guineapig

If you want an opinion on changing the lights to white - try driving a Reault Laguna for 3 years- white and red looks really good....until you try to ignore it. Personally, I found the white light distracting to the point where I was dimming the dash lights just so I could drive in the dark. Green is easiest on the eye and therefore less distracting.

Colder air is denser, therefore more air is inducted into the cylinder. The same effect occurs with a turbo / intercooler setup when the ambient temperature is higher. one of the reasons that it's noticed more on turbo aspirated cars is that denser air is fed into the turbo and then cooled down even further in the intercooler before being inducted int the combustion chamber.

I'm hoping that they won't seize - keeping an ear open all the time for a change in the noise and I can feel them getting rougher and rougher, so hopefully I'll get a good indication of impending doom. Problem is, I reported a problem 2 weeks after getting the car and now 3 months later the problem has only been diagnosed with me prompting Skoda with a complaint.So, plenty of comeback there if anything does go wrong. Plus, I'm apparently getting an ECU software update for the 1.9Tdi to get rid of a terrible flat spot / hesitation problem around 2000 rpm.

Skoda are definitley having stock problems at the minute - I'm in need of 2 front wheel bearings and I was told last week that there is a 2 week wait for them. It wouldn't be too bad if the car was just a run around, but I do about 700 miles a week and due to the noise, my hearing is suffering badly.

Took my 1.9Tdi Octavia II in for another matter last week and mentioned that it was having the problem mentioned above. Apparently Skoda are sending the dealer a disk with an ECU software update on that should hopefully get rid of it. I'll post on here again when it gets sorted.

It would be good to know as I also get this at around 1,900 rpm and with it being a 1.9 TDi the engine is producing max torque at the point in time. - I've been told by a service technician that it was because the throttle is 'drive by wire', but as my old Laguna was essentially the same mechanism and it was one of the only things that worked on the car, I find it hard to believe. guineapig

Car went in today for the 'Brake Clean' ... and the result? Well, the noise seems to have been coming from the metal guard behind the brake disc - a quick tap of it produced a sound at the same frequency as the howl. One quick 'bend' of it later and hey - most of the noise has gone. Not sure if it's completely cured, but it sounds a lot better now (and I can hear the noise of the blower on setting '1') cheers, guineapig

Was the sound a definite rattle or more of a grinding sound? I only ask as I'm trying to source a noise on my Octavia. cheers, guineapig

Well, took the car in today but they couldn't 'hear anything untoward'. By that, I think they mean that the noise is normal. I did keep getting told that the cars to transmit a lot of road noise into the cabin, but the conversation dried up when I mentioned that can tell the difference between road noise and this particular noise. Anyway, one result came out - they can to a complete brake clean...not under warranty though....at a cost of £58. I'm still undecided on this one...the noise hasn't really got any worse over 2000 miles - it's just changed from a growly rough noise through to a low moan / howl now. One thing to note is that it takes about 15 / 20 minutes of driving to get it up to full song - annoying as it wasn't really apparent at the dealer and on the test drive, but by the time I got home it was there again. Does this suggest brake discs heating up and rubbing on the pads? Anyone reckon it's worth going to the brake cleaning? guineapig

Hmm, just driven the car back from the station after it has been sitting there for 2 days. Noise is still there, but there is more of a 'brake rubbing' / hum / howl noise. Also, the car feels like it's being driven with the handbrake on. So, just as an experiment (and as there are lots of nice straight very quiet country lanes where I live), I got up to about 50mph in 4th and did a bit of left foot braking (whilst keeping the power on). After i took my foot off the brake the car really struggled to get back up to speed - and this was with the revs at 1,900 (max tourque). tried this again in 3rd and also then in 5th. I also tried 4th and 3rd again but this time with higher revs. Same thing every time - car really struggled to get going again. does this sound like the brakes binding? It would explain the sound (resonant moo-ing) and also the fact I can sometimes feel it through the steering wheel...... Just a thought before I take it in tomorrow. guineapig P.S. a quick tap of the brake disks with the blunt end of a screwdriver and.....roughly same frequency as the noise......

Turning doesn't make any difference apart from a fairly sharp right hand turn at speed (eg. 50 mph) and that seems to flag up a sound coming from the nearside rear wheel. The bulk of the noise though is coming from the offside front (when sitting in the drivers seat), but when sitting in the passenger seat, the sound starts coming from the rear. I've only managed to sit in the back once and the sound was definitely coming from the nearside rear then. Could the sound be thrown around inside the car so much? I seem to remember once just after getting the car I had a mobile phone ring which was in the boot and the sound appeared to be coming from the offside front. I'll post how the car gets on when it goes in on Thursday - it'll have been sitting for 2 days without being driven (the longest it hasn;t moved since it was bought), so hopefully if it is a bearing it should have had time to get rougher. guineapig

To be honest, I'm not bothered if I have to pay for something doing or not - the noise has gotten so annoying now that I would happily pay for someone to make it stop. It's booked into the final dealer next week, so hopefully somehting will come of it. guineapig

I'm going to try a third and final dealer today to see if they can sort the problem out and if I don't get any joy there, I'm going to complain direct to Skoda.

I've had it checked for wheel bearing problems three times now and each time I get told that there's nothing wrong with it. It does get worse under braking - much louder. I could always try a dfferent dealer. guineapig

My Octavia 2 (1.9 Tdi 06 reg) has had a strange noise coming from the offside front wheel since I bought it. The bearing on that wheel was changed after about 3 weeks, but the noise has gradually got louder since then and I'm suspecting now that it's the brakes as it seems it gets louder when I'm braking. The most accurate description of the sound I can give is that it sounds like the noise you get when sitting on a plane and it's starting to take off - a kind of rough, resonant howling sound (although not quite as loud yet). The sound also changes with the road surface - I know it's not the road noise as I can hear that under it. On the smoothest tarmac it's still there but nowhere near as bad. Has anyone come across this before? I'm sure it's got to be connected the the braking system as even a light tap of the brake pedal makes it louder. Does anyone have any ideas on how to cure it or could a dealer sort it out? Sorry to go on, but I really need help with this as it's starting to make my ears ring quite badly after a long journey (there is only so far you can turn the stereo up to mask the sound). cheers in advance, guineapig.

My tyre pressures were stupidly high on my car when I got it, even though the dealer knew I'd be the only one in the car most of the time. I should have checked them the day after collection, but waited for 3 weeks and they were still sky high.....so that was that sorted. Still can't figure out why I've had one wheel bearing replaced after 700 miles and another one is on its way out after 3000....:confused:

The problem with the Dunlops is the noise - it's got a bit better after 3000 miles, but they seem to react badly to 'rough' tarmac - not badly maintained road, but where the stone chips are quite large and have fairly large gaps between them - I can feel the tyres struggling with the surface as if each of the types of tread on the tyre (different at each side of the tyre if that makes sense?) is wanting to move in a different direction and creating a sort of wierd humming noise. As I said before, they've got quieter and with the mileage I do, they'll have another 1000 on in a couple of weeks so maybe they'll soften up a bit more. I think it might be all down to the tread pattern as I've always been used to Continentals with the same tread pattern across the whole tyre. (if any of that makes sense) guineapig

I've got Dunlop Sport SP01s on my 1.9 Octavia (it came with them) and I can safely say that they are pants! Admittedly they've got better after 3000 miles, but when time comes to change, I think its going to have to be Continentals or Goodyear as I've had these on other cars before and they were great. guineapig

***Update*** Ok, got the wheel alignment checked and it was spot on. Re-checked the tyres and found that they were down a bit (to add to that when the car was collected at the dealer i think they'd put enough air in for the 195/65 tyres as opposed to the 205's which I have and need less pressure) and still the noise persisted. On way back home on a 150 mile journey last night, the howling started to become more prominent, so this morning took it into a dealer and... Yes!!! It's not my imagination, there is a noise there and it is noticeable, but it's not loud enough to pinpoint where it's coming from and what could be causing it. I can understand that as the acoustics in the new Octavia are a bit strange - I had my bag on the back seat (pasenger side) last night and an alarm went off on my PDA. Instead of hearing the sound from the back, it sounded like it was coming from just infront of me to the right. So in theory, the howling sound could be coming from anywhere at the minute. Just got to pile the miles on and wait for it to get louder. Cheers for all the replies. I'll keep it updated when more happens. guineapig

Well, I've reduced the tyre pressure in the fron to 30 psi & 28psi at the rear and (touch as much wood as possible) the noise levels have been reduced (albeit slightly). There's still a rough broken howling noise coming from the off side front, but judging by the way the rear tyres are warm only on 2/3rds of the surface and the front tyres are starting to get a bit feathered on the outside edges, would I be correct in thinking that the wheel alignment is out?

D'oh! I don't think my dealer did anything like that...and as the car only had 400 miles on the clock when the fault was discovered, I wonder if it's worth me getting the alignment done just to check....

Did you have the tracking re-aligned? I only ask as this is my last port of call before I start complaining to Skoda customer services as my wifes 13 year old Polo is infinately quieter than my Octavia.

Hello, I picked up my new Octavia Ambiente 1.9 TDI 2 weeks ago and within the first couple of days noticed a lot of tyre noise - a constant scraping / grinding sound changing to a broken howling noise at higher speeds (not changing with the road noise). My dealer replaced the of side front wheel bearing, which quietened it down somewhat, but didn't cure it completely. I took it back to them, but they couldn't find anything wrong with the car. I'm now left thinking that it could be either the tyres (Dunlop Sport SP 01s) or is it possible for a new car to need the tracking and wheel alignment sorting out as it's the only thing left that I can think of. Can anyone help with this one as it's starting to really annoy me (not to mention deafen me on A roads) Thanks, guineapig