I noticed a few creaking sounds from the front of my 2003 octy vRS estate last week. Searched forum and found plenty of advice on the front arb bushes. Makes sense, will get it sorted next weekend I have free.

However, I also have a LOT of noise coming form the back of the car when low speed manouvering or driving over speed bumps. Creaking and groaning basically (no knocking nises as yet).

Has anyone else had this issue or be able to suggest what it migth be?

Cheers,

iep

Creaking and groaning basically (no knocking nises as yet).

Unhelpful answer: let the wife out of the boot :P

As your car is an estate, is the boot closing nicely?

i got same trouble mate.

sounds like the body is flexing.

goin over humps one wheel at a time is when it does it for me. it comes from the doors and the i think the back seats.

i would like to know the answer to this too as i am persumin its normal. lol

good result for Jenson!!!!!!!!!!!

billy

Indeed, Jenson has done well, although not the victory I guess he wanted.

Meanwhile, wife is not in boot and I think the boot is closing okay. I guess I can try tightening the catch up a bit just to eliminate it though.

However, claytarget has offered a nice description of the issue. It does seem to be worse when one wheel goes over a speed bump than when both wheel **** and bump. Is there an arb on the back?

iep

dont think so mate.

So, I have tightened the boot catch so the boot door is definitely not moving, cleaned out the spare wheel well of all the rubbish that I keep in there and had a look at the general condition of the visible moving parts of the rear suspension.

It all looks fine. However, I still get all this low speed creaking from the back of the car and it's getting worse. Since I live in town I spend a lot of time driving slowly over uneven road surfaces (speed bumps and cobbles) and the noise is doing my head in.

Has anyone else experienced/solved this issue?

Am I right in thinking the octy mk1 has a fairly primitive trailing arm system and so the only bushes are the top mounts themselves and the trailing arm bushes?

iep

Could it be from the load cover or where it sits in the plastic trim at the side?

Have you driven with load cover in/out, seats up/down? just to rule out any possibilities?

Can't say i notice any noise in mine over speed bumps etc. but maybe i just dont notice as i've had the car for 6 years now and dont have a comparison?

I'll get the load cover out this evening and see if that helps. I haven't tried it so far as it seems very solid, but it's worth a shot. Return journey, I'll drop the seats too and see what I can learn.

I also noticed that there is something called a stabiliser bar (check on vag-cat) that runs along the width of the rear suspension beam. It looks to me like a very basic form of arb and does have small rubber bushes that sit at each end. I'll take a look at the condition of those too.

The guy who owned it before me was fastidious about jet washing the chassis to get salt off but I think he has left all the bushes very dry as well. It also damaged the top mount bearings on the front. Pressure washers beware!

Cheers,

iep

I queried this with my mechanic, he said not to worry, its to do with the way the rear brakes work....on mine I notice it most when the handbrake is on and i'm getting out - a horrible noise but safe and that the main thing......hope this helps?

oh yes. With my hand brake on (gently, not lanked on by a weight lifting monkey) if I rock the car from side to side then mine creaks. I think rocking up and down on the towbar has the same affect too. Although I have never had this when the car has been in motion.

Both Maranman and I have 2001 TDi Elegances... maybe something common there, although iep is a bit newer and not a diesel.....

Thanks for the post but I don't get this issue with the handbrake on. It's only when low speed maneuvering or going over very uneven surfaces with the handbrake off.

On a positive though, this car has an awesome handbrake. My old golf's hand brake was poor, really struggled to lock the back wheels up even on wet cobbles.

I took the privacy shelf thing out last night and it might have seemed a bit better but there were still some proper groans and creaks coming form the chassis. Not the end of the world I know but does spoil the experience of driving the car a little.

For now, I've just turned the stereo up but I'm not allowed to do that when her indoors is in the car.

iep

Old post brought back to life! ! Mine is doing this and it's getting worse, small low speed movements like going up my drive which is sloped, one wheel at a time as stated before and defo coming from back seat area to me it seems like the body is flexing. Any ideas how to stop this or improve it? Thanks.

The only noise I get from the rear is the rear seats knocking sometimes, when the body twists. Have any of you tried replacing the rear beam bushes to cure this? As it's the only thing I can really think of....

I was thinking rear beam bushes too, but if they're rubber bushes, I'd try putting a few drops of brake fluid (used is fine; a local garage will probably supply for free or a beer token if you explain why you want it) on the bushes rather than replacing them.

It's not Ross Kemp, is it?