Wheel Bearing LIfe?

Pat Dolan

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2002
Location
Martensville, SK
TDI
2003 A4 Variant, 2015 Q7
Wife's farm car/DD is a 2015 Q7 TDI that was bought 5 year ago on the back end of dieselgate. At 82,000 kms.I am hearing what sounds like a wheel bearing noise. I assume an HBU 3.2 and since the start of HBU1 cartridges in A1 and B1 chassis I have seen bearing life go from 100k kms up to what I now expect to exceed 300 kms with ease. Assuming this IS a wheel bearing (and this is one of my questions if anyone has experience with front axle making bearing noises at such low miles).what are people seeing from this platform for wheel bearing life?

One other thing to report: we suffered oil leaks in valley but it was fixed this year under the extended dieselgate warranty (one reason we bought the car). On last summer for the summer rubber (Conti) probably 60k life and 2 years estimated left on winter (Pirelli) rubber.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
We have a 2016 Audi A3 e-tron and 2015 Golf Sportwagen - both of those cars are on the MQB platform and share many drivetrain parts.
Last year, just before 70K km, had a front wheel bearing go bad on the Audi; it was such low km that I looked for just about any/everything else it might be. But nope, that was it.

Golf Sportwagen at literally double that mileage (just under 140K km), and uses exactly the same front bearing part number - no bearing issues thus far.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Typically the passenger side bearings go first due to that side getting exposed to more rough/bumpy surfaces.
 

Tom_B

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Location
Central Oklahoma
TDI
15 Touareg, 14 A6
We have a 2015 Touareg TDI, purchased pre-owned, that had a wheel bearing and rear differential go out by 30K miles (48K km). I have no idea what the original owner did that lead to that.
 

Nuje

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Location
Island near Vancouver
TDI
2002 Golf 6MT; 2015 Sportwagen 6MT; 2016 A3 e-tron 6DSG
Typically the passenger side bearings go first due to that side getting exposed to more rough/bumpy surfaces.
Indeed, that was the one (front right) that went bad on our A3. But at 70K km (45K miles) for a car that is driven almost exclusively around town...that's oddly early regardless of position on the car.
 

Pat Dolan

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2002
Location
Martensville, SK
TDI
2003 A4 Variant, 2015 Q7
As I inferred: I expect AT LEAST 250k from a modern integrated hub/bearing. On Big Kid's B6, I did one rear HBU2 around 200k and the other at 260k - and IMHO that is still very short lived for a wheel bearing. Another concern is I think I will wait for it to make a lot more noise (my wife can't hear it now, but for me doing diagnositics for a half century it is clearly in the car somewhere - but may not be clear enough for unloaded wheel yet tp isolate the offending bearing.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline '14 A6 Technik S-line
Lots of factors. We don't even know IF what you're hearing is a wheel bearing.
When's the last time you had it aligned or its alignment checked? Heavy SUV, big heavy wheels, bad roads, harsh environment.... all factors.
Add a couple of big potholes or a curb here or there and things get interesting.
I'd say look into it, because at that kind of "youth" it's more than likely a front diff bearing or a propshaft hanger bearing.

Also, if your rubber is getting low, it could be as simple as tire noise. Some tires get really whiny once they wear down.
 

Tom_B

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Location
Central Oklahoma
TDI
15 Touareg, 14 A6
I will second the idea of finding out if it's really a wheel bearing. Pinpointing the origin of noise while riding in a large-cabin SUV is not necessarily easy. I'll spare the details but in our case the dealer's method, even when using ChassisEars, led to replacement of a lot of parts that didn't contribute to solving the problem(s), but they were on VW's dime.
 
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