VW Polo Front wheel feels like it grinding

[jayh106]

Hi All,

New here, and just wondering if anybody can help. Bought my son a 2nd hand VW Polo around 6 months ago, all was fine until the weekend. He started to get a knocking noise from the front, it got progressively louder and now sounds like a grinding or banging. I jacked the car up, and the N/S/F wheel gets stuck when trying to turn it. You have to physically yank it to move the wheel, feels like it's stuck in the gearbox, however not a mechanic and was hoping for some advice before putting it in the garage to get fixed.

Cheers

Jay

[GreenV8S]

By the time any gearbox problems get bad enough to feel that sort of effect you're a few seconds away from catastrophic failure, so it's unlikely to be that. A CV failure would not normally be as apparent as you describe with the steering straight so it's unlikely to be that. A stone stuck in the caliper would come suddenly rather than get worse, so it's unlikely to be that.

Having ruled those out, the most likely remaining possibility is a failed wheel bearing.

[OnTheEdge]

Sounds like a classic CV joint failure to me. They start with clicking but a broken cage will cause them to lock up like the OP describes.

[jayh106]

Thanks for the replies, gives me something to work from.