Droning noise

[marco2002]

I've got a droning noise coming from the front. I took it to my mechanic on Monday he's looked at it and took it for a test drive and he agrees with me that there is a noise above 30mph and you can hear it at 50mph as well noticeable going up in speed and down. Problem is he can't find anything wrong with it he checked the wheel bearings and the suspension on the front. He even checked the rear suspension as well. n/s/f wheel bearing replaced in may this year. I'm stumped i was thinking about swapping the front tyres onto the back and the back ones onto the front. The ones i've got on the front are budget tyres and the michelins are on the back. I'm thinking because they were cheapo tyres that they could cause a noise. Thats the first idea i had so far.
I'm just wondering what to do next ? Any ideas appreciated its only started making this droning noise last monday. Doesn't seem to have got any worse. Thanks

[Doggy]

Definitely swap the wheels around - I've had similar problems twice due to tyres, (though both of mine were on the back).

If your spare's OK, try swapping that for all 4 in turn.

[keppler]

Yeah the tyre's could be the culprit alright. However don't think that just because you replaced a wheel bearing in May that it couldn't be the problem. I've seen several wheel bearings fail after just one month and not necessarily the cheapest brands either. Just out of a matter of interest how did your mate check for the bearings, I'm only asking as a bearing that's just starting to go can be tricky to pin point.

[marco2002]

Hi
Just going to swap the tyres around this afternoon. Nice day to do it as well. When i took the 406 to the mechanic he took it for a test drive then put it up on the ramps. He spins the wheels up real fast and listens to the wheels as they spin round checks for play. Checks the back wheels as well. When the n/s/f w/bearing went in may he was spot on with diagnosis. The droning noise that a wheel bearing makes is far louder then the noise i'm getting just now. I would liken the noise i was getting when bearing went to a land rover that sort of droning noise.
I know what your saying about wheel bearings being hard to diagnose but this guy is a peugeot mechanic knows his stuff and he's reasonable had the car for an hour and only charged me 20 quid son i'm happy with that. I'll let you know what happened when i swap the tyres around. Its a bit annoying he couldn't work out whats wrong but i'll just have to run it until the fault manifests itself.
The mechanic found something else to fix. The o/s/r caliper/disc/pads were getting hotter than they should be. I've just overhauled the caliper sliders as guide pin wasn't moving very easily and put a new caliper piston in as well and backed the handbrake adjuster off as there was a bit of a rubbing noise inside the disc. I thought it was best to get it done a bit quick don't want a warped disc....

[marco2002]

Just a quick update. It was the front tyres causing the droning noise. Seem to make it resonate. I swapped the spare tyre over with the n/s/f noise reduced by about half. Then when i did the same with o/s/f what a difference hardly any noise at all. I'll have to use these cheapo tyres for a bit longer and replace them next month with some premium tyres. The ones that are on the front are called wanli so avoid at all costs worse than enduro runway tyres which were crap. I was thinking about a set of Falkens as i heard they are pretty good value. Wot a relief finding out its just the tyres lol.....

[Doggy]

Glad to hear you've got to the bottom of it. As I said earlier, I've had similar problems with 'premium' brands, albeit towards the end of their life. The first was a Continental 'premium contact', that was on the car when I got it. The next was a Goodyear 'excellence', that I bought to replace the Continentals......
Next I had a pair of some basic Kumho's, (KH17 I think), that were OK.
Then a pair of Hankook that didn't misbehave at all, but were just crap.
Then a pair of Kumho KH31's, which are needing changed again after about 14k - they've just worn unevenly. I've had 4-wheel alignment & new front struts effectively, so trying to decide what tyres to try next.
After comparing prices everywhere, next throw of the dice looks like being a set of 4 Dunlop 'fast response', as I can get these fitted for about £280.
I know, I'll probably wind up regretting it.

[k_f]

My rear tyres (Michelin Pilot Premacy) were very noisy at the end of their life. When I replaced them with Michelin Energy Savers the difference in noise was dramatic. The car is a lot quieter inside and the mpg has improved by 2 to 3 mpg as well. Would definitely recommend these Michelins which were £90 each fitted, bought via blackcircles.com

[marco2002]

Hi

Just an update on this. Had a look at this again yesterday. Looks like the n/s/f wheel bearing is shot. Even though The new tyres made things a lot quieter than the previous pair there's still a noise there. With the car on axle stands i spun both wheels round by hand as fast as possible and found that drivers side is as quiet as a mouse. However the passenger side has a totally different tone to it and sounds noisy. So looks like another job for the weekend. I've decided to go to the scrapyard and just get a complete hub off a 406 with the lowest mileage i can find and swap them over. Works out cheaper hub costs £20 New bearing and garage pressing bearing in costs £30 +£15 Will save a lot of hassle. Getting anything quick done round here is unlikely. If i get the local garage to do it they will take all day. lol. I'll let you know how i get on. Are the front hubs on a d9 the same for saloon and estate models?

Thanks