Tire noise or what?

[jhaynes2]

My 05 Mariner (2.3L 2WD 49,000 miles) makes a humming noise. The faster you go the higher the pitch. Sometimes there's a woo-woo-woo-woo sound to it. I've heard that the original Continental tires are to blame. The tires still have plenty of tread left. Anyone else have this problem? Did new tires fix it? Could it be a bearing problem? It's been going on since 20-something thousand miles. If it was a bearing something would have broken by now, right?

[Airjer_]

Does it get louder when you steer to the right or left or just stays the same. Does the sound change after a tire rotation?

[jhaynes2]

It stays the same whether I'm turning or not. When I rotate the tires it sounds a little different at first then it goes back to the same noise as before. Also, if someone rides in the back seat it's more noticeable.

[bbmark57]

Changed the tires in my 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, and my wife will ride in it again! Stay away from the original equipment Continental's. They were good and quiet for about 1 year, then progressively worse. Goodyears Assurance QA's at about 2 years, starting to make similar cupping tire to road noise. Perhaps better alignment along with new tires works.

[spoiler 429]

Amen on the Continental tires we had the same problem on our 08 Escape, a good set of Goodyear's and now you can carry on a conversation while going down the road.

[and0b]

Yes! Bad tires!!!

42000miles - tires have still a lot of tread but were recognized as defective - all four of them!!! Technician told me so they have broken wires inside and it makes their surface uneven, what is making noise.

Andrew