My 2005 Octavia TDI DSG has recently developed a curious howling noise. It is road speed related and starts at 25mph, disappears at 35 mph comes in again at 50mph and is very loud by 60mph, not so bad at 70mph!

I took it to my Skoda dealer who said wheel bearings and transmission etc all ok and that it is probably due to slight 'feathering' on the rear tyres. These are Firestones fitted 18,000 motorway miles ago and still have 6mm tread depth! He recomended a suspension alignment check. I have had the car from new, always serviced by Skoda and now done 60,000miles, most of it on the motorway and am still on my original brake pads! Is this a common problem and should I have to pay £140 for the alignment check and then another set of tyres? This has dented my faith in the brand.

why have you lost faith, you say you've done 60k with the car. Car with milage will start to develop niggles its called wear and tear, Not every car will stay perfect like first time you got in it.

sorry to sound harsh but you came here to tell us you dont think skoda great cos after 60k on a 4-5 year car it has developed a fault

My 2005 Octavia TDI DSG has recently developed a curious howling noise. It is road speed related and starts at 25mph, disappears at 35 mph comes in again at 50mph and is very loud by 60mph, not so bad at 70mph!

I took it to my Skoda dealer who said wheel bearings and transmission etc all ok and that it is probably due to slight 'feathering' on the rear tyres. These are Firestones fitted 18,000 motorway miles ago and still have 6mm tread depth! He recomended a suspension alignment check. I have had the car from new, always serviced by Skoda and now done 60,000miles, most of it on the motorway and am still on my original brake pads! Is this a common problem and should I have to pay £140 for the alignment check and then another set of tyres? This has dented my faith in the brand.

I seem to recall my brother having a similar issue and, IIRC new tyres cured it.

Sarge

Snap !

We have a 2007 Octavia 1.9tdi Elegance (since Christmas) and I had noticed a similar whirring/knocking noise (it does my head in!!) To me it is there all of the time but especially audible at 20-30mph (through housing estate on a right sweeping bend) or else at 60-70mph (on motorway, both on tarmac).

I thought that the drop links were starting to wear and left it back to dealer as the car is under 6 month SH warranty.

In the meantime I had replaced 2 of the Bridgestone Potenza tyres on the car and moved the new ones to the front (ruled out tyre noise imo). The tyre people confirmed the noise also but not the source!

However the dealer had it for 2 days and when I eventually got them to hear the noise (after Day 1!) they put it down to tyre noise!! They said that they had checked the links and bearings and all fine.

Anyway I'm expecting it to get worse soon, if it's the links and hopefully before warranty expires.

J.

Edited 11 March, 201016 yr by jeffc

From your description it could indeed be the tyres. I don't particularly rate Firestone as a brand.

£140 for an alignment is rediculous. I can get a full four-wheel check done (on Jim Beam laser aligner) for £25 and a maximum extra £30 if adjustments are needed.

You might want to try swapping tyres front-to-back to see if it makes any difference?

Anyway I'm expecting it to get worse soon, if it's the links and hopefully before warranty expires.

J.

Worn links will not make a whirring noise - trust me on that one!

I had some odd noises with a previous car, and it was indeed down to tyres.

From your description it could indeed be the tyres. I don't particularly rate Firestone as a brand.

£140 for an alignment is rediculous. I can get a full four-wheel check done (on Jim Beam laser aligner) for £25 and a maximum extra £30 if adjustments are needed.

You might want to try swapping tyres front-to-back to see if it makes any difference?

I wouldnt trust any wheel alignment system that was on the pi*s

why have you lost faith, you say you've done 60k with the car. Car with milage will start to develop niggles its called wear and tear, Not every car will stay perfect like first time you got in it.

sorry to sound harsh but you came here to tell us you dont think skoda great cos after 60k on a 4-5 year car it has developed a fault

Yes, I know no car stays perfect but my previous cars (VW) have all did 100,000k without any problems....

From your description it could indeed be the tyres. I don't particularly rate Firestone as a brand.

£140 for an alignment is rediculous. I can get a full four-wheel check done (on Jim Beam laser aligner) for £25 and a maximum extra £30 if adjustments are needed.

You might want to try swapping tyres front-to-back to see if it makes any difference?

Hi, and thanks info. £140 was what my local Skoda agent quoted for laser alignment. Must admit, I thought it was a bit steep! I will try swapping wheels first.

Snap !

We have a 2007 Octavia 1.9tdi Elegance (since Christmas) and I had noticed a similar whirring/knocking noise (it does my head in!!) To me it is there all of the time but especially audible at 20-30mph (through housing estate on a right sweeping bend) or else at 60-70mph (on motorway, both on tarmac).

I thought that the drop links were starting to wear and left it back to dealer as the car is under 6 month SH warranty.

In the meantime I had replaced 2 of the Bridgestone Potenza tyres on the car and moved the new ones to the front (ruled out tyre noise imo). The tyre people confirmed the noise also but not the source!

However the dealer had it for 2 days and when I eventually got them to hear the noise (after Day 1!) they put it down to tyre noise!! They said that they had checked the links and bearings and all fine.

Anyway I'm expecting it to get worse soon, if it's the links and hopefully before warranty expires.

J.

....I don't think it could be the links, agent said mine were ok and would not have caused a whine.