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Low pitch humming noise/resonance


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My little Smart city car has developed a low pitched humming noise which has become quite noticeably louder recently.  It varies in pitch with road speed and seems totally unrelated to engine revs or gear.  Unfortunately, it resonates around the cab of the car so that it's impossible to tell exactly, or even approximately where it's coming from.  

At first when it was less pronounced, I thought it was just tyre noise.  Now it has become so noticeable that I think it must be a wheel bearing.  Does this sound likely?

Any other ideas?

Patrick  

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Very likely a wheel bearing. Does it change noise going around certain bends as you can sometimes find which side it is as around a certain corner left or right the noise can be worse. Jack it up and spin the wheels and see if any feel a little loose or notchy.

Tyres can also make a marked amount of noise and can change as they wear down but I would go for wheel bearing first.

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[quote user="Thebiga"]

Very likely a wheel bearing. Does it change noise going around certain bends as you can sometimes find which side it is as around a certain corner left or right the noise can be worse. Jack it up and spin the wheels and see if any feel a little loose or notchy.

Tyres can also make a marked amount of noise and can change as they wear down but I would go for wheel bearing first.

[/quote]

Thebiga - thanks for your response.  There is a very slight drop in volume when taking a right hand bend than when running straight or taking a left-hander.  I wasn't sure if this was just because my head might be moving in the bend and altering my perception of the noise or not.

I have tried a touch test on the wheel hubs to see if any are noticeably hot, but they're all cool.  Will try jacking it up and spinning and report back.

Anton - thanks.  I tried that first but didn't find anything that appeared relevant.  I did find a Smart car forum though, so I'll have a look there.

Patrick         

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Just tried spinning wheels.  It is definitely from the front right wheel.  Must be the bearing - I think.

What is the French for wheel bearing?  Not a phrase I've had to use before - not even in English, now I come to think about it.

Patrick

 

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Patrick, Still sounds like a possible right wheel bearing to me. I asked about if it got worse when on left or right bends because of the load put on the wheels on each side. So as it got lighter in sound on a right hander it sounds like that side as it would not have so much load so not so loud. But still at least take the wheel off as someone did mention a stone which is a possible.

I still plumb for right wheel bearing as had the exact same thing twice in the past.

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It's the bearing.  I took it down to the local garage who have confirmed it.  They've ordered the new part for me.  I hope it won't be expensive.  Although it's a cheap car to run most of the time, high-priced parts would rather miss the point.

Patrick  

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Well, no great mystery really.

Just a variation on the old 'New York, so good they named it twice' 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_New_York_(So_Good_They_Named_It_Twice)

New York, the city, is in the state of New York

Similarly, Luxembourg, the city, is the capital of Luxembourg, the country.  This is compounded by the fact that just over the border in Belgium, there is the Province of Luxembourg (I think it used to be part of Lux itself in the dim distant past)

I'm going to have to change my Sig now [:(]

 

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[quote user="allanb"][quote user="Pierre ZFP"]Luxembourg! So good they named it twice... [/quote]

I hate to show my ignorance, but I don't get the joke.  Will you take pity on me and explain it?

[/quote]

I think it's a reference to the city of Luxembourg being the capital of Luxembourg. So its postal address is Luxembourg, Luxembourg.

Either that or it's too obscure for me.

Edit - You have it from the horse's mouth .....................

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