Hello.

I brought my Fit to an auto shop today to replace my worn down front brake pads with new HONDA OEM brake pads that I bought online. While they were taking my tires off, 1 lug nut was seized on a wheel stud. The mechanics managed to get the nut off somehow however the wheel stud needed to be replaced.

They had to take off the hub and replace a new wheel stud. Seems pretty simple. After they did that, they replaced my new pads and I was ready to go. When i drove out, I heard a distinctive intermittent humming sound coming from the front end whenever i accelerate. The noise gets louder and faster when i accelerate faster. The humming sound disappears once I let my foot off the gas or brake.

Quickly after discovering this noise, I drove back to the shop and told them about the noise. They said that its a wheel bearing problem and they have to replace it with a new one. They said it's normal to have the wheel bearing replaced after taking out the hub to replace wheel studs. I said okay, fine. Replace it.

So after sitting another hour in their shop, the mechanic came to me and said that they replaced the wheel bearing, took it out for a test drive and found the noise to still exist. They are now saying its the tire problem. I find that impossible because these tires are brand new (less than 1k miles) and that there was no such noise before I came to the shop. I quickly left the shop because i didn't have time left to deal with this issue.

I'm planning on going back to the shop on Monday and getting this problem fixed. I would like some advice or input on what this noise could be. Has anyone have this problem before on their Fit after a wheel stud replacement / brake pad change?

 

It's true; it could be the wheel bearing or the tire. But if the sound is affected by throttle input, I'd think wheel bearing. And I'd think axles if you're getting a shaking on acceleration too. Do you have any video or audio of the sound?

About the tires - are your front tires bidirectional? If they are, it's possible the shop swapped the left and right wheel/tire. If the tires are worn a little unevenly, that could cause a humming noise when they're installed on a different corner of the car. If they're bidirectional tires, swap the left and the right and see if the noise goes away. I don't think this will make a difference though, since you said the sound ceases once you let off the gas.

If the humming stays the same, then it's probably the wheel bearings. It's possible the shop botched the wheel bearing replacement job, just like they botched the wheel stud replacement job. I hope they're planning to cover all these extra repair costs?

 

Omg I had this shop install my springs and I have that noise to I'm going back as soon as they open it has to be the wheel bearing I have the exact same symptoms as you and they replaced my cv boot and they said my bearings fell out so it has to be the bearings. I also have a abs light on too on top of this.

 

The fact that it stops when you let off the gas makes me think axle?