Hey guys have an 05 XB with just over 70k on it. My wife usually drives this car. In fact the only time I drive it is to church on Sunday morning which is only about two miles. Well the other day I noticed a humming sound coming from what appears to be the front of the car at around 45 to 55 mph. I know it is not the tranny is the noise is still there in neutral. A wheel bearing maybe?? But at 70k? Any help with this would be much appreciated! Thanks guys!

 

I highly doubt it's the wheel bearing since the car isn't moving. You said the tranny is in neutral when you hear the humming. Is the vehicle still coasting? If so, it could be the rear hub or wheel bearings like you stated.

But there are so many humming noise in a car that someone actually has to ride with you to hear this humming noise.

 

The noise is when the car is coasting and out of gear between 45 and 55 mph. My wife does hear the noise. It has not been there before and that is why I suspect a wheel bearing because I am not sure what else it would be since the pitch of the noise does not change in our out of gear.

 

Does the noise change tone when you swerve side to side? If it does, it's more than likely a wheel bearing.

LM

 

I think it sounds more pronounced when I swerve to the right. But a wheel bearing at only 70k??

 

Mine has 44K on it and it is doing it. Not gonna take any action until it gets worse. The part looks to be rather affordable though and rather easy to install. Mine was hit on the frt right though. Was yours ever hit? Wife hit a curb? Not sure if these cars use the same frt bearings as the Chev Prism (Toyota in disguise I believe), but a co-worker has one and has replaced teh frt right bearing 3 times in 120K miles......

LM

 

No never hit, but did put it in a snow bank that put the right front tire deep in the mud. That might have damaged the bearing I guess. However that was last christmas and about 15k ago, but I guess it might have taken that long to reveal itself.

 

Could be road noise from the tires!

 

transmission and the torque converter might be going bad

 

if you hear humming coming from the front end, swerve your wheel left and right. If you swerve to the left and the noise stops, then you're left wheel bearing is bad. If you swerve to the right and the noise stops, its the right wheel bearing.

The direction you turn the wheel puts weight on the wheel bearing and causes it to stop humming. Thats how you can pinpoint if its the bearing.

If this is the case, change that out pronto. God forbid that thing seizes while you're on the highway; its gonna screw up your day a little bit.