Hi All, 

 

I have recently received my car back from Estonia where it has been sitting for the last few months. I completed the Mongol Rally for the second time this summer, both times in my Skoda. 

 

During our adventures in Mongolia we developed a bit of a rattle in the engine bay which has continued to rattle of the remaining 1500 miles of the trip. 

 

I've been going through and trying to fix bits of the car up to make it usable on the road again, such as filling the holes from where a roof rack was welded and most importantly installed a new rear speaker. 

 

We had hoped this low droning noise had something to do with the exhaust as it fails to really build any pressure unless revving pretty hard. I did find a leak just before the flex pipe, I've temporarily patched this with a few layers of duct tape. Having got under the car and removed the sump guard it appears the main drone is coming from the gearbox, I think belt may also be squealing. 

 

I have recorded the noise and I am hoping one of you has some experience with what may be the issue and how you resolved it. 

 

I've attached a few photos for you to see what I've put this car through! 

 

Cheers, 

 

Kieran

 

 

Clutch release/thrust bearing, gearbox input bearing or bust spring in the clutch friction plate is my guess.

 

 

Edited 27 December, 20187 yr by xman

Sounds like exhaust manifold gasket leak to me. Take the heatshield off and look for carbon evidence on the head just outside the gssket/manifold edge.

10 minutes ago, xman said:

Clutch release/thrust bearing, gearbox input bearing or bust spring in the clutch friction plate is my guess.

 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if this is it. We had a clutch replacement in Almaty, Kazakhstan so I'm not sure if it was the work was quite to the required standard. 

 

Is there a way I can test his without taking it all apart? 

2 minutes ago, Wino said:

Sounds like exhaust manifold gasket leak to me. Take the heatshield off and look for carbon evidence on the head just outside the gssket/manifold edge.

I'll give it a look, thanks 

1 hour ago, KDhesi said:

I wouldn't be surprised if this is it. We had a clutch replacement in Almaty, Kazakhstan so I'm not sure if it was the work was quite to the required standard. 

 

Is there a way I can test his without taking it all apart? 

 

Noise stops when clutch depressed.

 

Lightly depressed clutch not fully released noise goes points to a bearing. Only if fully depressed, clutch released, friction plate or gearbox issue.

Edited 27 December, 20187 yr by xman

3 hours ago, xman said:

 

Noise stops when clutch depressed.

 

Lightly depressed clutch not fully released noise goes points to a bearing. Only if fully depressed, clutch released, friction plate or gearbox issue.

 

Don't think this is the issue then unfortunately. The noise is pretty constant regardless of clutch depression.

 

I'll try it again in the morning. Would this be a resolved with another clutch replacement? 

 

Cheers

On 27/12/2018 at 13:08, xman said:

 

Noise stops when clutch depressed.

 

Lightly depressed clutch not fully released noise goes points to a bearing. Only if fully depressed, clutch released, friction plate or gearbox issue.

 

Gave it a test, the noise stops when I've pushed the clutch in over 75%. Is this showing that it probably is the springs? 

 

Would it be sorted with another clutch replacement?

Presumably you have checked the gearbox oil level?

 

I think next step would be to split engine/gearbox, check the gearbox input shaft for play up/down and fore/aft, change input shaft bearing if easy anyway. Then strip clutch check for broken springs etc. The parts aren't thar dear so change it anyway don't forget the clutch actuator thrust bearing.

 

Maybe look at a few youtube videos first, a few on fabia gearboxes.

 

 

 

Edited 5 January, 20197 yr by xman

Hi mate, I'm doing the Mongol rally myself this summer in the same car. What issues did you run into with the car, if any?

On 31/01/2019 at 20:23, Light said:

Hi mate, I'm doing the Mongol rally myself this summer in the same car. What issues did you run into with the car, if any?

 

Firstly, you've chosen by far the best car. Have you for for estate or hatch? 

 

I've done the trip twice now and only really encountered some problems the second time round. 

 

Our front left CV joint went, I suspect this was just the gater breaking and some dust getting in but it basically exploded with bearings going everywhere. We were very lucky  that we broke down in Almaty, Kazakhstan it seemed to be the only place for a good few thousand miles to have the right parts. Secondly, our clutch went which we managed to also get replaced in Almaty. We also took the massive roof rack, I'd suggest going slightly smaller or properly attaching it to the car. We didn't it fell off several times leaving me some nice dents in the roof. We did attempt to get some welding done to attach it which didn't work at all. 

 

We installed this lift kit from ebay which gave us 40 mm at the rear. We couldn't get the front ones to fit properly so had to go with out, but the rear was definitely worth it. We also upped the tire size to give even more clearance. A sump guard is a must, you will not make it far in Mongolia without one, we spent the extra to get a purpose fit one. Installation and removal was easy and it was fantastic at protecting everything. 

 

If you haven't already, invest in an armrest as well. You'll lose the one cup holder but its well worth it. 

 

Additional lighting is cool but not really necessary. We did have a 40" lightbar but when the roof rack fell off it broke the wire so we gave it to a random Mongolian man in the middle of the desert. We only did a few night drives, including Prague-Istanbul, but extra lighting wasn't really needed. 

 

Some rear speakers wouldn't go a miss, when you've packed the car up the front ones are quite hard to hear from the rear seats. 

 

You're in for a whale of a time, if you have any questions then give me a shout!  

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-strut-spacers-40mm-for-Skoda-FABIA-PRAKTIK-FABIA-PRAKTIK-ROOMSTER/113217486530?hash=item1a5c49bec2:g:oyAAAOSwofFbfsCA:rk:2:pf:0

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rear-coil-spacers-40mm-for-Skoda-CITIGO-FABIA-OCTAVIA-PRAKTIK-RAPID-ROOMSTER/113312417192?hash=item1a61f245a8:g:oxAAAOSwbNdZ3wgY:rk:6:pf:0

 

https://www.sump-guard.co.uk/steel-sump-guard-for-skoda-fabia-1-2000-2005

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Centre-armrest-console-arm-support-with-storage-Skoda-Fabia-MK1-1999-2007/273436576381?hash=item3faa170a7d:rk:4:pf:0&checksum=273436576381dfacda7857474ae883153970b4754a1d&enc=AQADAAAC4BkojIFHYtWT%2BANpG6F7t2EObnPgkzpI2ULX00cXnuLX6GJoq%2BG%2F5QfMsl3PQlc9NJNxEk4Z9PCjMQ6YiCfTJTnhKkzwFDOexpPOLJQksKFZEMciBOLTLVJbxKj109SVDtMTeAl3%2BEnw82ztCRIBlkZM9Vxm2O7VAi8E68w%2BXkr%2BoGdI1%2B5Ace3IrqrTzzhGGP4igG4oNlqLTQwy3cUurn0%2FqCS%2BzAkUythHGMjze2St%2F4olOH8yQ7ncbsqb6fdLPAMVR7zmyzbUllVVlTyqXdHOeFIODWQ1XuX52bokZmyPG2%2BUrG0A2RC%2BJh3PTtrTyObuM0TgsnNENtW%2BAxuGG8xDnoPDt5d00jbh7G989TOS5ff%2BAqW0aRWe85AFlt08fkq9UWfd%2BpXuHrjmSZSLir%2Fz4yzev%2BjWGN9lUs3CHidZL6K%2FKPRX188or5ZhFySo5uS%2FUoV1b3QkE0ilVM2aZMphpD0xcFVai9l1NJBti4wvJQH5XywC%2BZ%2BYZCpZc8hp47iUZl4nRFY%2FCXIDGUJa7nsykp6jdAHUYhpKAvggr3K4iW9vYQBBc1lXQ3vle3Zgq9Rvo5377zsbc9m0pTQVN%2BsMZ%2Bn4ekTjL7aEmqNpsHt9qXQrolSf7FRKqvaIUK3Qllr9hOBysaGPM3gQp7qB2MPY8z6%2Fuw%2FqAsEFWUUmWFDfwA8tNIt5FEpGY4juGQjVQo9WSgtkrumeF3MYvtmOCWhn6A1s5Y09R9JOgW4A8kOuvjaUy%2F1hor4RUvkWqgmsRNMTuPTntC4B9VKH%2Bpqs2yiYnIPoGZdukg%2FbjaSt%2Fy7Ri1Cnn6D8Np9oOTtDHcOjH7LLoGKGZpQrVwP7ocCG2nnDfh15YPO4F0TXl9owJnRpC%2BQLg7MUCD7zM8QTYk60dMVJOPSYfoRGNC77cJV1V9G6x2FHj1vx76hRkigxex6QtGw%2FdcLDam4O6FuU9QT%2BDeosbfKtd4Hi2Jgivea8HXw%3D