the inner race - obviously the balls were hitting this and it was causing the noise.
Wonder what the garage will say when I ring them ?
Thanks for the feedback - I'll keep you updated
Grommitt
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Mind, just found out that the bearing and hub is a complete assembly costing £200 - that's maybe why they haven't changed it
Grommitt
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G,
Yes rather stupidly the estate bearing assy is about £165 plus vat from Ford...compared with the hatch one that is £65 from them.
They are so quick to fit though.
I would put immense pressure on them to try one.
D
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Grommit
Does it sound like we might have related problems? I still haven't fixed mine, and I have had new discs, pads, drums, shoes, rear wheel bearings and front tyres recently. (These items were changed because they needed changing, not related to the noise)
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=98...8
Good luck with finding your noise!
Andy
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Don\'t think it\'s related - mine is a constant pitch hum from the rear passenger side ( wheel? ) which changed volume not note - changing the tryes has improved the 40MPH note, but at 60 is as bad if not worse.
Just rung the garage - They are not keen on changing the bearing ( because of the cost ) I told him I had tried 3 different tyres on that side and it still made the noise - he did say that they had a mechanic in the boot and he confirmed that it was coming from the rear passenger side so that\'s something.
I think the fact that if they change 1 bearing they may as well change both which was their suggestion ( loadsamoney ) was a bit offputting as we are neither of us 100% sure it\'s the bearings, but after changing the brakes and tyres, and the noise is still there, what else can it be ???
He also confirmed that they only spun the bearings on the car, never took anything off / apart - He seemed to think that once the bearing had gotten to the stage where it was noisy, you\'d feel it on the car when you spun the wheel ?
He\'s going to ring Ford and see what they say and call me later ( tomorrow ? ) Unfortunately, although I can be a difficult customer, I don\'t really think I\'m up to demanding that they fit new bearings / hubs, although I\'m not sure if I know what else it could be ?
Like I said to the bloke at the garage, If it\'s a noise that I know what\'s making it ( like the creaky leather seats ) I can either do something about it or live with it - this is annoying because it\'s loud enough to be intrusive and I don\'t know what it is .... AAAAAARGHHHHHHHHH !
Grommitt
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Grommitt,
I had one of the early Vectra SRI's with a similar problem with a strange drone from the passenger side rear at around 60 - 70 mph......That proved to be the wheel bearing. When the car was jacked up there was no play in the bearing and when you spun the wheel no noise. I was like you having tried everything to eliminate the noise. In the end I coughed up £130 (car out of warranty) for the new bearing/hub/ABS sensor assembly and changed it myself....problem cured.
Get your "difficult customer" hat on and go give them some grief. Good luck.
Jacko.
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Disturbed to hear about the cost of those rear bearings - I thought ford parts were meant to be cheap. With a recent heavy (but not excessive) load the passenger side rear wheel on my 2001 mondeo estate (15000 miles) developed a high-pitched squeal and the wheel heated up. With the removal of load it has disappeared and I haven't had it checked. Does this sound like a bearing?
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I assume it's expensive because it includes the hub as well - wonder if you can just change the bearing ?
Still not heard from the garage - when I called them yesterday they seemed resigned to the fact that they didn't know what it was. I'll ring them tomorrow and see what the latest is - I want this sorting before the warranty runs out !
The bearings are I assume sealed, if they get hot and the grease oxidises then say goodbye to any lubrication, mind most lithium greases today will do 120º, it would feel hot to the touch at anything over 40º
If my experience is anything to go by, all they do to check them is spin the wheel when the cars jacked up - they have certainly not taken anything off mine to check them anyway.
Grommitt
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G,
Yes the bearings are a complete sealed assembly.
To be honest spinning them while jacked up is about the only test. There is nothing more to take apart.
That is why personal experience of the sound and circumstances come into play. It does take a brave man to say that's it though when they are £200 a side fitted.
I don't think they are handed so I suppose you could fit a new bearing to the suspect side and then swap it over if the noise is the same. Might help in the proving process.
D
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Different car, but... When I picked up my Peugeot it made a weird "blowing over the top of a bottle" noise at 40mph-ish that seemed to be coming from the rear of the car. I was not best pleased (eight miles on the clock by then) but took it home anyway and had a look round. Eventually I decided that the only thing disrupting the air flow was the roof-mounted aerial. I moved this into a less vertical position and the noise went away. It was weird because the noise seemed to be coming from the back of the car, not its actual source, the aerial above my head. You'll be really annoyed if this is it, so I wouldn't try it.
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Really annoyed... more like highly delighted !!
Thing is, the garage has had someone in the boot and they confirmed it was coming from the passenger side at the rear - mind you, they changed the brake pads and said that had cured it ( it hadn't ) then they changed the tyres and said that had cured it ( it hadn't ) so who knows what to believe ?
I even went to Halfords yesterday and the bearings are £160 from there - mind, a set of brake pads would have cost me £25, so that miffed me ( after paying £130 for them from Ford dealer ) - if they don't sort it I reckon I'll be pushing for some money back as the brake pads were not needed - The bloke at Ford helpline ( after waiting 1/2 hour for them to answer the phone ) said I may be able to get my money back on the principle of misdiagnosis ?
Still waiting for the garage to call me ... maybe they think I'll go away ?
Grommitt
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Hi all,
Latest on the noisy rear end -
Ok, the garage booked the car in last Wednesday for the bearings to be changed, they never turned up to pick up the car, or phoned me either ( again ) so I rang them and the rebooked it in for Friday - the bloke came Friday and took the car, drove it 15 miles to the garage, and then drove it 15 miles straight back - when I rang the garage they said that they couldn't change the bearings because Ford had not given them the ok, and that I was to ring Ford technical and sort it out with them.
Oh yes, I also had a new set of Avon ZZ3's fitted ( these are supposed to be quiet tyres ) and the noise is reduced, but definately still there, rear passenger side wheel.
So, I rang Ford and told them the whole sorry saga - must say the Ford people at the end of the phone are very good - it's easy to "rant" at them and they are very patient - anyway, upshot is, the garage won't say it's the bearings, but also don't know what else it could be - and Ford won't take any responsibility, so I have been told that if "I" say it's the bearings they will change them, and if it cures the problem then they'll look at giving me a % of the cost back !!!
In other words, They'll change the bearings at my expence if I tell them too !
I am not a garage mechanic, trained to repair modern Fords - so if the ones that are won't say it's the bearings, how the hell do they expect me to say it is ??
I have enlightened them to the fact that I am over £300 lighter in the wallet department because of having the Brakes and Tyres changed - both of which the garage said would sort the problem, but didn't.
I have asked for Ford Technical to suggest what they think it is, and Ford Customer services have suggested I take the car to another garage - considering this is the second one I've been to, I'm running out of dealers and also patience.
Anyone any bright ideas ??
Cheers
Grommitt
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Grommitt, Not a Ford lover, but here's a general suggestion. If you have a problem with a rolling bearing, it will run hot under load.
Remove both rear wheel trims, and load the back with as many bricks as you can. Take the car for a good fast drive avoiding the use of the brakes. Stop and feel both rear hubs in the centre. They should be equally slightly warm, but if you have a hot one, you know where the problem is.
Regards, 659.
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