Serious judder at speed

[weasley]

I first noticed this about 2 weeks ago - a mild vibration though the chassis at 60-70 mph; I don't drive it that often and my wife doesn't often reach these speeds (speed limits rather than capability  ).

 

Last weekend I drove it again and it was more noticeable and worse at 70 mph, fading away at (ahem) higher speed.

 

Today I took it to Kwik-Fit to get the rear wheels balanced - they did this (small weights were needed) but the problem got worse, now a serious judder at 55-60 mph.  They then swapped the fronts to rears and vice versa with the hope that if the problem moved to a shuddering steering wheel it was the wheel/tyres, if not then chassis.  It didn't change - it is now a serious judder at 55-60 mph, but not felt through the steering, feeling like it is at the back end somewhere.

 

Whilst on the the Kwik-Fit ramps with the rears off I did a cursory inspection of the various bushes, springs and shocks - all looked OK, as far as one can tell.  Suspension feels OK, again as far as one can tell.

 

So now I have to wait until tomorrow to book it in somewhere for an investigation.  Does anybody have any thoughts about what it could be?  It's a 4WD, so there are driveshafts back there as well as the suspension and brakes.  I supposed it could even be the prop-shaft?

 

And we are going away next weekend to Pembrokeshire - we really need the Yeti, otherwise we'll be playing sardines in the Audi A1!

[weasley]

Hmmmm.... might this be it? Where the prop shaft joins the Haldex at the front, there is only one bolt in place, with two apparently vacant bolt-accepting holes. The rear mounting flange ( to the rear diff) has three in place.

[bahnstormer vrs]

Hmmmm.... might this be it? Where the prop shaft joins the Haldex at the front, there is only one bolt in place, with two apparently vacant bolt-accepting holes. The rear mounting flange ( to the rear diff) has three in place.

 

A very definite possibility!  Get thee down to your local dealership pronto (and slowly).  Perhaps even call out Skoda Assistance or the AA/RAC/GreenFlag (assuming you are a member) and get them to flatbed Yeti to dealer.

 

You ought to consider the cause of the bolts being missing.  It is not unknown for the UJ between the propshaft and Haldex box to fail.

 

Overall though, hope its not too serious.

 

Guy

[weasley]

I'm convinced now.  Take a look for yourselves... it looks like the shaft has slipped out of true due to the missing bolts.  If you have good memories, or are stalking me, you will recall I had a new gearbox fitted recently after the clutch failed and damaged the original.  Nobody has been near this shaft since then...... jus' sayin'..... :think:

 

There will be a forthright conversation held on Monday morning. 

[faradaycage]

I'm convinced now.  Take a look for yourselves... it looks like the shaft has slipped out of true due to the missing bolts.  If you have good memories, or are stalking me, you will recall I had a new gearbox fitted recently after the clutch failed and damaged the original.  Nobody has been near this shaft since then...... jus' sayin'..... :think:

 

There will be a forthright conversation held on Monday morning. 

Was that shoddy and dangerous fix carried out by a Skoda main agent ?????

[bahnstormer vrs]

Sorry to hear of your previous woes. 

 

Looking at the photo I'd advise not to drive but get yeti recovered to a dealership.

 

Guy

[weasley]

Was that shoddy and dangerous fix carried out by a Skoda main agent ?????

 

It was indeed, under (the now-expired) warranty.  It had to go back twice after the original work as it was, once to get the tracking fixed (they delivered it back to me with the steering wheel off by at least 10°) and it took two attempts to replace a horn that had somehow stopped working during the first visit (actually, at the first return they did replace a horn - but the non-faulty one).

[weasley]

Sorry to hear of your previous woes. 

 

Looking at the photo I'd advise not to drive but get yeti recovered to a dealership.

 

Guy

 

I am relieved that the one remaining bolt has held over the last couple of weeks, where my family and I have been out and about in it, at motorway speeds too.  I dread to think what a propshaft could do were it to suddenly let go.  It will be going nowhere under its own steam until it is sorted.  If they can't do it by Thursday I am sure they have a nice demo car I can use to get to Wales and back (and not a Fabia either!).

[faradaycage]

It was indeed, under (the now-expired) warranty.  It had to go back twice after the original work as it was, once to get the tracking fixed (they delivered it back to me with the steering wheel off by at least 10°) and it took two attempts to replace a horn that had somehow stopped working during the first visit (actually, at the first return they did replace a horn - but the non-faulty one).

Christ Almighty,Weasley.When that prop eventually sheared or dropped it could have caused a near fatal pile up on the motorway,I'd be right on the phone to trading standards and Skoda U.k tearing into them about the repeated series of substandard repairs ..That would have seriously injured or killed someone if it happened to let go at motorway speeds

Edited 12 April, 2015 by faradaycage

[weasley]

I will definitely be looking at my options, shall we say.  Interestingly as the car is approaching the end of its finance I was recently invited to go to said dealer for a discussion about my end-of-lease options.  I will have a few trump cards up my sleeve for that one.

 

As for the possible consequences... yes, I have replayed them over an over.  I work with engines and vehicles and am well-aware of the energy in a rotating system.  Having seen the shaft myself I can see it is a substantial lump of engineering that could easily puncture the cabin, flip the car and/or fly into another vehicle.  It doesn't bear thinking about (any more).

[gadgetman]

I'd say that's definitely the culprit

[Pouclee]

Assuming that your dealer is not so shoddy as to put back the prop shaft with only one bolt, is there any locking nut or ring on the one remaining bolt?

Would be worth checking the remaining one to see how tight it is, or if it's secured with locking nut or ring. I wonder whether they forgot to replace the locking nut or ring otherwise I'd be concerned if there could be a general issue with these bolts coming undone.

[Llanigraham]

A very definite possibility!  Get thee down to your local dealership pronto (and slowly).  Perhaps even call out Skoda Assistance or the AA/RAC/GreenFlag (assuming you are a member) and get them to flatbed Yeti to dealer.

 

You ought to consider the cause of the bolts being missing.  It is not unknown for the UJ between the propshaft and Haldex box to fail.

 

Overall though, hope its not too serious.

 

Guy

 

Re the underlined comment.

Is it? I can't think of one reported incidence in the 4 years I've been on here.

[weasley]

Assuming that your dealer is not so shoddy as to put back the prop shaft with only one bolt, is there any locking nut or ring on the one remaining bolt?

Would be worth checking the remaining one to see how tight it is, or if it's secured with locking nut or ring. I wonder whether they forgot to replace the locking nut or ring otherwise I'd be concerned if there could be a general issue with these bolts coming undone.

I'm not touching it! It's tricky to see and access so I can't tell, nor do I know if it should have any locking devices or not.

Edited 12 April, 2015 by weasley

[bahnstormer vrs]

Re the underlined comment.

Is it? I can't think of one reported incidence in the 4 years I've been on here.

I should perhaps clarify Graham that I meant 'suffer excess wear' rather than 'fail'.

It seems to happen with Yeti that are frequently heavily loaded e.g. towing a horse box perhaps and driven over rough, unmade (farm) tracks.

Instances are perhaps rare, hence not popping up on here.

PS> this is, in hindsight, unrelated to weasley's issue.

Guy

[Tomo1971]

I would now be concerned that the missing bolts have caused damage to the internals of the Haldex and/or prop shaft.

Consider asking them for the fitting of new prop and haldex or ensure that they are warrantied against any further failures while you have the car.

[Llanigraham]

I'd better check mine then Guy!

[weasley]

I would now be concerned that the missing bolts have caused damage to the internals of the Haldex and/or prop shaft.

Consider asking them for the fitting of new prop and haldex or ensure that they are warrantied against any further failures while you have the car.

This is what I am thinking. If I just wanted it fixing I would source some bolts and torque them in, maybe with a dab of Loctite . But I want the whole thing looking at, plus I want to see what the dealership say about the situation.

[Yety]

I'd better check mine then Guy!

 

And me, Graham and I do considerable mileage thundering up and down forestry gravel tracks

 

ps, thanks for your help yesterday Graham  , hope you get your bits fixed in time!! 

[weasley]

So, the Yeti has just been loaded onto a flatbed and is en route to the dealer.  They have agreed to sort it out but have offered nothing (yet) by way of apology, explanation or concern.  I spoke to someone clearly of a lower rank who just went through the motions, even asking if I could drop it in (no, it is "dangerously undriveable").  I have had to use my own recovery policy to get it to them (by luck I had taken one out, following the lapse of the Skoda Assist, and also by luck I had gone for a home assist option - the recovery people have been fine - they would normally take it to the nearest appropriate dealer but in this case, since it needed to go to a specific one, they have said they'd do it even though it is further than their normal home assist recovery clause).

 

On the phone the service guy seemed like it was just a case of running two bolts in and test driving it.  I suggested that it will need a good inspection around the area and I would want some assurance these ones will stay in and maybe even an explanation as to why the others came out.  "Yeah, I'll get the guys to look at that".  :wonder:

Edited 13 April, 2015 by weasley

[Llanigraham]

And me, Graham and I do considerable mileage thundering up and down forestry gravel tracks

 

ps, thanks for your help yesterday Graham  , hope you get your bits fixed in time!! 

 

No vibration at all on mine, and to be honest I am slightly doubtful of the claim (not the OP's!) as I cannot remember ever seeing it reported on here.

 

Dentist booked for tomorrow afternoon; hint, do not eat Twix bars if you've got a loose filling!!

[weasley]

So, according to this, the errant bolts are M10x30, 12-point head, part number N 90589703 (item number 3 below); they only appear to be used as a shaft coupling bolt in VAG 4WD models.  I haven't managed to track down the torque values for them yet.  The diagram shows no washer or locking collar arrangement.

 

[Urrell]

Could it be that red or blue loctite should have been used to lock the bolts?

[valep]

I would of thought that they would have least used nylock nuts, or they may have used the old nuts

[Urrell]

I would of thought that they would have least used nylock nuts, or they may have used the old nuts

It looks like the bolts go into the spider that is threaded so no nuts.