PLEASE HELP!!! VERY LOUD grinding noise. MK7 Golf TDI s

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP

Hello all,

for about two months now i’ve been having a really annoying problem that i can’t seem to figure out. from speeds to around 20 mph to 60 mph i have a very loud grinding sound coming from my front left area of the car. the sounds is extremely loud in the cabin and when i roll the window down while im driving it seems that the noise is not there. I feel vibrations all in my drivers seat, the gas pedal, the door, and the steering wheel. However, when i make slight right turns the noise and the vibrations completely go away. The car still drives very smoothly and doesn’t feel bumpy or anything of the sorts.

i’ve put the car on a lift and looked at everything with my buddy that has done all the work to my car and everything looks good.

Axle was replaced with a new OEM one, wheel bearings look normal and everything looks tight with no problems.

I need help badly because this noise doesn’t sound good and it’s driving me crazy because i listen to it 24/7
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Sounds like a bad wheel bearing, if I had to guess. If you take the brakes off, and take the axle out, you should be able to spin just the hub in the carrier and see if it is smooth or you feel some roughness in it. It need not have any play to be bad.
 

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
Sounds like a bad wheel bearing, if I had to guess. If you take the brakes off, and take the axle out, you should be able to spin just the hub in the carrier and see if it is smooth or you feel some roughness in it. It need not have any play to be bad.
My mechanic also said it could be a wheel bearing issue. when we looked at the car when it was on the lift everything seemed stable on the wheel area so it’s very confusing.. is that normal to not notice anything wrong with the wheel bearing on the outside part and that it’s more of a thing where you have to take things apart to see the issue?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yes, if there is no play and you need to isolate it. Sometimes if it is a driven axle you can run the car on a lift and use the stethoscope to isolate it as well. Best to do that on a drive-on rack, though, and raise the front via the control arms so that the axle angle is not as far off from normal, but if it is really bad it should be obvious.
 

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
Yes, if there is no play and you need to isolate it. Sometimes if it is a driven axle you can run the car on a lift and use the stethoscope to isolate it as well. Best to do that on a drive-on rack, though, and raise the front via the control arms so that the axle angle is not as far off from normal, but if it is really bad it should be obvious.
Any way i can like send you a video of the noise on twitter or something so you can see how it sounds ??
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
On my wife's 2016 A3 e-tron (same MQB platform as the 2015 Golf), we had exactly the same thing. I had trouble believing it was a wheel bearing problem because it was at such low mileage - only 70K km (~45K miles).

I had the wheel up in their spinning and couldn't see or feel anything. By putting my hand on the spring of each front wheel spinning, I could (I think?) feel just slightly more vibration at the wheel I was pretty sure was causing the noise at speed. Without telling my wife which I thought it was, I asked her to feel and see if she could tell a difference and she said that same (front right) seemed just slightly "more".

So, took apart the hub to remove the bearing (part # 5WA407621), felt it turning in my hand and it felt perfectly smooth.
But I had the replacement part on hand, so put in the new one anyway - and bing-bang-boom....probably solved.
 

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
On my wife's 2016 A3 e-tron (same MQB platform as the 2015 Golf), we had exactly the same thing. I had trouble believing it was a wheel bearing problem because it was at such low mileage - only 70K km (~45K miles).

I had the wheel up in their spinning and couldn't see or feel anything. By putting my hand on the spring of each front wheel spinning, I could (I think?) feel just slightly more vibration at the wheel I was pretty sure was causing the noise at speed. Without telling my wife which I thought it was, I asked her to feel and see if she could tell a difference and she said that same (front right) seemed just slightly "more".

So, took apart the hub to remove the bearing (part # 5WA407621), felt it turning in my hand and it felt perfectly smooth.
But I had the replacement part on hand, so put in the new one anyway - and bing-bang-boom....probably solved.
Yeah i think i’m gonna get new hub assembly’s for the front.. Do you recommend a brand ? i know NSK is OEM and FAG are good but do you recommend any?
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
SKF and FAG are the bearings I try to go with.
Look at idparts.com (close to you) - see what they have.

Edit: You definitely want the kit as the bearing/hub's bolts and the axle bolt are single-use / replace every time.
Here's what idparts has. That's what I used and worked great.
You also wanna have some serious torque capabilities at hand because the 200Nm +180° torque spec on that axle bolt is a LOT! And if you get "well, that should be close enough".... expect to be replacing that bearing again in the not-too-distant future.
 

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
That link has the INA wheel bearing kit.. is that one also good or should i stay away from that one ?
 

turbodieseldyke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 6, 2010
Location
Free Mustache Rides
TDI
Big ol' honkin' tdis
When you turn right, you put more force on the left wheel. If the left one was bad, turning right would make it louder. Does it get louder when you turn left?

I had mine go bad & had to replace it last year. The one thing that doesn't add up with a bearing, to me, is your vibration problem. Mine was only noisy. Badly noisy, but no vibration.
 

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
When you turn right, you put more force on the left wheel. If the left one was bad, turning right would make it louder. Does it get louder when you turn left?
Nah the noise is pretty much the same when i’m turning left, only when i turn right the noise completley goes away
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
That link has the INA wheel bearing kit.. is that one also good or should i stay away from that one ?
If idparts.com sells it, I consider it good. Pretty sure INA is a sub-brand of the whole LUK-Schaeffler-FAG industrial complex.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
Really? I hear all of the noise on my driver side. so with what you’re saying it would be the passenger side ?
@turbodieseldyke's logic is sound and reasonable. But just to confirm and put your mind to rest, you can try the test I mentioned above - put the car in gear with the front wheels up in the air so the front wheels are turning and feel the springs - see if one feels more "buzzy" than the other one.
(I'd tried both a screwdriver and stethoscope on the hub under the car with the wheels spinning and couldn't hear anything more from one side to the other.)
 

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
When you turn right, you put more force on the left wheel. If the left one was bad, turning right would make it louder. Does it get louder when you turn left?

I had mine go bad & had to replace it last year. The one thing that doesn't add up with a bearing, to me, is your vibration problem. Mine was only noisy. Badly noisy, but no vibration.
Also, i think the vibration is coming from like how loud the noise is you know what i mean?
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
I had the same type of thing on my bad bearing; it wasn't a "wobble" vibration, but more of a "buzz".
 

arbs

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Location
Connecticut
TDI
2015 Golf TDI S
@turbodieseldyke's logic is sound and reasonable. But just to confirm and put your mind to rest, you can try the test I mentioned above - put the car in gear with the front wheels up in the air so the front wheels are turning and feel the springs - see if one feels more "buzzy" than the other one.
(I'd tried both a screwdriver and stethoscope on the hub under the car with the wheels spinning and couldn't hear anything more from one side to the other.)
i’ll try and give that a shot
 
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