Octavia TDi OS Graunch after Using Air Con

[Bakie]

In May (on a hot day) I used the air con which I usually leave off. After about 40 mins of driving I noticed this really loud graunching noise from the OS front wheel. The noise occured under braking, when pulling away from stationary and when hitting bumps in the road, it was so loud that pedestrians were looking at the car as I drove past them, when I got to where I was going I bounced the OS front wing and each time the noise could be heard. I left the car for about 3 hours, when I got back I bounced the wing again, the noise had gone, I had it checked by my dealer they found nothing wrong and suggested that it could have bee a stone caught up, I didnt tell them I'd had the air con/climate control on but didnt think at the time the noise could have been caused by its use. Over the weekend I put the air con on again and the noise came back, again after about 30-40mins only to have disppaeared by the time I got back to the car after leaving it for a few hours. I called my dealer, they are suggesting that it could be the air con compressor or fan but I am taking it in tomorrow for them to check, they've advised against using the air con for now but as the car is now out of warranty I am concerned that I will face a big bill for this.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a similar problem and if so what caused it and waht was needed to fix it?

Any Help appreciated thanks.

[cheezemonkhai]

compressor from main dealer is about £1k IIRC, an independant aircon specialist may well be able to fix it for a lot less if the car is out of warrenty. That is of course assuming the problem is with the aircon and not something else.

[Bakie]

1K that was a shock, hopefullt it's not the compressor then, if it is may tell them to leave it and make do without air con. Thanks for this not the news I wanted, I was hoping someone would say it's just a case of re-gassing it or something.

Will wait for main dealers diag of fault then look for an independant to fix it for me.

I dont use the air con that often, I prefer the windows down and the sunroof open so I can live withou it if it becomes an expensive fix.

Thanks Again

[cheezemonkhai]

Hey don't get just yet.. it may well just be something simple you can't tell until they have had a look, I was just making the point that an independant aircon specialist would be a lot cheaper than the main dealer if something is wrong with the aircon system thats all.

It could still be something simple

[Bakie]

Sorry that was a bit negative of me, it was a bit of a shock thats all, you are right the problem may not be anything to do with the air con itself and just something that occurs when it's in use, I was just summising that coz the dealer suspected a dodgy copmpressor that it would be that at fault but thinking about it the air con works Ok I get nice cool air in the car so if the compressor was faulty surely that wouldnt be the case. The car hasnt even reached 40K yet and last year had to have various parts to rectify a power loss issue on the turbo (luckily covered under warranty) and the warranty only expired in Jan this year so I was just being a doom and gloom merchant.

I appreciate your advice and will be sure to post the diagnosis/remedy as soon as I know it.

Do you or anyone else who maybe reading this know of any good independants in the Leatherhead/Epsom area of Surrey that I could get in touch with, now the car is out of warranty it seems a bit pointless taking it to the main dealer other than for servicing, and it's always good to go by recommendation when looking for a good independant mechanic.

Thanks again and have a good evening.

Bakie (kind of smilin' again)

[cheezemonkhai]

Not around that way but sure somebody will.

[Bakie]

Stupid and Dippy of Bookham here.

Well the dealer checked my noise out this afternoon, they seemed to latch onto the fact that I had mentioned that the noise only started when the air con was in use so looked for a fault on the air con system but found no nothing and heard no noise so i offered to take the car out for a spin with air con switched on and sure enough after about ten mins the noise started.

Went back to the dealers and demonstarated the noise by bouncing the frint wing up and down only for them to tell me that it wasnt the air con but my suspension (i did tell them several times that the noise only happed when the air con had been on not that it was the air con making the noise) anyway it transpires that its the bushes on the rollbar, they've sprayed some lubricant onto them and advised me to give it a few days for it to work in and that if it does it may be able to soften or remove the noise altogether but if not I can opt to have new bushes fitted and while they are doing them it may be an idea to have the rollbar changed as the labour to get the old bushes out would have to be done again if it transpired to be the rollbar.

They told me it's not dangerous in any way and it's down to me if I can live with the noise then its Ok to leave it, if not the new bushes and rollbar would cure it.

They reckon that the extra heat generated in the engine bay by having the air con running is enought to make thew bushes start graunching in their brackets.

Thanks to all who have read this and for the responses to my post.

One last Q though should I need new bushes on a car that has not even reached 40k yet?

Thanks

Bakie of Bookham (smilin' again)

[cheezemonkhai]

I had new bushes on mine.

TBH go and inspect the ARB itself and look for damage around the rollbar. If there isn't any I'd just go get the bushes changed along with the drop links at an independant dealer. If you are doing that some people on here like the powerflex bushes, and others don't so you might want to have a look into those or genuine SKODA parts. Remember a dealer will charge you £80-90 per house as opposed to £45 for an independant around this way.

The ARB itself, well if they are taking it off, but from what i remember you have to drop the front subframe to remove the front ARB, but you don't need to do that to change the bushes.

[Bakie]

Thanks for your advice.

The noise is now present all the time and not just after using the air con, it would seem that spraying them with the lubricant yesterday has made it more permanent with or without the air con running.

I'll call my dealer on Monday to book it in unless some kind soul out there can give me a good recommendation of an independant in my area (bookham, Surrey).

I'm no mechanic but I have a good basic mechanical understanding and I have dabbled on other cars I've had but I will try to check the ARB out (i take it it's the long metal bar that runs across the back of the bulkhead) to see if there are any signs or rust or wear on it.

I'm putting this down to the sodding speed humps I have to go over pretty much daily even though I slow down to go over them I'm positive that having to drive over them day in day out has had an impact on the bushes.

I'll query what my dealer told me about changing the ARB at the same time as it's pointless changing it if it's OK.

I have to trust what they say to a degree because as I said I'm no mechanic, the dealer I use (Withams in Hersham) are very good, they're one of the longest established dealers in the country and have always looked after me in the past when I've had problems, the difference then being that I had the warranty covering me.

If I get a chance to I'll crawl under the car over the weekend and look at ARB at least I'll know then if it's knackered or not.

Thanks again and enjoy the weekend.

Bakie

[cheezemonkhai]

On re reading if it is loud and permanant change the ARB anyway. As they said cost of ARB, vs cost of another set of bushes and labour is probably less so worth doing.

I am sure the dealer knows what they are doing and if you trust them then it's probably wirth paying a bit more to have it all done properly. Depending on how old your car is I htink they modified something to do with the ARB anyway to get over this problem, so they may fit all modified parts.

[Bakie]

Thanks for all your input/advice Cheezemonkhai, it's been very much appreciated,
I'm going to call my dealer tomorow and get it booked in for the new ARB and bushes/drop links as the noise is gradually getting worse and it's really annoying me.

Will post the outcome one they've been replaced.

Thanks Again

Bakie

[WW_VRS]

It's deffo worth doing it all at the same time as if the ARB goes wrong after another few months you'd be mightily annoyed I'd imagine

Good to see your dealership has properly earned your trust and hopefully it will be sorted

[Bakie]

Hi All,

Well this morning I planned to call my dealer to book my Octavia in for new bushes and ARB but before I did I decided to call Skoda Customer Services (01908 679121) just to verify a previous post about the bushes and arb issues on the Octavia being a know problem and that there may have been modified parts to overcome this.

Skoda's CS told me that there are no modified parts for the Octavia but that there are for the Fabia.

Anyway the reason for this post wasnt just to let you all know about the modded parts but to say that after describing the problem to Skoda CS and telling them the age and mileage of the car and bemoaning the fact that the warranty has not long expired they have offered to look into the problem and get back to me, not sure what if anything there is they can do for me but the fact that they have made the offer, especially when I only called them to verify the information about the modded parts was a pretty decent gesture I thought.

They promised to get back to me today or tomorrow so will post the outcome of that as soon as I hear from them but for the moment I've held off booking the car in to be sorted out.

[cheezemonkhai]

You might well find that they offer to pay for the parts, but all you can do is wait and see.

Any help offered by SUK is obviously better than none

[Bakie]

Yeah, I thought the offer to look into the problem was in itself a kind enough offer and if it does result in them offering to pay for the parts thats better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick as me old mum used to say.

I did ask them if the work would entail the replacement of the ARB, bushes and drop links but they told me my dealer would advise me on what parts would be replaced but seeing as they are all interlinked as such I guess all three will need to be changed.

I found another post from other Briskodians with similar faults brought on by varying different causes but the one thing all have in common is that the noises start when the weather is hot.

The posting is here if you want to look at it:-

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/octav...-shocks/53920/

Thanks

Bakie

[Bakie]

Had a result from Skoda UK, they contacted me last week after investigating the problem with the bushes and (possibly) the ARB on my car and have offered to pay for the parts required, I still have to pay for the labour which is probably going to be more than the parts but hey it's a kind enough gesture for me especially as I'd only called them initially to verify if they had modded the ARB, bushes and drop links for the Octavia which they haven't for info, only done this for the Fabia.

So I've booked my car in to be done, I'm still somewhat baffled that the squeaking/graunching noise intensifies in frequency and volume while the air con/climate is in use??????

Bakie