What is this noise I have from right hand front wheel?

[Root Ginger]

I'm a bit puzzled as to what this noise I get is. It's happened ever since I did the Bedford track day. I initially thought it was the wheel bearing but it's not the constant whirring I've always associated with a wheel bearing. Sounds like wub wub wub wub wub wub (say it very fast).

It gets faster as I accelerate and sounds kind of like a train going down a track. Putting the clutch down makes no difference and happens in every gear so unrelated to gear box. I thought it may be drive shaft or cv joint but all the descriptions I've read seem to say this happens only under load when accelerating or decelerating or the cv joints on full lock.

The noise gets louder when cornering left as the weight is put onto the affected wheel.

I've checked the wheels are tight and it's not affected by braking.

Help

[ianpackham]

Hi there - I had the same problem a few weeks ago - went to the garage who said that they could find nothing wrong!! They suggested it was something to do with how the run flats were wearing on the inside ( i mean do I look that stupid!) and left me to it - the noise then went away for a while and came back - they then suggested that i had the noise all the time but was only hearing it now as I am summer driving with the windows down!!! In despair I left and it seems to have gone again - sorry that its no help but thought I'd share my thought anyway!!

[Root Ginger]

Well thankfully my car has no warranty so I'll either do the work myself or take it to an independant garage. I just didn't want to go replacing bits when I wasn't quite sure what it was. If I find out I'll let you know.

[fishylid]

The fact that the noise increases with cornering load suggests a wheel bearing, I have had wheel bearings fail in the past (not on a mini tho') which have made noises similar to the ones you describe

[Capsaisin]

First thing I would do is jack up the RHS with the wheel on and give it a spin by hand. See if there is a catching noise. Might try it again with the suspenson jacked up so as to put it under compression. Could be you just picked up a loose object that is trapped around the hub somewhere.
Also I would try rocking the wheel top to bottom and side to side to see if I could feel any play in the bearings or ball joints.
I would then take the wheel off, have a look at it for signs of rubbing on the inside, and inspect the brake and hub for any signs of trapped stones or such like. You might try giving the drive shaft a good pull whilst it's accessible to see if it feels loose.
If that does not reveal anything I don't really know what else to suggest.

[woodman]

Hi there,just a thought-are you using Goodyear runflats-if so it will be the tyres.They will need taking off their bead and resealing,although good tyres they have a habit of moving on their bead and creating a rubbing noise-usually goes away with speed though,best wishes





I

[a-z]

Binding brake calliper? or maybe your pads are on the way out.

[Root Ginger]

Quote: Originally Posted by woodman

Hi there,just a thought-are you using Goodyear runflats-if so it will be the tyres.They will need taking off their bead and resealing,although good tyres they have a habit of moving on their bead and creating a rubbing noise-usually goes away with speed though,best wishes
I

I don't have run flats. Horrible things

[Root Ginger]

Quote: Originally Posted by a-z

Binding brake calliper? or maybe your pads are on the way out.

As I said the noise is unaffected by braking.

[Root Ginger]

Quote: Originally Posted by Capsaisin

First thing I would do is jack up the RHS with the wheel on and give it a spin by hand. See if there is a catching noise. Might try it again with the suspenson jacked up so as to put it under compression. Could be you just picked up a loose object that is trapped around the hub somewhere.
Also I would try rocking the wheel top to bottom and side to side to see if I could feel any play in the bearings or ball joints.
I would then take the wheel off, have a look at it for signs of rubbing on the inside, and inspect the brake and hub for any signs of trapped stones or such like. You might try giving the drive shaft a good pull whilst it's accessible to see if it feels loose.
If that does not reveal anything I don't really know what else to suggest.

Thanks, I will try all of the above

[Root Ginger]

Quote: Originally Posted by fishylid

The fact that the noise increases with cornering load suggests a wheel bearing, I have had wheel bearings fail in the past (not on a mini tho') which have made noises similar to the ones you describe

I'm leaning towards wheel bearing now I've had another good listen whilst coasting with the clutch down. It seems it might actually be whirring all the time and the wub wub wub is where it gets worse.

The trouble is I have no interior at the mo' so the car is very loud. If I open the window or sunroof it actually makes the sound less clear to hear.

[mph999]

Quote: Originally Posted by fishylid

The fact that the noise increases with cornering load suggests a wheel bearing, I have had wheel bearings fail in the past (not on a mini tho') which have made noises similar to the ones you describe

Yep, wheel bearing - I'd change it PDQ as you really don't want that to seize.

M

[Root Ginger]

Does seem weird though if it is a wheel bearing. If it is I seem to be the first person to post on MINI2 or NAM of a front wheel bearing failure. I've only seen posts about the back ones on searches.

Seems a relatively easy replacement so I'll post details when I do it. Gonna have to be next week though as I'm on nights this week so guess I'm gonna have to take it easy.

[Capsaisin]

Yeah, drive carefully. If it is a wheel bearing it might have started to disintegrate, as opposed to just wearing out. Too many track days?

[Root Ginger]

I've only done two in it but I got it second hand. The problem was caused at the Bedford trackday. Anti-clockwise circuit so all the weight was on that side and with 230BHP (allegedly ) wheelspinning out of the corners I'm not surprised.