[mlkla]

I have a Toyota Sienna 2013. Here's an issue I'm having:

A sound and accompanying vibration that seems to come from front right wheel. Sounds like a rapid “wum wum wum.” The sound becomes noticeable as the car accelerates past 30 MPH. It increases in intensity and speed as the car goes faster. However, the frequency of the “wum wum wum,” is not quite as fast as the rotation of the tires (i.e. not one “wum” per rotation). So it doesn't seem to be something that happens each rotation. At about 70 MPH, the sound/vibration becomes less noticeable as the frequency of the wums gets fast enough to blend together and things smooth out. The problem started about 2 years ago and is manageable, but has slowly gotten worse over time.

My mechanic was unable to speculate on what the problem is because everything 'looks good' from the outside. I.e. nothing loose, bent or problematic that he can see and he his not familiar with the sound.

Recently, I was in a Prius Taxi and it was making the same noise! I asked the driver about it and he said he was having a hard time getting the problem diagnosed but had an appointment scheduled. Should have gotten his number. Seems like I'm not the only one.

Any thought appreciated

Here's a video with the sound.

 

[ericreyn]

Post some audio of it if you could.

 

[qichen581]

It should be that the bearing of the right front wheel is damaged. After I replaced it, the noise when driving was solved immediately.

 

[qichen581]

The right front wheel bearing has a greater chance of wading, which will lead to deterioration of lubricating grease

 

[mlkla]

Here's a video with the sound.

 

[mlkla]

Post some audio of it if you could.

Here's a video with the sound.

 

[circus]

Does the sound increase or decrease while turning at speed? Adding weight or removing weight from a bearing.

 

[ericreyn]

Those noises can be hard to diagnose. The wheel bearings i had go bad were just a constant noise that slowly got louder. So slowly you would hardly notice it. On one vehicle I thought it was tire noise but when driving down a dirt road it was still there. I realized then it was the wheel bearing.

If you turn the wheel back and forth when this noise gets the loudest it should drop off when you " unload" the suspected bad side.
How are the tires ? Any possibility the wheel is slightly bent or the tire is out of balance.
I know you said it don't coincide with the rotation speed of the wheel but that might be hard to nail down for certain. An out of balance tire can have it's sweet spots where its smooth, and vibrate and make noise at other speeds. Rotating the tires would rule that out.

 

[mlkla]

Rotating the tires would rule that out.

Yeah - we tried swapping the tires around, and the noise continues in he same place.

 

[mlkla]

Does the sound increase or decrease while turning at speed? Adding weight or removing weight from a bearing.

Cornering does seem to change the noise, but it's a bit unpredictable - no clear pattern - also seems to change depending on temperature. Worse in the Summer.

 

[fibber2]

Moved to Gen-III section of the Forum.

 

[brickhouse]

Just replaced the front driver side wheel bearing in my 2015 LE after hearing the same noise. I also had a low growling noise that went with it, but I would check that bearing out. Same thing, mostly noticeable over 30mph. There was no play in my bearing when I shook the wheel up and down, but this video from Car Care Nut helped me diagnose it:

Confirmed that it is the driver's side, front bearing that is going bad. Car Care Nut had a great video with a diagnosis trick involving feeling the coil spring while turning the wheel by hand:

I've decided to go ahead and try to pull the old bearing using a FWD bearing install kit that I rented from AutoZone.

Does anyone know if the bearing needs to be installed in a certain direction? I've read that some bearings have magnetic rings for ABS sensors, but I don't think this one does. I'm guessing it can be pressed back into the knuckle in either direction?

Thanks,

Brickhouse

As soon as I had the axle free from the hub, I noticed white bearing grease all over the end of the axle. I'm guessing the inner bearing seal had failed and the bearing went down hill from there. Now its smooth and quiet again.

I'm hoping to post some of my lessons learned in that thread for my own reference and to help others. Ended up not being a terrible DIY job.

- Brickhouse

 

[mlkla]

Just replaced the front driver side wheel bearing in my 2015 LE after hearing the same noise...

- Brickhouse

Wow. Glad to hear you got it resolved. I'll check out the video and maybe pass it along to my mechanic or give it a shot myself.

 

[Bob2009]

I have a Toyota Sienna 2013. Here's an issue I'm having:

A sound and accompanying vibration that seems to come from front right wheel. Sounds like a rapid “wum wum wum.” The sound becomes noticeable as the car accelerates past 30 MPH. It increases in intensity and speed as the car goes faster. However, the frequency of the “wum wum wum,” is not quite as fast as the rotation of the tires (i.e. not one “wum” per rotation). So it doesn't seem to be something that happens each rotation. At about 70 MPH, the sound/vibration becomes less noticeable as the frequency of the wums gets fast enough to blend together and things smooth out. The problem started about 2 years ago and is manageable, but has slowly gotten worse over time.

My mechanic was unable to speculate on what the problem is because everything 'looks good' from the outside. I.e. nothing loose, bent or problematic that he can see and he his not familiar with the sound.

Recently, I was in a Prius Taxi and it was making the same noise! I asked the driver about it and he said he was having a hard time getting the problem diagnosed but had an appointment scheduled. Should have gotten his number. Seems like I'm not the only one.

Any thought appreciated

Here's a video with the sound.

After checking out bearings, brakes, tires, etc mentioned in responses, consider carrier bearings on driveshaft (external) and in transmission (internal). External you can do, internal requires dropping subframe with engine. At that point you're looking at a trans rebuild/exchange at about 5K in US.

 

[mlkla]

So - I took it to a mechanic. He diagnosed it as a bearing issue immediately. $650. In and out same day. Problem solved.

 

[michaelvbrown]

Yeah, for some reason, the right front bearing on my 2009 sienna has been replaced 3 times. The first at 100K, the second at 150K, and the third at 250K. The 2nd replaced bearing was an autozone off brand bearing and didn't last. Anyways, its just the front right wheel. I currently have 282K miles.

 

[white-rabbit]

I am getting the same type of noise on my 2020 4 Cyl. Camry with only 38K miles on it. I was thinking it could be a CV axle joint, but now think it might be a front wheel bearing. I need to get it checked out.

 

[sbihue]

Yeah, for some reason, the right front bearing on my 2009 sienna has been replaced 3 times. The first at 100K, the second at 150K, and the third at 250K.

Sinc the bearing goes in one way only, you really have to be very incompetent to do the job wrong. Very likely quality of bearings or the van sienna majority of its time driven on unpaved roads.

 

[michaelvbrown]

Sinc the bearing goes in one way only, you really have to be very incompetent to do the job wrong. Very likely quality of bearings or the van sienna majority of its time driven on unpaved roads.

Sinc the bearing goes in one way only, you really have to be very incompetent to do the job wrong. Very likely quality of bearings or the van sienna majority of its time driven on unpaved roads.

Well I can't really complain since I get 100K miles out of a good bearing. The other 3 are still original at 280K miles!

 

[Lakebum1245]

The car care nut has an excellent video on diagnostics for wheel bearings.