Hi guys

new to this forum, first of all big hello to you all!

My octavia 4x4 1.8T has suddenly started violently vibrating,

basically dropped off at an airport carpark for a few days and got them to valet the car whilst it was there! any way , when i go to pick it up 2 days later, i get down the road and start feeling vibrations!, and this vibration

gets alot worse over 30mph and is undrivable as the whole car is shaking its self to bits!! , it vibrates the whole car wether I accellerate (gets worse) brake, or just coast it.

never happened on the way to the airport ,

RAC came out to us , and jacked each corner up one by one and all four wheels wouldnt turn individually even when really trying to turn them!! , car roles fine on the flat. brakes are not stuck on etc....

any ideas??

oh! at least they did a good job of valeting the thing!! just broke my car in the process!!!!!!!!

Buckled wheel?? Try swapping each wheel with the spare and see if it goes away

there have been lots of horror stories about cars left with airport valet parking. They may have been racing in it?

there have been lots of horror stories about cars left with airport valet parking. They may have been racing in it?

My thoughts too but didn't want to worry Marcie too much, thought I'd say my first guess of a buckled wheel first incase they curbed one.

personally I would never leave my car with someone for a day.

should have taken a photo of the mileage, could have shown if they had been driving it around.

Its not dirt on inside of wheels behind spokes is it, dirt build up can cause all sorts of problems

Its not dirt on inside of wheels behind spokes is it, dirt build up can cause all sorts of problems

are you serious!?

I never heard of that and I'm 45.

He said his car is almost shaking itself to bits

hi guys,

the vibration is extremmely bad, undrivable , deffinatly not buckled wheels by the feel of it, feels like each wheel is trying to drive at different speeds and away from each other!!

seriously shaking the car to peices!

hi guys,

the vibration is extremmely bad, undrivable , deffinatly not buckled wheels by the feel of it, feels like each wheel is trying to drive at different speeds and away from each other!!

seriously shaking the car to peices!

Sounds like something happened when the car was out of your care. Maybe we're jumping to conclusions and it is a coincidence, but something major has happened to the car.

If it was okay when you drove in, but not when you drove out, then I think you have the answer. Is it the kind of place that would have CCTV?

Your description of the wheels not moving when jacked up sounds like the Haldex has locked solid and it is stuck in 4 wheel drive. With no centre diff and the way the rear connects into the gearbox anything other than dead straight ahead means front and back wheels trying to go at different speeds hence lots of judder as the tyres try and skid to cope with it. Even straight ahead any difference in tyre diameter could make it judder.

Your description of the wheels not moving when jacked up sounds like the Haldex has locked solid and it is stuck in 4 wheel drive. With no centre diff and the way the rear connects into the gearbox anything other than dead straight ahead means front and back wheels trying to go at different speeds hence lots of judder as the tyres try and skid to cope with it. Even straight ahead any difference in tyre diameter could make it judder.

I wondered if someone had been a bit overenthusiastic with the car and perhaps done something to the Haldex? How tough is it? It would be a shame if it was down to abuse, rather than just a coincidence.

I though the Haldex was quite tough but the gearbox on the other hand - no so tough. Mine is in being replaced at the moment after a pothole encounter, felt like the car was pulsing along the road almost like i was rapidly on and off the throttle, lasted no more than ten miles before hearing noises ant the gearbox ate the final drive and punched a piece of metal through the casing. Happy days :-(

to be honest , i had my suspiciens that the haldex had been damaged! hopefully i will find out tomorrow what the whole story is

correct me if i am wrong but if it is a case of broken haldex, then the controller will have stored a time stamp and code etc... of when it occured! if i am lucky!!

are you serious!?

I never heard of that and I'm 45.

He said his car is almost shaking itself to bits

Yeah am serious, had it happen more than once especially on 4x4's with big wheels can knock wheel balance out quiet easy

not sure about a code on the haldex but I thought it was electronically controlled transfer of power using a wet system so you should be able to pull a fuse or apply the hand brake on 1 notch and it should disengage, (someone far more knowledgable than I will be along to confirm or shoot me down in flames :D ) My problem was focused at the front of the car.

Yeah am serious, had it happen more than once especially on 4x4's with big wheels can knock wheel balance out quiet easy

Had this after the heavy snow, i was panicing like mad thinking something serious was up, Kicked the wheels abit and poked around abit looking for something loose and knocked some ice off and it was fine lol

Had this after the heavy snow, i was panicing like mad thinking something serious was up, Kicked the wheels abit and poked around abit looking for something loose and knocked some ice off and it was fine lol

tempted to say...

yeah I had this too, went to pull off the drive in the snow, heard some terrible crunching under the wheels, got out fast to see if it was the cat's head.....saw it was snow & thought "phew!"

ok I take my slightly sarcy comment back....when I read "dirt behind the wheels", I thought "dirt behind the wheels" on an Octavia. Not clumps of mud on a 4x4

All depends what wheels your running, ones with large spokes can build dirt up behind the spokes and can be missed when washed or if the wheel is not cleaned properly.

Volvo's use the haldex and they use a multi clutch system to transfer drive to the rear wheels, if it fails you usually loose drive to rear wheels as it carnt build up enough oil pressure to force clutch plates together, if the cars jacked up at each corner each wheel should spin free as long as theres on limited slip diffs in system then they might not,