Our Fabia II is now 2 years old, lowish mileage, but has just developed an annoying deepish rattle from the front suspension. Most of our driving is on winter-potholed suburban roads, so the noise is almost continuous; as soon as we see a road irregularity - forget humps, they are certain - we swerve or slow right down!!! I've searched and found one or two postings here and can say it's not related to turning, though of course it may be to lowish temperatures, as I see it's suggested. It disappears on motorways at speed. We had something very similar on our old Mark I, and that was cured (for a time) with new bushes somewhere (why are dealers always either scared to be specific or just plain uncommunicative). Anyway, it's going in tomorrow for a new steering rack under warranty (they tell me this will cure it). Question is, is this a bigger problem than the one or two similar occurences I've managed to find searching the forum? And... is it likely to keep recurring, so that I find I've got an expensive problem once the warranty expires?

Our Fabia II is now 2 years old, lowish mileage, but has just developed an annoying deepish rattle from the front suspension. Most of our driving is on winter-potholed suburban roads, so the noise is almost continuous; as soon as we see a road irregularity - forget humps, they are certain - we swerve or slow right down!!! I've searched and found one or two postings here and can say it's not related to turning, though of course it may be to lowish temperatures, as I see it's suggested. It disappears on motorways at speed. We had something very similar on our old Mark I, and that was cured (for a time) with new bushes somewhere (why are dealers always either scared to be specific or just plain uncommunicative). Anyway, it's going in tomorrow for a new steering rack under warranty (they tell me this will cure it). Question is, is this a bigger problem than the one or two similar occurences I've managed to find searching the forum? And... is it likely to keep recurring, so that I find I've got an expensive problem once the warranty expires?

Oh well, perhaps i've asked a dumb question, or perhaps no-one's heard of such a problem...

Think that the Fabia suspension can be prone to noises. Mine has seemed to have a slight knock ever since i got it but I got some rubber lubricant spray and sprayed the bushes and the rubber engine mount and dog bone mount and it made a large difference, though its still in the background occassionally its not too distracting now. Although there are acknowleged problems with the steering rack on some new Fabia's I'm not sure if that is your problem. It sounds more like console bushes or drop links. The drop links on my Mk1 made a similar sort of noise which seemed to happen on anything other than completely smooth roads or at motorway speeds.

Think that the Fabia suspension can be prone to noises. Mine has seemed to have a slight knock ever since i got it but I got some rubber lubricant spray and sprayed the bushes and the rubber engine mount and dog bone mount and it made a large difference, though its still in the background occassionally its not too distracting now. Although there are acknowleged problems with the steering rack on some new Fabia's I'm not sure if that is your problem. It sounds more like console bushes or drop links. The drop links on my Mk1 made a similar sort of noise which seemed to happen on anything other than completely smooth roads or at motorway speeds.

Although there are acknowleged problems with the steering rack on some new Fabia's

What is that problem?

I'm sure I read it on the Roomster forum a while ago the only thread I can find it mentioned on is this:

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/115182-steering/page__p__1486254__hl__steering__fromsearch__1entry1486254

Though it doesn't fully explain what the issue is.

Wow, just like us. Why are main dealers so coy to be really specific about this and identify the real problem. Our 2yrs 11months Fabia estate is doing the same; just to say, we had the same problem with our series I estate, with 2 replaced 'bushes', at least twice, on what linkage I'd struggle to say. About 18 months ago, under warranty, we had the same job done on the new one, and now, coming up to 3 yrs, we've got it again.

PLEASE do not buy a Fabia without considering how often you have to do this. OR can someone tell me what is wrong with our driving style? Of course we slow down for humps; we're more cautious than most since we know of the problem. Can someone give an authoritative answer on this?

(or maybe I'll find one further down here?) Just how rare is it, and why aren't hundreds of owners complaining?

Added 10 mins later... Have just looked at the records; on 24.3.10 we had a new steering rack fiitted. Have just gone to car and front tyres, inside edges, are both worn through the wire laminate and into what remains of solid rubber! Have just driven from SE london to Falmouth and back yesterday, and horrified.

Workmanship or design? I'd love to know as otherwise can't fault my load carrying capacity or 55mpg runs!

Edited 2 April, 201115 yr by Fab 1

Fabia II no longer has console bushes, so depends on age if you have them or not, they don't often cause knocking anyhow.

I've personally not heard of any steering rack issues as yet but I'll have a look.

Fabia II no longer has console bushes, so depends on age if you have them or not, they don't often cause knocking anyhow.

I've personally not heard of any steering rack issues as yet but I'll have a look.

hi, well we've had the knocking twice on each of two cars in the last 4 years, and as others report, on any surface other than a dead smooth motorway. Not too sure what our 'console bushes' are, perhaps that's why the garage balked at explaining. Anyway, not sure when the car was made but first reg in April 2008.

thanks

I've encountered this same knocking noise on 3 different Fabia's. ...a 2006 Vrs, a 2007 Vrs and a 2008 1.9 TDI hatchback. The noise came from the front nearside suspension and was only apparent when driving over level crossings , cobbled road surfaces and road repairs that affected both front wheels at the same moment in time.

The noise was definately more frequent in cold weather.

None of the Skoda dealers I reported it to had any clue as to what the problem was and most would not admit there was a problem.

Just recently my 2008 TDI Fabia has developed the same kncking noise as I let out the clutch in first gear to take off. This is definately related to the engine juddering from clutch judder....so my suspicion now is that the knocking noise may well be related to the Dog Bone engine mount . This engine mount has been under suspicion in the anals of Briskoda for some years now. Apparently the rubberized mountings are insufficient to prevent metal to metal contact between the load bearing surfacesof the bearer.

Edited 14 November, 201114 yr by Dieseline

I've encountered this same knocking noise on 3 different Fabia's. ...a 2006 Vrs, a 2007 Vrs and a 2008 1.9 TDI hatchback. The noise came from the front nearside suspension and was only apparent when driving over level crossings , cobbled road surfaces and road repairs that affected both front wheels at the same moment in time.

The noise was definately more frequent in cold weather.

None of the Skoda dealers I reported it to had any clue as to what the problem was and most would not admit there was a problem.

Just recently my 2008 TDI Fabia has developed the same kncking noise as I let out the clutch in first gear to take off. This is definately related to the engine juddering from clutch judder....so my suspicion now is that the knocking noise may well be related to the Dog Bone engine mount . This engine mount has been under suspicion in the anals of Briskoda for some years now. Apparently the rubberized mountings are insufficient to prevent metal to metal contact between the load bearing surfacesof the bearer.

HI,

I am new member of this site, however I have been an owner of a fabia mk2 1.2 htp (2009 model) for the past two years. I have been occasionally experiencing the same knocking noise mentioned by Dieseline for the past two years. The noise can only be heard when the steering is being turned almost to full lock (either left or right) and only when going on rough surfaces such as cobbled roads or rough surfaced roads. Astonishingly the noise cannot be heard when going over speed bumps or large potholes, even if at a relatively high speed. Also, the noise seems to diminish substantially if the car has more than one passenger. As explained by Dieseline, the noise can also be heard occasionally when the clutch is released abruptly causing the engine to judder.

I have explained these problems to my dealer, went for several test drives but never managed to replicate this sound. This the most frustrating fact about this noise; it is intermittent and can only be reproduced on a very specific type of uneven road surface...

Other than that the car rides in a very solid and reassuring manner... and riding comfortably on Maltese battered roads is no easy task lol.