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humming noise/vibration only around 55 mph?

16K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  Tony Jones  
#1 ·
My 2000 4cly is making humming noise around 55 mph. Faster or slower, not too much noise.Also, I can feel vibration on gas pedal when I hit 55 mph. After several miles driving, noise is getting less though. What possible can be the problem?

I do see lots of brake dust/black dust on one side of the wheel, only on one side. Will it be seized brake pad or wheel bearing?

Also, My exhaust is on its last leg. Will exhaust create such noise?
 
#2 ·
Humming usually means a bad wheel bearing which gets louder with speed.

Excessive brake dust means a seized caliper. Rotors can warp from the heat causing vibration.

Exhaust noise is proportional to RPM, so if you released the gas (or floored it) @ 55MPH, the sound should change.
 
#4 ·
Wheel bearings generally will get noisier before they fail.

I would suggest planning on dealing with the brakes and wheel bearing at the same time as some of the same parts need to be removed.

If when you hear the noise, if you gently put a little pressure on the brake pedal, does the noise change?

How are your tires? Good way to check them is to rotate them. If the noise moves, it probably was a tire.
 
#7 ·
When I press brake, the noise seems goes away. Not quit sure, cause when I hit brake, it lower the speed, and (no) the (?) noise seems less. My tires looks fine at least looks fine by me.
That does sound like a bad wheel bearing.

I'm thinking that the brake disk is mounted to the hub and the hub is held to the spindle by the bearing.

When the brake pedal is pressed, the brake pads move the brake rotor enough to take the pressure off of the wheel bearing and the noise goes away.
 
#6 ·
You can jack up the front, then spin the wheels and see if one drags.

Also, grab each wheel and try to rock in multiple directions. Spinning a wheel and holding the spring can also let you feel bearing issues. There are a lot of how to videos on this if you goole things like "how to diagnose wheel bearing," etc.
 
#10 ·
Is it on the inside sidewall surface? That's a sign of a burst CV boot. The grease flings out and lands on the tire.
 
#12 ·
Check all four tyres that you don't have a bolt/nail stuck in one of them.

My '93 Camry made a similar noise and I suspected rear wheel bearings, until I checked the rear tyres and found a bolt sticking out of the rear LHS.

Cheers,
Tony