Hey guys, my manual TH has started to develop this really loud and obnoxious noise. It's coming for the passenger side of the car, and is audible from inside the cabin. It's incredibly obnoxious and its beginning to worry me. I thought it was MAYBE the power steering pump and what not, but that's not on the passenger side so now I'm stumped as to what it could, because it doesn't sound healthy in the slightest.

Any ideas?

If it is a humming or droning sound it should be the wheel bearing

If it is a humming or droning sound it should be the wheel bearing

Yeah droning that's the word I was looking for. I thought it was my exhaust originally haha. So wheel bearing?

Try to see if the noise is engine speed or road speed related. If it is road speed, it is liekly to be a wheel bearing or a drive shaft CV. If it is neither road or engine speed related, it could be the ventilation fan - that is on the L side. I had a leaf stuck in the fan blade cage once and it made quite a noise.

I think so when the bearing wears out it will make a droning noise when driving fast whats the mileage on the car?

No it's while I'm driving, after about 10-15 mins it starts to drone. It's really loud especially on the freeway (majority of my driving by the way). It's not engine related, I came home listened to it idle and gave it a little bit but it didn't make the same sound it was making while driving. The cars only done roughly 105k kms.

wheel bearings typically last the life of the vehicle but if it runs out of grease then it will wear out. you can check for worn bearing by jacking up the vehicle and grasping the wheel at the top and bottom, then attempt to rock it, and if there is significant play then your wheel bearing is worn.

wheel bearings typically last the life of the vehicle but if it runs out of grease then it will wear out. you can check for worn bearing by jacking up the vehicle and grasping the wheel at the top and bottom, then attempt to rock it, and if there is significant play then your wheel bearing is worn.

Alright I'll check. I also noticed that sound also changes, like if I accelerate it gets louder in line with the car, and when I down shift down, it follows..

Possibly a small hole in the muffler

It sounds like my car when the bearing was on its way out.

Started off as a hum, then a drone at high speeds, eventually a real good knocking noise.

Best way to check is to jack up the wheel off the ground, grab the wheel at 12 and 6 o clock and try to wriggle it to and fro from you. It should be solid and not move. If it wriggles heaps then the bearing is shot. Be sure to ensure it gets replaced soon or you could be left on the side of the road like my dad was in his wagon.

Otherwise, it could be as simple as the guard liner or any of the plastics under the engine. Check that for any signs of scrubbing or if they're loose.

Also don't forget to do a check on the CV joints.

Alright thanks for that guys I'll take a look this arvo and report back on it.

Update..

So I jacked the car and gave the wheel a fiddle and there is some play in it. I managed to turn it about maybe a degree in both directions, with the brake rotor moving with it as well. Not a huge amount, but it moved nonetheless.

I'd say the bearing is gone. Just before you go out and get it replaced, pull out a socket set, remove the wheel and tighten up the brake caliper bolts as well as the strut bolts, just to make sure they're not loose and causing the problem.

Alright I'll give it a go tomorrow and see what happens.

Update..

Jacked it up, took the wheel off all that stuff. Everything was tight. No play in any of the calipers bolts nothing. CV's are still basically brand new from when the last owner changed them. Another thing I've noted while driving on the highway; I slipped into neutral doing about 100km/h and the noise completely stopped. This leads me to believe this noise may be engine based, possibly a crack in the headers?

I'd still argue the bearing could be stuffed. Putting the car into neutral would mean that the bearing would be under far less load thanks to not being driven by the gearbox/driveshaft. It that case it just rolls and therefore it'd be more likely that it would not make a noise.

And I'd seriously doubt it'd be an engine based problem. If you had cracked header I'm quite certain you'd notice a performance drop and potentially a very strong smell as well. I'm very apprehensive that this has anything to do with the engine. If you did have any problems with the engine, generally, it's performance is a good sign and it would unlikely to have a 'humming' noise, rather a ticking/clunking noise that would happen on a cycle, not continuous.

If in doubt, have a mechanic take it for a test drive and give a quick inspection.

I'd still argue the bearing could be stuffed. Putting the car into neutral would mean that the bearing would be under far less load thanks to not being driven by the gearbox/driveshaft. It that case it just rolls and therefore it'd be more likely that it would not make a noise.

And I'd seriously doubt it'd be an engine based problem. If you had cracked header I'm quite certain you'd notice a performance drop and potentially a very strong smell as well. I'm very apprehensive that this has anything to do with the engine. If you did have any problems with the engine, generally, it's performance is a good sign and it would unlikely to have a 'humming' noise, rather a ticking/clunking noise that would happen on a cycle, not continuous.

If in doubt, have a mechanic take it for a test drive and give a quick inspection.

That's a good point you raise, I thought as well that if there were indeed a crack or damage I'd smell fumes or something to that effect, but I'm not. The bearing itself was tight and didn't seem like it was damaged or sheared or anything like that.

When you tried to test the bearing were you "pushing/pulling" the wheel, or "turning" the wheel? The way I read your post, you were turning the wheel (ie simulating normal direction of motion) and a couple of mm movement would be normal. The test would be pushing/pulling which I believe is what Magna P.I. meant (correct me if I'm wrong). Does sound like bearing to me though...

hold the wheel at top and bottom push the top and pull the bottom and then pull the top and push the bottom. Movement in these directions is the bearing.

Any chance it's coming from inside the cabin? My rear vision mirror decided to start rattling 3 weeks ago - sounded like it was coming from the passenger side dashboard!
Finally saw that my toll pass was at an angle, touched it and felt the vibration run up my hand as it was resting on the mirror.
Now the mirror is upside down and noise is mostly gone.

I checked again, pushing at the top and pulling at the bottom and vice versa, and there was no play whatsoever, it was completely solid. I checked in the car, but the sound is coming distinctly from the outside.

I took my Territory to three different mechanics to check the wheel bearings because I was sure the left hand front bearing was stuffed. Assuming they actually checked like I asked them to, they would have done the push/pull test and all three found nothing wrong.
Finally, I bit the bullet and replaced the bearing against all three mechanics advice. Guess what? Yep, it was the bearing all along. What im saying is the test may not be conclusive and it still may be a bearing making the noise.

Or it may not.

If you can't diagnose, suggest you take it to someone else to check it out. Cheers

That's a good point, I might have to wait for a mechanic though considering it's silly season right now..

I'll bump this up so y'all can see, found the problem and it has been rectified. After much head scratching and swearing, I got the car onto a hoist. Me and my mechanic went over it completely when he noticed something strange. There was a strange amount of heat coming from the mid pipe of my exhaust. There was a fine crack all the way around the join, barely even noticeable when you look at it but it was enough for gases to leak out. Contacted the people who done my exhaust and they welded it back together and also secured it better to be safe. No more droning, no more noises and no more headaches!

and just like a woman, the annoying droning sound turned out to be nothing but hot air escaping from a split?:facejump:

Pushing and pulling will only identify a bearing that is just about to let go (but most likely, has already let go). The bearings are usually preloaded and only have to lose a few specs of the hardened surface and they will radiate and amplify an enormous amount of noise in a vehicle. When you remove them you will be surprised how such a small imperfection(s) on the surface of a bearing race caused such a racket.

and just like a woman, the annoying droning sound turned out to be nothing but hot air escaping from a split?:facejump:

Hahahahahahahahhahahahahahah, fantastic. Precisely!