Hi, a colleague has an auto Focus 2.0 petrol that has now covered 86,000 miles. It has recently started making a droning noise that starts at 30 MPH and gets slightly louder as the speed increases, it seems to be coming from the rear of the car, and probably the OSR. There is no difference if you are going in a straight line or round a bend/corner in either direction. Having passengers in the rear does however make it louder !
My first thought was a rear wheel bearing, but there is no play at either rear wheel, and the OSR wheel bearing was replaced about 18 months ago. Could it still be faulty though ?
Any ideas please.
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NSR
Regards Peter
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Bearings noises sometimes are hard to pin point the noise seems to travel but id go for the other one, jack it up and spin the wheel listen for a drowning noise.
Or is this a brake issue like is it catching?
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Rear wheel bearing failure is hardly unknown on Focuses.... I expect the other side has gone.
I had a front one go on a Xantia that went quiet on LH bends, which would normally suggest the NS had gone, but no, since this was Citroen, it was the OS that had gone!
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It always seems to be the other side-I've spun wheels,listened carefully,fitted a new bearing only to find I'd still got the noise and had to change the other side as well.
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I replaced both of my rear wheel bearings in the last few years I owned my Focus. In fact, I had to replace the NS bearing twice. The first was a UniPart bearing that only lasting 18 months, before I replaced it with a Ford bearing.
When the OS bearing went, I used the UniPart hub-nut rather than re-using the Ford hub-nut, as recommended in the Haynes Manual (they can be re-used, but only 3-4 times). The corners of this new hub-nut started rounding off before it got to the required torque and then I couldn't get it off again, so beware !
The Ford bearings are twice as expensive but, based on my experience, cheap bearings are a false economy.
Droning was the main symptom when both of mine went - there was no play in the wheels, so I don't believe this is a reliable method for diagnosis. My loud droning noise eased when throwing the car round bends, so it was fairly easy to identify the faulty one each time.
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I know this may sound strange, but is there an uneven tread wear pattern on the rear tyres? Might be worth swapping fronts with rears just to prove or disprove a point. If no difference in noise, swap them back again.
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I had identical problem with Mondeo Estate , replaced bearings , discs and brakes and infact it was tyres.After fitting new tyres completely silent but cannot pin point fault. Tyres had plenty of tread left , but , had high spots easy to see with wheels off on the inside edge .Tyre fitter advised shock absorbers weak and car bouncing , but , they seem fine to me.Would be interested to be advised how tyres get high spots when running and contacting road surface !!!
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Thanks for your replies, we will try swopping the wheels back to front next as they do have different tread patterns. I remember back in the early 90's having 2 new Firestones fitted to the front of my Citroen BX and afterwards it sounded like the gearbox was on its way out, i swopped the Michelins on the back with them and peace was restored !
If you can't feel any play or roughness at the wheels, is it just a case of having to replace the bearings to see if they were the problem ?
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My rear bearings had no play but you can usually hear them hum a little if you jack the car and spin the wheels.Still think it will be tyres though !!!
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The last time I had a bearing fail on my Focus I was convinced it was the rear (again!) but when the garage checked it over it was actually the NSF. The noise was difficult to pinpoint and I must have heard it early enough so it wasn't really loud.
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Hi, a quick update, it turned out it was the OSR wheel bearing, it came out in a hundred pieces ! Could have been a duff bearing or not fitted properly when it was replaced i suppose !
Anyway, thanks to everyone who replied
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