Tapping from Roof

[Hosepipe99]

Hi All,

I have had my Yeti Outdoor from new for about a month and it had developed a tapping/rattling noise, a bit like hailstones, from above the driver's head. It only happens above 60MPH. I suspect the roof rails, as they are the only thing there, but I removed the end caps and checked the bolts and there is nothing obviously wrong. Note that I don't have roof bars just the roof rails. Before I contact a dealer has anyone had a similar problem and know what's wrong?

[Urrell]

Try putting a bit of tape temporally over the holes the roof bars fix to the rails with.

[Hosepipe99]

Tried covering the holes but it made no difference.

 

Went for a run with no caps on the roof rails and the noise was gone. On closer inspection I noticed the "socket" that takes the plastic clip in the middle of the cap had been filled with black silicon sealer or similar, same on both sides of the car. I assume this was Skoda's idea to prevent the caps flying off as reported elsewhere. The problem seems to be that this didn't work very well, and with the silicon in the way, the clip then doesn't engage properly and the cap was vibrating causing the noise. I removed the silicon, it just peeled away, and put back the caps and all was ok with no noise. Of course only time will tell if the caps fly off!

 

If you ever take the caps off it's worth checking if you have the silicon and removing it, as it gets in the way of putting the caps back properly. The silicon idea would only work, if at all, if you put the caps on while the silicon is still liquid.

[Llanigraham]

Clear Bostik/Evo-Stick works better than silicone snot!

[Ryeman]

Sounds like a cheap dealer 'fix' rather than Skoda