Noisy VRS i have just about had it!

[Golf-Fiend]

Can you actually identify which area of the car is coming from? Front/Rear? Left/Right? or is it just a drone all around?

Perhaps you can swap Front/Rear tyres if you suspect the rims for damage. See if the noise source or tone moves.

Just an idea.

[bestyuk]

i have swapped the wheels around and made no difference really. I should really stick another complete set on it to rule out any being out of shape etc. Finding a set may prove difficult though. And perhaps the garage will do this as part of the fault finding but i am not expecting them to give it more than 5 mins to be honest.

[Golf-Fiend]

Tried the tape yet? A lot less hassle than swapping wheels around. As you said, there was little difference in noise when you did do this so perhaps it might be wind noise. When mine developed I had no idea what it was at first and I did not attribute it to the window as I could see no visible fault.

[bestyuk]

no tape yet, this will get done tomorrow after work, as you say, worth a go. Will report back with results!

[icarusi@hotmail]

I am certain its a wheel bearing but what do skoda do to check them, probably jack it up a couple of inches, stick a bar under it and check for play. This doesn't rule out the fact it may be not 100% jsut as there is no movement in it i wouldn't have thought.

Undriven wheels you can usually feel the vibration or roughness of a bad bearing as you spin the jacked-up wheel. Driven wheels are less obvious, due to the drive shafts and CV joints damping vibrations but you can still often feel something un-smooth, but more difficult to identify which it is, bearing, outer CV or inner CV as they all rotate together, and sometimes with the load off they feel ok. I've used a length of dowel against the ear and on the various mechanical parts to isolate where a vibration noise is actually coming from. Obviously take care around moving parts with that.

[Browny_37]

If the noise is constant, irrespective of the road surface, I'd suspect it's more than just the tyres. Mine's fairly noisy on the very coarse top road surfaces but on the finer surfaces it's ok.

I have to agree, i think the boot floor and under the rear bench would benefit from some sound deadening.

[Aspman]

Have you been in another Octy yet? That's probably the first thing to do to identify that your car is different.

It's not the quietest car in the world.

Problem with the wheels, you could try putting the spare on one corner at a time and take it for a run to see if it make a difference at any point. That would identify a problem wheel.

I suppose it's unlikely but not impossible to have more than one problem wheel but you should still notice a difference.

Also if you do that and notice no difference at all then it's probably indicating the problem isn't with wheels or tyres

You've had unusual tyre wear and found a fault there and had that fixed. I think unfortunately you have more than one problem and the tyre wear and noise might not be related.

Whatever you do to try to find the fault remember to only do one thing at a time or you'll never narrow it down.

[wardth]

I had the one dodgy wheel and even when it was on the front nearside I still thought the noise was coming from the back! Nip back to your tyre dealer, get them to mount each wheel on the balancer and spin them up - ignore the tyre wobble if there is any and focus on the rim of the alloy - usually any issue is on the inner rim as its the least supported section of the wheel and therefore more prone to pothole damage etc.

Worth spending the time and maybe £20 to cover it off. Only add soundproofing once you know what the issue is. If it eventually turns out to be a sour wheel bearing then burying your head in the sand trying to mask the noise is not the way to go.

[bestyuk]

*

Edited 18 February, 2010 by bestyuk

[bestyuk]

Just in case this issue does get sorted to my surprise and i also choose to go down the soundproofing route. What has anyone used to sound proof their car? Where did you put it. I would assume just under the boot liner, spare wheel well and under the rear seat. I have seen some stuff on ebay etc but wondered if there was anything i should look out for. General thickness of the material etc. I know dynamat is the most widely known but its also mega expensive for a bit the size of a stamp.

Thanks in advance.

[bestyuk]

Evening all

Just an update on this one. Car went in the garage today. A technician went out for a road test with me and noticed the noise straight away. I left the car with them for the day and its a suspect nsr wheel bearing. This is good as hopefuly the issue will be resolved but slightly annoying as i kinda thought it was this for the past year but had been pushed from pillar to post by skoda.

If the first garage had of actually tested it properly i would probably be a good £600 better off! unbelievable really. At least the technician knew what he was doing this time. Good service today so quite pleased so far. Going back in on 1st march so see what happens. pray to god this is the fix.

Thanks for all the posts and advice.

Will update again on the 1st.

[Sarge]

Thanks for the update. Always good to be able to keep track of such issues. Fingers are crossed for you! I hope my vRS doesn't turn out to be too noisy. The volvo C30 I've sold to get the vRS was so quiet - no doubt helped by the laminated side windows so I don't want to be going from one extreme to the other!

Sarge.

Evening all

Just an update on this one. Car went in the garage today. A technician went out for a road test with me and noticed the noise straight away. I left the car with them for the day and its a suspect nsr wheel bearing. This is good as hopefuly the issue will be resolved but slightly annoying as i kinda thought it was this for the past year but had been pushed from pillar to post by skoda.

If the first garage had of actually tested it properly i would probably be a good £600 better off! unbelievable really. At least the technician knew what he was doing this time. Good service today so quite pleased so far. Going back in on 1st march so see what happens. pray to god this is the fix.

Thanks for all the posts and advice.

Will update again on the 1st.

[bestyuk]

Sarge - No doubt about it the VRS is such a fantastic package for the money, i think you will be well pleased. This is why i was so annoyed. This issue has just spoiled the ownership for me of an all round excellent car, but hopefully will all be sorted soon.

I wouldn't worry about noise, yes it may be slightly noiser but i have a pd and the CR is supposed to be an improvement further still.

[cheezemonkhai]

Just in case this issue does get sorted to my surprise and i also choose to go down the soundproofing route. What has anyone used to sound proof their car? Where did you put it. I would assume just under the boot liner, spare wheel well and under the rear seat. I have seen some stuff on ebay etc but wondered if there was anything i should look out for. General thickness of the material etc. I know dynamat is the most widely known but its also mega expensive for a bit the size of a stamp.

Thanks in advance.

Dynamat extreme roll was my weapon of choice.

I have done the boot floor, the spare wheel well and under the rear bench. This has helped massivly, but if I had the money spare I'd add a whole layer over there and the rear wheel arches.

I'd possibly even pay somebody to do all of the floor area too.

[bestyuk]

All, Just an update on this issue for anyone interested.

Car had a new nsr bearing today and the problem seems to be fixed. Now, this is my next question. Do you think the service i have had from skoda warrants a complaint or should i just not bother.

Early 2009 i visited the dealer to check the wheel bearing as i was experiencing a loud drone from the rear of the car. They said its worn tyres and alignment (Full geo done around £100) To stop tyre wear.

Noise Still not fixed, sent to another dealer for road test etc, wheel bearings ok apparently, its your tyres. This was June 2009.

Finally had enough a few weeks ago so car shed with new set of tyres nearly £400, old ones still fine but wanted to eliminate the possiblity. Taken to dealers again to be told its a bearing.

Today had work done and car seems fine. So its ruined the ownership of the car for over a year and cost me about £500.

The guy says that a bearing if it was the issue in june 2009 would have collapsed in 12000 miles of use. This i understand but there is no getting away from the fact that a new bearing is exactly what has fixed the issue.

i just wanted to see what the general idea was on here before getting all the evidence and receipts etc together and writing to skoda UK.

Perhaps i am just over reacting but if the dealership can't get it right then you don't stand a chance.

Thanks again

[wardth]

Very good to hear you've got this resolved. I would still get the wheels checked for the hell of it :-)

A bearing can be noisy without being "faulty" in the true sense of the word - ie it would not collapse or seize in 12000 miles. I would write a strongly wored letter to Skoda CS requesting that a contribution be made to the numerous tyres, fuel and time you've expended getting this resolved.

Nothing ventured,,,,,,,,

[Sarge]

Very good to hear you've got this resolved. I would still get the wheels checked for the hell of it :-)

A bearing can be noisy without being "faulty" in the true sense of the word - ie it would not collapse or seize in 12000 miles. I would write a strongly wored letter to Skoda CS requesting that a contribution be made to the numerous tyres, fuel and time you've expended getting this resolved.

Nothing ventured,,,,,,,,

Yes, good to see the problem resolved. My brother had a drone from his Octy. a while back but I think the problem he had was fixed by changing the tyres. As above, no harm in contacting Skoda over it. I think they should be making some cort of contribution. Soon after I got the volvo C30 I became aware of noises from the front suspension. I took it to the dealer and they said it was fine. Not being in a position to argue I acceoted it although i didn't see how it could be normal. Then, I read a thread ona forum like this about the very problem I had. So, prior to the last service I mentioned it to them again. They said they thought it could be this or that and would order some parts. After the service, car was not fixed because they needed to see what parts it needed! This necessiatted a further special visit to the dealer to have parts fitted. Turns out that what they did was replace some strut bearings which were a known problem. Noise sorted. Luckily this was all just within warranty. But why wasn't the cause identified and dealt with about 2 years ago when I first asked them about it? It was a bad experience too far which is part of the reason I've now got a vRS on order

Sarge

[Vectensian]

As a bit of an old timer - can I make a rather bizarre suggestion? It's a bit back to basics with an problem like this that doesn't seem to have an answer. Try this one. Park the car on the flat, front wheels ahead. Get an accurate means of measuring. Measure the distance between the centre (hub) of the front and rear wheel on one side of the car and then do the same on the other side.

The measurements should be the same. I realise that this is very basic stuff, but often that's the way to go, there may well be a fundamental geometry problem on this car. This isn't an off the cuff suggestion - many years ago Ford had a very similar problem with the Sierra and it took a Police Traffic motorcyclist from Alton in Hampshire to work it out. The problem revolved around an assembly line issue.

[bestyuk]

Thinking about this issue, all the hassle it has caused and not to mention actual cost of tyres and allignment etc. I am rather upset with the fault being ignored by skoda twice. This entire issue has been fixed within a day yet i have put up with a horrible car (due to this issue) for over a year.

After noting down garage visits silly diagnosis from dealerships and the cost to myself, i was more than happy to call skoda uk this morning and log the entire complaint. Will post my outcone if there ever is one. Never dealt with there complaints team before so will see what happens.

Thanks

[Golf-Fiend]

As a bit of an old timer - can I make a rather bizarre suggestion? It's a bit back to basics with an problem like this that doesn't seem to have an answer. Try this one. Park the car on the flat, front wheels ahead. Get an accurate means of measuring. Measure the distance between the centre (hub) of the front and rear wheel on one side of the car and then do the same on the other side.

The measurements should be the same. I realise that this is very basic stuff, but often that's the way to go, there may well be a fundamental geometry problem on this car. This isn't an off the cuff suggestion - many years ago Ford had a very similar problem with the Sierra and it took a Police Traffic motorcyclist from Alton in Hampshire to work it out. The problem revolved around an assembly line issue.

NOTE: Don't try this with an old Renault 16. It will leave you scratching your head for a good while after (unless you know why )

[bestyuk]

Hi all,

Thought i would update on this. If you haven't followed this post befoe then it may be worth a read.

This is the response from skoda masking the fact they failed to spot the faulty bearing for the past year and it was obviously tyre noise although a bearing fixed it would you believe.

"After discussions with our technical support team, I am sorry to tell you that we will not be offering a contribution towards

the costs mentioned by you.

This is due to the fact that at the time of initial investigation into the noise coming from your vehicle, the tyres were

exhibiting signs of unusual tyre wear. The technicians at Sherlodge Garages could only attribute the noise to the tyre wear

which is why a geometry test was suggested.

Had the vehicle gone into Sherlodge with fresh tyres, there is a possibility that any issue with the bearings could have been

diagnosed, however, there is no evidence to show that at that time there was any issues with the bearings.

I have also been advised by technical support that were there an issue with your wheel bearings that caused such a level of

noise to be apparant, the part themselevs would not have lasted until the date they were actually found to be worn at Motorline

Skoda

I appreciate this was not the response you may have expected, but I hope the reasons for my decision can be understood."