Highway weird noise

[Krisy]

Hi, everyone.

Maybe someone can give some advice what can make sound like in link? Link is at the end of the post. I have a RAV4 2018 year model, petrol AWD, not hybrid, in city there is no weird sounds at all, but last weekend was driving for the first time at highway and when the speed was over 90km/h, I can hear a strange noise, can't even describe it, like "hum, hum". I have brand new tyres, but road surface didn't make a difference, so I don't think it's from tyres or road surface. When I press gas pedal, I think sound goes a way for a second and then comes back, but not 100% sure of that.

Contacted local dealer, but I have to wait for an appointment.

Overall I think car runs great, transmission is smooth, but I'm worried about this strange noise.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pJNE5p_5V4surDqum6w6gGWH865YghLh/view?usp=sharing

[kucyk]

Wheel bearing most likely. Had the same noise in my Tiguan, turning the wheel left or right wasn't making a much difference if any, there was no grinding noise, but humming instead which was always present when I was driving 90-120km/h, even when I drove on the road markings, so I knew it wasn't tyres.

[Krisy]

Hm, thanks. I also thought about wheel bearing, previously I have a an old VW, when wheel bearing was bad, it made a sound like stuck cutting metal for a few seconds. And this sound from RAV4 feels quite different, but as I said, I can't hear it in the city, 50-60km/h no any sound at all like highway. Have to wait for an appointment 2nd week of november. Just still getting used to the car.
I hope it's something small, but they said if it's from transmission or anything else big, the warranty must cover the cost.

[kucyk]

10 hours ago, Krisy said:

Hm, thanks. I also thought about wheel bearing, previously I have a an old VW, when wheel bearing was bad, it made a sound like stuck cutting metal for a few seconds. And this sound from RAV4 feels quite different, but as I said, I can't hear it in the city, 50-60km/h no any sound at all like highway. Have to wait for an appointment 2nd week of november. Just still getting used to the car.
I hope it's something small, but they said if it's from transmission or anything else big, the warranty must cover the cost.

If it was a transmission, you would hear a noticeable change in pitch when accelerating / letting off the gas pedal. I'm 99% sure it's a wheel bearing, mine was exactly the same sound, let us know once diagnosed, I'm curious! 

[Krisy]

14 hours ago, kucyk said:

If it was a transmission, you would hear a noticeable change in pitch when accelerating / letting off the gas pedal. I'm 99% sure it's a wheel bearing, mine was exactly the same sound, let us know once diagnosed, I'm curious! 

They should already diagnosed it before they sold a car to me, because every car goes through inspection, before can be sold. But okey, maybe human factor, I don't know. Sure, I will post the cause after diagnostic.

[Krisy]

Hi, update: Today with a dealer we took a test drive, they notice the sound even at 50km/h, but it's not very loud, until 100km/h. They took a car for inspection, and they didn't found anything wrong with the car, wheel bearings are good. They lifted car up (spinning wheels like actually driving), and there was no sound at all, not making sound without touching road surface. They think it's from tyres. Tyres are new, Sailun brand. They suggested me to wait till spring, when the winter season is off and try with summer tyres. No snow yet, I wonder if the sound will change when driving on snow conditions. I don't have a second rim set, so it's not easy to do a test, need to change, balance etc. I even need to buy a new summer tyres, existing already worn out. 

With an eye, can't see any problem with tyres. 

So it's confusing, last saturday was driving highway and sound disappears at 110km/h, or is very less noticable than 100km/h, interesting. 

[philip42h]

42 minutes ago, Krisy said:

... They think it's from tyres. Tyres are new, Sailun brand ...

Though from what you have posted so far, I'd be inclined to agree with them. Did you ever hear this sound before you put the Sailuns on? I think that you are now implying that these are Winter tyres?

[kucyk]

I don't know, there is no way to know if the bearing is okey just by spinning a wheel, mine looked absolutely fine too, was not making any grinding noise when rotating and the wheel was easy to rotate, yet making the whining noise at a high speed.

And I doubt they could "drive" the car when lifted, as the car would sense that the rear tyres are not spinning. Even if they managed somehow, doing this under no load wouldn't necessarily cause the noise to appear.

I guess you need to wait for spring and see what happens with the new set, let us know 🙂

[Krisy]

@philip42hHard to say, because that day when I got a car, I changed tyres the same evening, so I can't say if sound was there or wasn't. 
@kucyk I don't know how they actually perform that, but wheels were spinning faster and faster, they said that they tried at speed over 100km/h. 

Yes, I think I have to wait, will try to check wheel allingment too. 

Thanks already for your support. 🙂

[TonyHSD]

Almost certain it’s from the tyres especially after sharing the brand name., if me I will buy premium quality all season tyres like Goodyear vector 4 season or Michelin cross climates and problem will be solved plus the car will be safer and nicer to drive. 👍

[Krisy]

All season tyres in Latvia will be not be allowed from 1st october 2024, only winter tyres. Yesterday I was at tire shop, did the wheel allingment, front right and left rear was little out of allingment, but not too much. After that I can still hear that "woo woo woo" noise, but maybe little less, hard to tell, city not the best place to achieve higher speed, will check on highway. Guys from tyre shop advised to take a test drive after allingment and if the sound is still there, offered me to rebalance the tyres and check them. 

I know, Sailun isn't premium brand, my previous car had Sailun summer tyres, no problems, but summer and winter - not the same. 
Attached a picture of tyre model. 

[bonjo]

michelin, goodyear make good 3PSF tyres also Bridgestone.

I was chasing a droning noise in my car for over a year! changed diff, transfer oil, had the brakes cleaned and bearings checked.

In the end, changed my Hankook tyres which were only 1/2 worn which solved my problem

[philip42h]

On 11/8/2023 at 7:39 AM, Krisy said:

All season tyres in Latvia will be not be allowed from 1st october 2024, only winter tyres.

Which rather begs the question as to how the authorities in Latvia will be able to recognise / define a 'winter' tyre. The only 'certification' that I am aware of is the "3 peak mountain and snowflake" symbol (3PMS) which is, of course, present on all good cold weather tyres and a large number of quality all season tyres.

I can understand the authorities banning 'American style all season tyres' since they have no cold weather certification at all, but I can't see quite how they could ban 3PMS tyres ...

And, going back to the original question, it is very clear that Sailun Ice Blazer Arctic SUV tyres are going to be pretty noisy on a dry highway - just look at the block pattern and all those sipes!

[Cyker]

Can the dealer pull the wheels off a demo car and stick it on yours for a test drive to see if that makes a difference? Another thing is to try it on a rolling road or dyno to see if it makes the noise - I reckon you'd be able to quickly identify if it is the tyres in that case!

[Krisy]

Hi, guys.
Thanks for your replies.

Yes, we will be able to use all season tyres only marked with 3 peak mountain and snowflake. My two tyres was little bit out of balance, got them balanced again under warranty. 

@Cyker Yes, we thought about that, but decided to wait till spring, it's quite expensive job at the dealer to change tyres, I don't know why they said it's a 2hr. job, because everybody else does this in 20-30min. 😄

I'm away now for a while, so I can post an update at the end of the year or beginning of the new year about how the things are going, didn't have a chance to test tyres in real winter yet.

[Lucy666]

Hi. I have a Toyota RAV 4 2017 and it makes the same noise as yours. Past 90 km. Under that just the normal winter tire noise. I went to Toyota for a checkup and they didn't find anything special. Guess I'll wait too and see if it will stop when I change my tires. Let me know if something new comes up. Thanks.🤔

[Krisy]

On 1/27/2024 at 10:59 PM, Lucy666 said:

Hi. I have a Toyota RAV 4 2017 and it makes the same noise as yours. Past 90 km. Under that just the normal winter tire noise. I went to Toyota for a checkup and they didn't find anything special. Guess I'll wait too and see if it will stop when I change my tires. Let me know if something new comes up. Thanks.🤔

Hi. Thanks for your reply.
Sound is still there, I think only way to sort this out is to wait till spring/summer. 🙂

[Krisy]

Update: It was from tyres, changed to summer and that weird sound is gone. 🙂

[Cyker]

Must just be the tread block pattern then - Summer tyres have a continuous band of rubber, but a lot of winter tyres have lots of discreet blocks which can create a droning sound if they haven't been spaced out properly (Which only the premiums brands usually bother to do!)

Thanks for posting back to let us know how you got on!

[Roy124]

Not the wife then.