6n Woes: Wheel wobble, lots of vibration and a ton of grinding noises...

Discussion in 'Fox/Lupo/Polo' started by ham&cheese, Feb 7, 2014.

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  1. ham&cheese Forum Member

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    Dec 25, 2007
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    I'm hoping someone can help!

    Basically, my 6n has recently developed a droning noise coming from the front, which gets louder as the speed is increased. I figured it was a wheel bearing and bought a set of replacements.

    On my journey home earlier, the sound got much worse and there was now heavy vibration through the steering wheel. When I got back home and went to replace the bearings, I thought I'd raise the front end onto a set of axle stands and put the car into gear, just to see if I could identify which side was causing the problem - the sound seemed to be coming from the passenger side more than anything, but I removed the wheels, calipers and discs from both sides anyway to check again.

    This is where things started to get a bit messy; the passenger side drive shaft was no longer turning and a horrid grinding noise coming from where the shaft meets the gearbox. It was getting dark at this point, so I decided to put the car back together and leave it for the night as it's too dark, cold and generally horrible outisde to make any further progress unitl tomorrow. Upon refitting the wheels, I once again put the car into gear to see if there was any change; now the passenger side wheel spins but only if you raise the revs to around 3k, and then the wheel wobbles. A lot.

    Obviously, I'm a touch worried by all this. By now, you may have picked up on the fact I'm no master mechanic; I'm happy to give most things a go but, due to time constraints, fear I'm out of my depth with this one!

    Anyway, my question is; can anyone narrow down the cause of the problem/tell me what they think is going wrong?

    Car:
    97 6n
    1.4 8v CL
    The only alterations to chassis so far are a set of G60 steel wheels (fully balanced prior to fitting) and 195/40R15 T1Rs. Both wishbones and bushes are getting replaced soon as the bushes are popping out, but I can't see this being a cause for the above problem :s

    Thanks in advance!

    Mike
     
  2. WillG

    WillG Forum Member

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    Mar 18, 2007
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    I would suggest jacking up the passenger side and grabbing the wheel at 9 O'Clock and 3 O'clock and shaking from side to side - compare this to the driver's side if you want. Any slight knocking/movement will be your wheel bearing. Also do the same at 6 O'Clock and 12.

    Sounds like it could be the inner CV joint though.
     
  3. ham&cheese Forum Member

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    Yeah, this is what I did when I went to replace the bearing on Friday, but there wasn't really any play. I've got a replacement driveshaft (inc both CVs) arriving tomorrow morning, so I'll have another go then. If I fail, it's booked in at my local VW specialist first thing Wednesday morning.

    Thanks for your help!
     

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