Irritating "knocking" sound from front passenger door

[Glen Mansbridge]

From soon after I got my Superb estate, I was aware of a knocking sound coming from the nearside of the car.  It could be heard especially at low speeds (up to about 40 mph) if the left side of the car was at an angle compared with the right side, such as going over a speed bump on one side of the car only or going over road imperfections on the nearside.  The first visit to a dealer was a waste of time, but a different dealer admitted they could also hear the noise and thought the doors and boot may need adjusting.  This they did, but the noise persisted.  I returned to the dealer some time later and took the technician out for a drive.  This time, they removed and refitted the door card from the front passenger door.  Success!  Noise gone, very happy Skoda driver.  This was about 6 months ago.  Now the noise is back with a vengeance!  This fault will not be covered by warranty but would happily pay the garage I could be certain they had found the cause and cured it once and for all.

 

So, first of all, has anyone else experienced this problem?  Secondly, how easy is it to remove the door card?  I'm quite happy (with the help of a friend) to attempt to at least track down the source of the noise.  Oh, and the rear offside area of the car is starting to do the same.

 

Thanks

 

Glen

[Superb170]

From soon after I got my Superb estate, I was aware of a knocking sound coming from the nearside of the car.  It could be heard especially at low speeds (up to about 40 mph) if the left side of the car was at an angle compared with the right side, such as going over a speed bump on one side of the car only or going over road imperfections on the nearside.  The first visit to a dealer was a waste of time, but a different dealer admitted they could also hear the noise and thought the doors and boot may need adjusting.  This they did, but the noise persisted.  I returned to the dealer some time later and took the technician out for a drive.  This time, they removed and refitted the door card from the front passenger door.  Success!  Noise gone, very happy Skoda driver.  This was about 6 months ago.  Now the noise is back with a vengeance!  This fault will not be covered by warranty but would happily pay the garage I could be certain they had found the cause and cured it once and for all.

 

So, first of all, has anyone else experienced this problem?  Secondly, how easy is it to remove the door card?  I'm quite happy (with the help of a friend) to attempt to at least track down the source of the noise.  Oh, and the rear offside area of the car is starting to do the same.

 

Thanks

 

Glen

I've experienced various noises from all doors on a few Skoda models include the Superb and I find it very annoying!  The sources have been varied but have included loose speakers, motor in electric windows becoming noise.  Often it has been more within the locking mechanism of the door and greasing has usually worked. Do you notice it more when you brake or pull away also - this could be some play on the doors themselves, again adjusting or greasing the door straps/catches can help.  Seals becoming dry may also cause this and applying lubricant around the seal stops this sometimes (be careful what lube you use though).

 

Sometimes the noise is not always coming from where you think, for example the umbrella rattling in the back door may sound like it is in the front as I had very recently myself!

 

Do you notice any difference in hot/cold weather?

[Devon Wanderer]

Give the missus a bit more time to get in.

[Norian]

From soon after I got my Superb estate, I was aware of a knocking sound coming from the nearside of the car.  It could be heard especially at low speeds (up to about 40 mph) if the left side of the car was at an angle compared with the right side, such as going over a speed bump on one side of the car only or going over road imperfections on the nearside.  The first visit to a dealer was a waste of time, but a different dealer admitted they could also hear the noise and thought the doors and boot may need adjusting.  This they did, but the noise persisted.  I returned to the dealer some time later and took the technician out for a drive.  This time, they removed and refitted the door card from the front passenger door.  Success!  Noise gone, very happy Skoda driver.  This was about 6 months ago.  Now the noise is back with a vengeance!  This fault will not be covered by warranty but would happily pay the garage I could be certain they had found the cause and cured it once and for all.

 

So, first of all, has anyone else experienced this problem?  Secondly, how easy is it to remove the door card?  I'm quite happy (with the help of a friend) to attempt to at least track down the source of the noise.  Oh, and the rear offside area of the car is starting to do the same.

 

Thanks

 

Glen

Exactly the same problem here. Started happening just shy of 10 000km (6200 miles). Same, just for front passenger door, all quiet for the rest. Same simptopms as you described.

Tried the whole lot:

- realigning the door: they loosened the metalic braket thing on the pillar of the car that the door closes onto and moved it a 1 mm inward and then tightened the bolts. Was a good solution for 5000km, no noises 

- tried greasing the door seals with a german dedicated solution from Sonax - "gummipflege". Still no good result. Anyway, the door seals were in perfect condition, not dry and no cracks on them - the car is just 11 month old now 

- last week they admited it was the contact made between the door lock and that metalic braket on the pillar of the car. They wrapped the metalic braket with some kind of black rubber kind of tape and ....the noise is gone !!! As you said, happy skoda driver, peace and quiet in the car

- Will test this solution for the next thousand km to see what happens. If the noise will come back they will change the door lock - that's fitted on the inside on the door. But, it's covered by warranty. A new door lock is aprox 100Euro here. The problem with the door lock is that the part that hooks the metalic thing on the car pillar should be wrapped in some black plastic material. If there are cracks or imperfections on that plastic material, then there will be contact between the metalic part of the hook and the metalic thing on the pillar of the car - and that is the source of the knocking sound we hear everytime there is movement or torsion in the bodywork caused by roundabouts and braking actions and so on.

 

Hope I maganed to explain myself, I;m missing some name of things in English

Edited 21 March, 2014 by Norian

[Superb170]

Just remembered actually (after reading Norian's comment), I had to have all the brackets changed before on an Octavia as all the doors were rattling.  Its usually the last resort for most dealers when they can't find anything else.  It solved the problem for a long while but they still needed attention (greasing and adjusting) every few months.  I still find that temperature has a major impact on the level of noise on the doors and on a lot of other panels for that matter.  You'll notice how much creaking and movement there is with some interior panels on a cold start and later in the day the noise disappears when the running temps rise.  Covering the brackets might help reduce the exposure to temperature maybe?

[Always time for a car]

Mine has just started doing this and your suggestions are most appreciated

[Norian]

Just remembered actually (after reading Norian's comment), I had to have all the brackets changed before on an Octavia as all the doors were rattling.  Its usually the last resort for most dealers when they can't find anything else.  It solved the problem for a long while but they still needed attention (greasing and adjusting) every few months.  I still find that temperature has a major impact on the level of noise on the doors and on a lot of other panels for that matter.  You'll notice how much creaking and movement there is with some interior panels on a cold start and later in the day the noise disappears when the running temps rise.  Covering the brackets might help reduce the exposure to temperature maybe?

Yes, agree, temperature has a major impact on how the car's panels fit together and behave.

 

From November to February, while the temperatures were at max 5-6 degrees Celsius, the pastics were much more ridgid with a slight creaking while the car's interior heated up - so temperature change from cold to warm impacts them.

 

Regarding the door kncking sound, while outside was cold, it did not happen. Maybe the cold metal and the cold door lock did not interact to much.

 

I can confirm that Ihave the brakets covered for a week now and done 500km since and no noise can be heard, not even when parking with 2 wheels up on the curve.

 

It's a quick 5min DYI job: just get some adhesive tape, that black more elastic type thing and give it twice around each metal braket. Shouldn't put too much though as a thick layer may impact the way the door lock hooks to the braket.

[Skoda4x4man]

What about loose cables within the door cavity ?

 

Chris

[Glen Mansbridge]

Thank you to everyone has responded - at least I am not alone!

 

Rather than reply to each individually, I'll put all my responses below:

 

@Superb 170 - it does knock when pulling away or pulling up sharply but also just normal driving.  None of the seals look particularly dry or cracked.  Regarding the umbrella, I have removed it from the car to rule it in/out, along with everything from the boot, the luggage cover, I've ran with the rear seats folded, empty glovebox and jumbo box, empty sunglasses holder.  It has recently started again which may coincide with higher ambient temperatures

 

@Devon Wanderer - ruled that one out!

 

@Norian - I can certainly try the black tape wrapped around the metal "eye" on the b pillar.  BTW your English is excellent - certainly better than my Romanian!

 

@L200man - when it was with the dealer and they took off the door card, I assumed they would visually check for anything like that.  That is what the noise reminds me of - something like a metal strip or rod knocking against the frame of the door.

 

Right, I'll track down some electrical tape over the weekend, give it a try and report back.

 

Keep your fingers crossed.......

 

Glen

[Superb170]

Couple of other thoughts.  Try driving with the window in various positions as well i.e. fully up/down/ partially open etc.  Just to rule out the winding mechanism in the window.  One other thing that can sound like a knocking noise - the seat belt.  Its a bit if a design fault I think as I've seen it on many Skoda models but when the seat belts at the front as not being used, the buckle has a tendency to knock against the B Pillar.  Check that the belts on the back are in the correct positions.

 

Is the noise still present when there are passengers sitting in the car?  There is a certain of flexing especially in the rear and around the C pillar between the seats (particularly with leather) and the doors sometimes and I find this all disappears when there are passengers in the car.

 

I think about these things far too much as you can tell but glad I'm not the only one that notices this stuff!!  Hope you get to the bottom of it.

[Glen Mansbridge]

Well, it's been about 10 days since I applied the fix that Norian suggested and the result....... noise completely gone!  Norian, you're a genius!  I applied tape to the fittings on all four pillars - took all of 5 minutes to do.  I'll keep a roll of black tape in in the glove box to replace the tape when needed.

 

Now there's just the rattle from the glove box to sort!

 

Glen

[Superb170]

Certainly a very good tip from Norian! Will bear that in mind but hopefully won't need it fingers crossed although previous cars all had some door issues. Beats regreasing as I've often done before

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[Smudgers]

Glen,

 

I thought it was me going mad or my OCD kicking in but I have a glove box rattle that drives me mad !!

 

If no passenger in car I drive with it open as that stop the darn rattle !

 

Any ideas what it may be ? 

 

Car in to dealers in 400 miles for first service so will mention then and see what happens.

[JakeBlade]

Could someone take a photo of the black tape fix, to help the community?

[Superb170]

Glen,

 

I thought it was me going mad or my OCD kicking in but I have a glove box rattle that drives me mad !!

 

If no passenger in car I drive with it open as that stop the darn rattle !

 

Any ideas what it may be ? 

 

Car in to dealers in 400 miles for first service so will mention then and see what happens.

You're certainly not the only one, its quite irritating for a good few of us by the sounds of it. As I mentioned before I think some of it is heat related (expansion and contraction) but as its a heavy enough panel that is hinged there is bound to be some play in it.  Do you have anything heavy in the glove box by any chance?  Not sure what adjustment is available in the locking mechanism as its a basic enough set up.  My slightly unusual fix (I mentioned it before - a very thin adhesive furniture strip applied where the two panels make contact) is still working for me however.

[Smudgers]

Superb170

 

I've had the box totally empty and its still there, not sure mine is heat related as its with me all journey long so even when car is warm I still have rattle. I think it sounds like a wire just tapping the back of the box - hence when open it stops.

 

Interested in your fix as I had found that a duster trapped between the box and the dash when shut did stop the rattle. Did you fix the tape along the top edge of the box near the lock or down one of the sides ?

 

Thanks

[Superb170]

Just One strip on the top along where it meets the dash. Worth a try like I say, it may work for you hopefully. If you're like me though you'll have found another noise somewhere else in a few days! Maybe we just turn up the radio a bit more and enjoy the car!!

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[Hoverurb]

Are the two "bump stops" in place? They are there to stop the cover rattling.

[Smudgers]

Had a look and yes the two rubber cones seem to be there - just on top part of the side of clove box hole in dash - not actually on the box lid.