Seems to me that you're thinking along the right lines, re wheel bearing. How old is the car? What's the mileage?

 

Car is Captur 2, diesel, just over 4years old with 40K. FSH.

 

Obviously wheel bearings can go at any age, but 40,000 miles is not excessive - hopefully it’ll get diagnosed later this week.

 

Thinking then, if it is a wheel bearing that has gone, whether to consider having them both done just for peace of mind. Should have a better ide later in the week.

 

I would swap the tyres round F-R to see if that makes any difference to where the noise is coming from.

 

I would also have swapped wheels but OP said there was no sign of damage to the tread or sidewalls.

 

Update after inspection.

Spoke to the garage owner/ mechanic after he had it, and taken it out for a lengthy drive on a mixture of roads and surfaces. Noise was apparent on some of the sharper bends and then on straight stretches seemed to disappear. Car back to garage, on ramp/ wheels off/ bearings etc all checked. Steering/ cv joints/ gaiters all good, no problems. Only thing that came to light, was one of the brake pads was slightly stuck in the calliper housing, not affecting braking, but he removed all front brake pads and put some 'Copper Grease' on the pads' rears. Car is safe to drive, but let fault develop and the bring back.

Have a 5-day jolly to France in a months time, so something to monitor. All other wheels, tyres, bearings etc checked when car was on ramp and all ok. A case of watch this space!

 

Just had offside front shock absorber and mount replaced on 2018 1.5 dci to solved knocking noise.

 

Car hasn't long had MOT, no problems showed up then. Even recent inspection (see above) did not pick up any problems . Will monitor and see what happens.

 

With the "thumping" still intermittently occurring, I called into my local ATS and asked them if they could put it on the "rolling road" and have a check. They had a free slot so could have a look. 40minutes later they came and explained that there was no faults found. Everything OK, suspension OK. Car safe to Drive etc. No charge! The noise is still there but not as predominant as before. So continuing to monitor.

 

That was decent of them. Shame you still haven't got to the bottom of it though.

 

With the “Thumping Noise” still existent and the garage and ATS saying the car was safe to drive, we were off to France (already booked some time ago) for a 5-6day ‘Jolly’, Loire Region, Central France. Car went well but frustratingly became fed up with the noise so I took the car to a local Renault Garage not far from the Gite. Called in at about 1600hrs, and a good welcome from the reception. Explained the problem; she ups from her desk and two minutes later comes back with a mechanic. Explained to him in much greater detail and he said he would drive the car on a test run with me. So off we go encompassing different speeds and road surfaces. On our return he explained his thoughts but asked if we could bring the car in the following morning so he could put it up on the ramp. We went the following morning, and duly had a coffee, and on our arrival back at the garage, he was returning his second test run.

He put the car back up on the Ramp and we discussed the problem. At the beginning of the year I had a suspension arm replaced under warranty and he seems to think that this was not properly fitted (not parallel), he says, by using his translater but better to return to the UK to get it sorted. So, as previous garages with their check, he had done all the same. Steering, wheel bearings, suspension struts. No vibration at all, car pulls up straight when braking. Not pulling to left or right and no vibrations through steering wheel. He explained that he had changed the wheels/tyres front to back, and the problem still exists. Car was put back on the ramp and this allowed me to take several photos. Car is safe to drive but told to drive carefully for our return.

Having been given the keys back we returned to Reception and my first question was “Ca combien?” (How much?).
“C’est gratuit “, (It’s free!!!!). certainly a way to encompass, “entente cordialle!!” I have to say service that I received was superb. No French waffling or BS as he explained everything so I felt very confident at his approach.

Makes a difference from some of the UK garages who would tell you they have to book it in, 3-4 weeks hence.

So when I get home I will be having a chat with the local garage to see if they make some sense of it. Watch this space!

 

With the “Thumping Noise” still existent and the garage and ATS saying the car was safe to drive, we were off to France (already booked some time ago) for a 5-6day ‘Jolly’, Loire Region, Central France. Car went well but frustratingly became fed up with the noise so I took the car to a local Renault Garage not far from the Gite. Called in at about 1600hrs, and a good welcome from the reception. Explained the problem; she ups from her desk and two minutes later comes back with a mechanic. Explained to him in much greater detail and he said he would drive the car on a test run with me. So off we go encompassing different speeds and road surfaces. On our return he explained his thoughts but asked if we could bring the car in the following morning so he could put it up on the ramp. We went the following morning, and duly had a coffee, and on our arrival back at the garage, he was returning his second test run.

He put the car back up on the Ramp and we discussed the problem. At the beginning of the year I had a suspension arm replaced under warranty and he seems to think that this was not properly fitted (not parallel), he says, by using his translater but better to return to the UK to get it sorted. So, as previous garages with their check, he had done all the same. Steering, wheel bearings, suspension struts. No vibration at all, car pulls up straight when braking. Not pulling to left or right and no vibrations through steering wheel. He explained that he had changed the wheels/tyres front to back, and the problem still exists. Car was put back on the ramp and this allowed me to take several photos. Car is safe to drive but told to drive carefully for our return.

Having been given the keys back we returned to Reception and my first question was “Ca combien?” (How much?).
“C’est gratuit “, (It’s free!!!!). certainly a way to encompass, “entente cordialle!!” I have to say service that I received was superb. No French waffling or BS as he explained everything so I felt very confident at his approach.

Makes a difference from some of the UK garages who would tell you they have to book it in, 3-4 weeks hence.

So when I get home I will be having a chat with the local garage to see if they make some sense of it. Watch this space!

Brilliant service! You'd be lucky to get that at most places in the UK these days.

 

Well there you are then, next time anyone has a problem with their Renault, jump on Le Shuttle and get it diagnosed first free!!

But seriously, what a pleasure to read such a positive message - reminds me of the type of service you might have got in the UK maybe 50 years ago - now they either don’t know, or don’t want to know. Good luck hopefully getting it sorted out with your local Renault dealer

 

Monday morning, and back to my local garage and had a good chat with them. Explained all the things that had happened at the French Garage. He's as baffled as we all are that we can't see to find or diagnose the, "Muted Thumping" noise. "I'll put the car through an MOT and it will pass within the hour" was his comment. It's still safe to drive, so I'll wait and see if anything develops.

 

Bit of a long shot but have you thought of lifting the front of the car off the ground (eg using axle stands on the suspension) then running it in gear and getting out to see if you can pin-point where the noise is coming from - or indeed if there is no noise when there is no load on the driven wheels?

 

Yes, I had thought of doing what you suggested but haven't plucked up the courage to do it. However, I have been under the car with the mechanic at my local garage, as well as doing the same with the inspection that I had when in France last week. Neither showing any problems. I also took some pictures. The lower arm is the one that was replaced and the French mechanic made the observation that it was not aligned properly but on checking the location points, it was. However, the "thumping noise" is not metallic as one would think. I will persevere with it at the moment and do further investigation.

 

So has the problem been found? I stumbled across an article on Motor1.com, highlighting a problem with Pirelli PCNS tyres. Hadn't been aware of PCNS tyres, but they have a built-in noise cancelling foam on the inside of their tyres which can break away from the inner tyre surface, thus causing very similar problems to what I have been experiencing. I read on to find that there was a reference to Michelin Tyres (which are fitted all round on my Captur. Pleased with the performance, grip etc). I need to do bit more chasing around, and to go back to ATS who fitted the tyres and see what they say. Anybody else comes across these type of tyres?

 

I did once read a similar story of a woman complaining about a knocking sound from her car when driving over about 50mph. The garage tried everything and failed to come up with a solution. As a last resort two mechanics offered to take her car for a drive, one following in a second car. The following driver then noticed that as the cars came up to speed the antenna, which had an decorative ball on its end, started to vibrate up an down. At about 50mph the ball then started hitting the car roof. No suggesting anything but sometimes it's the simplest thing.

 

My balls don't need to get up to 50mph to jiggle.