Tire Noise

[newhybridowner]

I have a 2014 C Max and 2 months into the car, ran over something that flattened both my driver side tires and damaged the rims.  Rims and tires were replaced and ever since, my ride has been so noisy it drives both my husband and I crazy.  We took it back to the dealer and they don't seem to think anything is wrong and the answer was just turn up the music.  Unfortunately, not a good answer (nor does it work)!  There are 2 different sounds coming from the tires.  One is a loud hum that sounds like snow tires.  I used to live back east so I know what that sounds like, however I now live in S. CA and we don't need snow tires so I know that's not it.  Additionally, quite often I also hear a rattling from the driver's side that sounds like a paper bag is stuck on the car and blowing in the wind.  It's really weird and loud.  It's not constant but it's enough to drive me batty.  I had the dealer check that also and one person said it sounded like bearings, but then when they checked them out, they said they were fine.   This car was so quiet when I first got it.  Just got home from a week's vacation where I was driving a rental car and when I got back into my car at the airport, the noise was very apparent!  Anyone experience any of this or explain what these noises might be?

[Adrian_L]

Turn up the music?!    Are you serious?!   I would lose it if my mechanic was that apathetic.   Frankly, you want the guy who can't sleep until he figures out what's wrong.

 

From what you have written, it sounds like your accident may have affected the alignment.  How's your road holding on a straight road.  Does the car veer left or right?
 

[ptjones]

Did they check the alignment after putting new tires and wheels? I had a wheel bearing replaced in the back that made a lot of noise. Do they have a New CMAX that you can compare the noise too? :)

 

Paul

Edited July 30, 2014 by ptjones

[Ponypower]

I'll bet its the wheel bearings, I had a new 2012 FORD FOCUS and the bearings went out at 2000 miles.  Ford told me they had a rash of bad bearings at the factory. Your CMax should be quiet as a mouse!!

 

Thanks and enjoy!!!

[newhybridowner]

thanks - I suspect it's the bearings also.  I'm going to take it back and leave it there until they figure out how to fix it!

[kostby]

Also check to see if all four are the EXACTLY the same.

 

There are two nearly identical Michelin X Green Energy Saver All Season tires that fit the C-MAX wheels. They could have ordered the wrong ones.

 

This comparison from TireRack.com shows there is a difference in

1) Max inflation pressure 51psi (C-MAX OEM) vs 44psi 

2) Max load capacity 1433 (C-MAX OEM) vs 1477

3) UTQG rating 480 A A (C-MAX OEM) vs 480 A B 

and

4) Price - the C-MAX OEM is priced several dollars higher than the other tire.

I didn't include the price in my comparison screenshot because it probably varies.

 

Edited July 31, 2014 by kostby

[fbov]

Also check to see if all four are the EXACTLY the same.

 

There are two nearly identical Michelin X Green Energy Saver All Season tires that fit the C-MAX wheels. They could have ordered the wrong ones....

+1 My first thought was tires, too, causing the hummmm. The flapping could be something loose on the underside, like the tire spoilers (little plastic pieces ahead of the front tires; compare drivers' to passengers' sides.).

 

HAve fun,

Frank

[BIG ROCCO]

My vote for the hum goes for wheel bearings, that could have been damaged when you ran over that pedestrian and blew out tires and wrecked the rims.   Does the sound vary if you turn to the right or left?  Usually, a bad bearing will be louder when it is under more load.  If the sound gets louder when you turn right, the problem is on the left, and vice-versa

[mtb9153]

Turn up the music?!    Are you serious?!   I would lose it if my mechanic was that apathetic.   Frankly, you want the guy who can't sleep until he figures out what's wrong.

 

From what you have written, it sounds like your accident may have affected the alignment.  How's your road holding on a straight road.  Does the car veer left or right?

 

you mean Maxus isn't suppose to pull left or right :lol2:  mine does but it is because I keep running over curbs and center island dividers.  I love 4 wheeling.

[wab]

I thought it was just me.

 

I've hit more stuff with the cmax than the last half dozen cars combined.

Finally figured out what all that head room is for, I raised the seat a couple of inches and haven't hit anything since.

[Jeff Dutka]

I'm glad I found this discussion because now I know I'm not alone.  First off, I love the C-Max,  it handles and rides very well, with plenty of power.....but this wheel/tire/ road noise is a serious problem.  In all the cars I have owned in my 41 years of driving I have never had a wheel bearing problem.  I have a 2013 C-Max with 40,000 miles. Late last year with about 25,000 miles noise started coming from front end.  Turned out to be a right front wheel bearing which was replaced under warranty.  Noise got better.  Six months later noise started getting bad in the back.....to the point that conversation in the car was difficult.  Brought it in to dealer and both rear wheel bearings were bad, again replaced under warranty.  They rotated tires at the same time.  Now left front in noisier than anything I have ever heard driving a car.  I called back to Dealer and he said the noise is probably from the tires (which may have been damaged as a result of the wheel bearings being bad??)

 

This is a serious quality issue and will give the C-Max a terrible reputation, not to mention the five or six recalls already. 

[SnowStorm]

Sounds like it could be tire noise, especially if the first rotation came after 30,000+ miles.  My local Michelin dealer says that undriven tires (rear on front drive cars) are subject to cupping if not rotated (he recommends every 5,000 miles).  I had this problem on my Honda Fit - didn't rotate until rears were quite cupped.  Rotated to the front and they eventually quieted down quite a bit but it took thousands of miles.  Unwilling to learn from experience I delayed rotating my C-Max tires until, I suspect, some cupping had started.  Have rotated several times since but there's still some noise that wasn't there when new.  Not that bad in my case but now I'm wondering if there is a wheel bearing problem.  Eeek.

 

Anybody know how to accurately distinguish between bearing noise and tire noise?

[fbov]

Bearing noise should be independent of road surface or tires used (if you have snow tires, or replace them), and speed to a certain extent. Tire noise should vary with road surface, and usually varies in pitch with speed.

 

Have fun,

Frank

[obob]

Sounds like it could be tire noise, especially if the first rotation came after 30,000+ miles.  My local Michelin dealer says that undriven tires (rear on front drive cars) are subject to cupping if not rotated (he recommends every 5,000 miles).  I had this problem on my Honda Fit - didn't rotate until rears were quite cupped.  Rotated to the front and they eventually quieted down quite a bit but it took thousands of miles.  Unwilling to learn from experience I delayed rotating my C-Max tires until, I suspect, some cupping had started.  Have rotated several times since but there's still some noise that wasn't there when new.  Not that bad in my case but now I'm wondering if there is a wheel bearing problem.  Eeek.

 

Anybody know how to accurately distinguish between bearing noise and tire noise?

Some Ideas"

 

This may reveal the difference.

 

For front tire noise, jack the front end up and put the car on horses.

 

Start it up and put it in gear.

 

Listen for the noise.

 

If there is a noise it is not the tires.

 

 

 

When trying to locate a noise in motor / transmission, it can be helpful to put a LONG screwdriver to different spots and put ear to the end.

 

 

 

It can help to listen to noise with the windows open.

[ptjones]

Having had a problem with a bearing in the rear for 30K mi. thinking it was tires and when I replaced the tires the noise didn't go away.  Replaced bearing and the car was much quieter. :)

 

Paul

[jmckinley]

I had tire noise which got progressively worse as I approached 30K (30K driven, 12K towed) miles to the point of being nearly unbearable.  Rotation didn't help.  Dealer checked bearings, believed they were OK, said all four tires were cupped on the inside edges. Suggested replacing 30% worn tires with new ones for only $900. I didn't see cupping, but a directional feathering of the blocks on the inner edges of each tire.

 

On a hunch, I had all four tires dismounted and reversed on the rims so the inners were now the outers. Presto, the noise is almost completely gone. I had the alignment checked at the same time and it was nearly perfect with no adjustments necessary.

 

I'm not sure what is going on here. Generally problems like this are alignment or suspension component wear or balance related. Alignment was OK, suspension shouldn't be worn out already and everything feels tight. There was, however, a significant difference in the amount of balance weights needed to balance the tires compared to the as delivered weights.

 

This could also be somehow related to towing the CMax.  Weird stuff can happen back there as the car is forced to track in ways it may not like.

 

At any rate, if your tires are noisy, consider the dismount-remount idea.  My dealer, by the way, said it wouldn't work. If you do it, be sure to mark the tires some way so you can be sure they get it right. 

[stevedebi]

Maybe you need a higher PSI?

[ScubaDadMiami]

I have rotated about every 5,000 miles, and I am now at 16,500+ miles. I just did a rotation, and I now notice the tire noise that I didn't hear before. It sounds like it comes from the front. I only hear it on smooth roads while traveling between about 30 MPH to 45 MPH (which, of course, is how I spend most of my driving). It sounds like snow tire noise.

[obob]

I have rotated about every 5,000 miles, and I am now at 16,500+ miles. I just did a rotation, and I now notice the tire noise that I didn't hear before. It sounds like it comes from the front. I only hear it on smooth roads while traveling between about 30 MPH to 45 MPH (which, of course, is how I spend most of my driving). It sounds like snow tire noise.

 

Does the it make the sound at all speeds ?

 

I used to have very heavy car with relatively small tires.   The belts would shift and then I couldn't balance them.   I just kept the problem tires on the back.  I was thinking you may have a problem tire that is OK for the back.

[ptjones]

I would suggest putting the tires on right side on the left and vs.to change the direction of rotation and  then only move front to back there after when rotating the tires. That's what I did after noise problems with bad alignment. I did get 65Kmi out of my tires. :)

 

Paul

[ScubaDadMiami]

Does the it make the sound at all speeds ?

 

I used to have very heavy car with relatively small tires.   The belts would shift and then I couldn't balance them.   I just kept the problem tires on the back.  I was thinking you may have a problem tire that is OK for the back.

It is all the time between those speeds. It stops when I go faster or slower.

 

No wheel shimmy, no pull to either side.

[ScubaDadMiami]

I would suggest putting the tires on right side on the left and vs.to change the direction of rotation and  then only move front to back there after when rotating the tires. That's what I did after noise problems with bad alignment. I did get 65Kmi out of my tires. :)

 

Paul

I am hoping that a few thousand miles (which usually takes a while for me to put on my car) will get rid of the noise. They were just rotated and balanced.

[ptjones]

I am hoping that a few thousand miles (which usually takes a while for me to put on my car) will get rid of the noise. They were just rotated and balanced.

Noise got better, but took a lot of miles. :)

 

Paul

[jmckinley]

Regarding some of your posts in response to my inner to outer dismount-remount solution to tire noise:

 

• I increased inflation to max recommended of 51PSI and that helped a little bit.
• I rotated per the owner's manual which didn't help, also reversed sides which also didn't help.
• Noise was at its worst on smooth roads at 45 mph.  Always there, however, at any speed.

Dismounting and remounting all four tires inside to outside essentially eliminated the noise.  $20 per tire at Tire Discounters.  Much cheaper than $900 for four new ones.

[obob]

I had tire noise which got progressively worse as I approached 30K (30K driven, 12K towed) miles to the point of being nearly unbearable.  Rotation didn't help.  Dealer checked bearings, believed they were OK, said all four tires were cupped on the inside edges. Suggested replacing 30% worn tires with new ones for only $900. I didn't see cupping, but a directional feathering of the blocks on the inner edges of each tire.

 

On a hunch, I had all four tires dismounted and reversed on the rims so the inners were now the outers. Presto, the noise is almost completely gone. I had the alignment checked at the same time and it was nearly perfect with no adjustments necessary.

 

I'm not sure what is going on here. Generally problems like this are alignment or suspension component wear or balance related. Alignment was OK, suspension shouldn't be worn out already and everything feels tight. There was, however, a significant difference in the amount of balance weights needed to balance the tires compared to the as delivered weights.

 

This could also be somehow related to towing the CMax.  Weird stuff can happen back there as the car is forced to track in ways it may not like.

 

At any rate, if your tires are noisy, consider the dismount-remount idea.  My dealer, by the way, said it wouldn't work. If you do it, be sure to mark the tires some way so you can be sure they get it right. 

 

I rotated my tires at 14500 (first time) and the tires were noisy up front, really bad, like a wheel bearing.  I rotated them back and the noise lessened.  I read this and did the remount inside to the outside on the rear tires.  After one day of driving a few miles I am optimistic it has substantially improved.  I want to give it a week to really test them out more for it was not real irritating at all times.  So far I have not been irritated.  It did seem to have a different sound at different speeds and time from cold.

 

The rear tires have lots of tread.  The fronts are getting low.  I may just replace the fronts before the winter or rotate the tires.  The rears should be warn in by then.

 

My rear tires do seem to have a subtle but irregular wear pattern, which is now on the outside.  I looked at them after a drive.  The original tires have islands of tread on the outside that have a thin emptiness(line) through them.  It seems like one part of the island is higher at this time than the other part, while the inside islands which were on the outside seem even. (I say this because the color was different.  They actually are not obviously a different height.) (this was my first glance.  If not accurate, I will correct the best I can.)

 

Thanks for the idea.  At some point I may also reverse sides (a la ptjones).

 

The place that did the work said they can tell if it will work before doing it.  I told them to just do it.  They may have been sizing me up for new tires.

 

After this I started to put 46 psi in my tires.  I was running 50.

 

I wonder if this "cupping" is a characteristic of these tires and not other tires, or a characteristic of the car suspension, or something else.

 

UPDATE:  After another day of driving, the tires have not had the irritating sound.  They sound like tires that are a bit on the noisy side.

Edited May 27, 2015 by obob