Rumbling Roomster

[nickg65]

Hi folks, after a long round trip recently (circa 700 miles) a low rumbling noise appeared from our Roomster which sounds suspiciously like a wheel bearing. As the service was due I booked it in to my local Skoda dealer & they checked it out & reported back that all the wheel bearings are fine, so I am now baffled. The car has done 156,000 so I was expecting a wheel bearing by now. Could it be the gearbox & if it was would knocking the car out if gear whilst running take the noise away?

Any suggestions from you knowledgable people would be greatly appreciated.

Nick G

Edited 11 November, 2016 by nickg65

[edbostan]

Get up to 60mph or so and depress the clutch pedal and ease off the throttle. The engine will drop to idle speed so you can hear and eliminate where the noise is coming from.  If it is the gearbox the rumble should stop. Remember to use a bit of throttle when you raise the clutch pedal again to match engine with road speed.

Edited 11 November, 2016 by edbostan

[HeavyMetalRich]

Could be you're tyres have deformed. This does give a wheel bearing gone sound sometimes. And also the sound doesn't alter with speed.

 

If you run your hand over the tyre (usually the inner edge) you will feel if the tyre has ripples rather than being nice and round.

[keystonedriving]

Could be you're tyres have deformed. This does give a wheel bearing gone sound sometimes. And also the sound doesn't alter with speed.

 

If you run your hand over the tyre (usually the inner edge) you will feel if the tyre has ripples rather than being nice and round.

 

I certainly had that problem with my Mk1 Fabia with some cheaper tyres.  It was quite loud, too.  New tyres fixed the problem.  The car did 210,000 miles before my daughter traded it in, with no major issues.

[nickg65]

Hi edbostan, thanks for the reply. I did the depress the clutch thing & the rumbling was still there so I more or less ruled out the gearbox, that was before it went in the dealers & got the all clear for the bearings, they put two new front tyres on it & I could still hear the noise on the way home. The Mrs reckons the noise has gone so I will have to wait until I drive it next time to be sure. If it is then it's a mystery.

[edbostan]

I have a vibration over certain road surfaces which comes from the passenger side glove box area. I mentioned that to the dealers at the 18k service and they said as the front tyres have 3.5mm of tread left the vibration is caused by the tyres and new ones are recommended. Never had this in 42 years of motoring.

[aubrey]

Get up to 60mph or so and depress the clutch pedal and ease off the throttle. The engine will drop to idle speed so you can hear and eliminate where the noise is coming from.  If it is the gearbox the rumble should stop. Remember to use a bit of throttle when you raise the clutch pedal again to match engine with road speed.

Why would depressing the clutch make a noise stop if it was the gearbox ? I can understand it isolates the engine to idle, but the gearbox would still be driven from the wheels via the drive shafts ?

[edbostan]

True Aubrey but the load will be taken off the drive train and the engine noise would drop making it possibly easier to locate the noise.

[RichardatWakefield]

Hmm, I have vibration from the passenger side airbag lid at certain times, also horrible chatter from front end over broken surfaces, recent new ARB drop links stopped that noise/harshness briefly, but is now back; could this be from worn front suspension turret top rubber pivot bushes? Car is 1,9Tdi PD done 80k miles. Has stiffer than standard Mehle front bottom arm rear ("console") bushes.

Thoughts? Thanks

Richard