Hi,

 

My wife's Mk III Fabia has developed a loud graunching / squeaking noise from the front NS wheel when going over speed bumps. The noise can't be repicated by pushing down the front corner of the car (or trying to lift it up). It appears to be worse when going "up" a bump rather than down it. Can anyone suggest what might be the cause? Shocks? Suspension spring? Could it be cold weather related? The car is under manufacturer warranty until March but trying to find time to book it in is proving difficult! 

 

Thanks.

5 hours ago, MattsterVRS said:

Hi,

 

My wife's Mk III Fabia has developed a loud graunching / squeaking noise from the front NS wheel when going over speed bumps. The noise can't be repicated by pushing down the front corner of the car (or trying to lift it up). It appears to be worse when going "up" a bump rather than down it. Can anyone suggest what might be the cause? Shocks? Suspension spring? Could it be cold weather related? The car is under manufacturer warranty until March but trying to find time to book it in is proving difficult! 

 

Thanks.

 

I have the same issue, it's the front lower wishbone bushing.

 

You can try a few things;

 

- Lube it with WD-40 or similar, copper grease maybe but you would need to unbolt it to get it in there. Might help, might not.

 

- Pester your Skoda dealer enough and they might sort it for you, though it's a suspension part so its classed as a wear and tear item, good luck there.

 

- Replace the entire control arm, Quinton Hazel do an OEM quality drop-in. Keep in mind you should replace both left/right arms at the same time. They are around £30 each, and aren't too much of a problem to replace yourself.

  Do remember though they are the same OEM style bushings, as such they could end up with the same issue down the line.

Wishbone / Suspension Arm Front Left QSA2570S Quinton Hazell Track Control New

Wishbone / Suspension Arm Front Right QSA2571S Quinton Hazell Track Control New

 

- Replace just the bushing itself with aftermarket one. Personally this is what i'm in the process of doing, i am replacing both the front and rear bushes on the wishbone. I have 16" wheels and the increased firm-ness from the bushings is noticable, but it actually feels more pleasant, as the car doesn't skip over bumps, it feels more firmly planted to the ground.

  These aren't easy to replace though, but are much better quality than OEM ones, and do not fail. Also, they are much easier to replace down the line if they do have problems. (OEM bushes are a PITA to remove, these are not).

  Front Bush: SuperPro SPF1915K

  Rear Bush: PowerFlex PFF85-1202

 

I do not recommend the PowerFlex front bush, a friend with a MK2 Fabia had both, and tells me the PowerFlex made the handling feel a little off and eventually developed a worse squeaking than the OEM, he's had the superpro one for over a year now with no issues and a much better feel to the handling.

 

Remember, independent garages do exist, if you do not have the means to do something properly yourself, go for a trip to a garage, they'll sort you out, often for cheaper than you'd expect too.

Manufactures Warranty, 

So best find the time.   Then obviously it is a safety issues if you were to have a broken spring or the likes. 

 

So at the very least have someone someplace check the car tomorrow.  Be that an Independent or just a Tyre & Exhaust Centre.  

Then get to a Dealership.

 

Broken Springs are not a Warranty Item if they break.  It is a possible hitting sleeping policemen or mounting kerbs type thing, 

and a couple of winters past type thing as well.

Exactly as above, just be aware that some cars had/have had issues with the gearbox top mounting tearing and causing same noises under same conditions - and wait a minute, new at least to me, examples of a power train mounting welded flange shearing its weld and eventually coming free - not good and hopefully very rare event.  Once I escape from under my nasty dose of flu, I will compare photos online with an actual car so that I'm ready for that one if it ever comes along!

43 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

Exactly as above, just be aware that some cars had/have had issues with the gearbox top mounting tearing and causing same noises under same conditions - and wait a minute, new at least to me, examples of a power train mounting welded flange shearing its weld and eventually coming free - not good and hopefully very rare event.  Once I escape from under my nasty dose of flu, I will compare photos online with an actual car so that I'm ready for that one if it ever comes along!

 

At the very least, take it in for a safety check, they will do that for free at any dealer.

 

I'd had mine for about a year (8k miles ish) when it developed a sharp squeak when going over bumps (it was very inconsistent, it would sometimes make noise sometimes not). My dealer checked it and found it to be the gearbox mount rubber, and fixed it by greasing it.

20k miles later down the line, i probably should have gone the full whack and got them to replace the whole mount, it seems that it failing put more strain on the dogbone mount, which is warped well out of its normal shape.

 

You can generally see if the rubber has failed by rocking the engine (hold the air-box on top of the engine, and rock it back and forth), if it moves very easily, and you can see there is alot of movement in the mounting behind/under the battery box, then that might have gone.

 

Now i've started having issues with the wishbone bushes (pothole split the rear one - thanks barnsley council!), i have gotten new (aftermarket) bushes for that and new mountings (oem style) for the engine.

 

Having had both issues i can say there was a big difference between the two in terms of noise. The gearbox mount was a high pitched sharp squeak (imagine punching a hamster), while the front wishbone bushing was a lower pitched graunchy crunchy squeak.

 

I'll get a before and after video of the gearbox mount, as i'm replacing it tomorrow, along with the front wishbone bush.

14 hours ago, Skoffski said:

Broken Springs are not a Warranty Item if they break.  It is a possible hitting sleeping policemen or mounting kerbs type thing, 

and a couple of winters past type thing as well. 

 

I've had coil springs done on warranty in the past.

Many have. When they should have had the pair done.

Yeti had known fault as in plenty bad coil springs.

 

?

Have you had a Coil Spring replaced in the last 3 months of the 3 years manufacturers warranty?

17 hours ago, FabiaGonzales said:

 

At the very least, take it in for a safety check, they will do that for free at any dealer.

 

I'd had mine for about a year (8k miles ish) when it developed a sharp squeak when going over bumps (it was very inconsistent, it would sometimes make noise sometimes not). My dealer checked it and found it to be the gearbox mount rubber, and fixed it by greasing it.

20k miles later down the line, i probably should have gone the full whack and got them to replace the whole mount, it seems that it failing put more strain on the dogbone mount, which is warped well out of its normal shape.

 

You can generally see if the rubber has failed by rocking the engine (hold the air-box on top of the engine, and rock it back and forth), if it moves very easily, and you can see there is alot of movement in the mounting behind/under the battery box, then that might have gone.

 

Now i've started having issues with the wishbone bushes (pothole split the rear one - thanks barnsley council!), i have gotten new (aftermarket) bushes for that and new mountings (oem style) for the engine.

 

Having had both issues i can say there was a big difference between the two in terms of noise. The gearbox mount was a high pitched sharp squeak (imagine punching a hamster), while the front wishbone bushing was a lower pitched graunchy crunchy squeak.

 

I'll get a before and after video of the gearbox mount, as i'm replacing it tomorrow, along with the front wishbone bush.

 

Which version of that gearbox mounting are you fitting, I ask that as VW initially removed/greased/refitted the original mounting which was the normal version used on at least Polo from 2002 petrol engined cars ie 6Q0 --- --- AR second attempt at this fix saw them fit the heavier duty version ie 6Q0 --- --- AS used on at least Polo from 2002 TDI engined cars.  I think that there is another version which Skoda seemed to fit to this version of Fabia which has a part number starting with 6C0 --- --- B.  Now, why VW Group thinks it is a good idea to grease these rubber bonded mounting, maybe to stop any noises being generated when the folds/angles rub against each other when they move, beggars belief - typically it is Copaslip that they use which is not "kind" to that rubbery material.

 

Edit:- all fixing bolts/nuts get replaced when swopping that part.

Edited 23 January, 20197 yr by rum4mo

1 minute ago, rum4mo said:

 

Which version of that gearbox mounting are you fitting, I ask that as VW initially removed/greased/refitted the original mounting which was the normal version used on at least Polo from 2002 petrol engined cars ie 6Q0 --- --- AR second attempt at this fix saw them fit the heavier duty version ie 6Q0 --- --- AS used on at least Polo from 2002 TDI engined cars.  I think that there is another version which Skoda seemed to fit to this version of Fabia which has a part number starting with 6C0 --- --- B.  Now, why VW Group thinks it is a good idea to grease these rubber bonded mounting, maybe to stop any noises being generated when the folds/angles rub against each other when they move, beggars belief - typically it is Copaslip that they use which is not "kind" to that rubbery material.

 

I haven't fitted the new part yet, it snowed, grr.

 

It's a Lemforder part; 29978-01

Cross reference part; 6Q0 199 555 AD

 

The grease that is on the existing mount is not copaslip, it's some wierd white silicon/ceramic compound.

Well, initially when the car was returned and I knew nothing about what the first step to sort this out is meant to be according to VW Group, I was lightly surprised to find traces of Copaslip under the bonnet, after finding out what work they had carried out, I found the source of the Copaslip - and it was the mounting!

 

I did not find that Lemforder part number, the one I have logged for maybe future use is 29978 and it is what 6Q0 199 555 AS is - before Lemforder grind off the VW Group ID markings for selling as aftermarket parts.

 

It does seem quite important to replace all the bolts/nuts, VW dealer did that at both fix attempts.

 

After getting the heavier duty mounting fitted, the clunking disappeared and stayed that way, also the noises that you get from rocking the engine fore/aft changed dramatically.

 

I get the feeling that no one gave much thought as to which gearbox mounting to fit to these turbo charged petrol engines, and stayed with what had been used for the NA Petrol engines in the past.

 

Edit:- if I was a guesser, I'd think that my VW dealer's tech knew that the first fix was a waste of time normally so he was not too fussy about which type of grease he used as it was not going to stay on that car for long - but he was just following the prescribed procedure laid down by VW Group.

Edited 23 January, 20197 yr by rum4mo

22 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

Well, initially when the car was returned and I knew nothing about what the first step to sort this out is meant to be according to VW Group, I was lightly surprised to find traces of Copaslip under the bonnet, after finding out what work they had carried out, I found the source of the Copaslip - and it was the mounting!

 

I did not find that Lemforder part number, the one I have logged for maybe future use is 29978 and it is what 6Q0 199 555 AS is - before Lemforder grind off the VW Group ID markings for selling as aftermarket parts.

 

It does seem quite important to replace all the bolts/nuts, VW dealer did that at both fix attempts.

 

After getting the heavier duty mounting fitted, the clunking disappeared and stayed that way, also the noises that you get from rocking the engine fore/aft changed dramatically.

 

I get the feeling that no one gave much thought as to which gearbox mounting to fit to these turbo charged petrol engines, and stayed with what had been used for the NA Petrol engines in the past.

 

Edit:- if I was a guesser, I'd think that my VW dealer's tech knew that the first fix was a waste of time normally so he was not too fussy about which type of grease he used as it was not going to stay on that car for long - but he was just following the prescribed procedure laid down by VW Group.

 

True, these small turbo petrol engines kick out alot of torque at low rpms, probably not the kind of stress those mounts are designed for. I got quite a lot of clunking, but that was before i had the dogbone bush replaced, it's alot quieter now, with slight vibration at idle (probably going to replace the whole mount rather than just the bush), but i can still feel there is a slight thump when pressing/releasing the throttle, and the engine still rocks quite considerably compared to a friends mk2 diesel monte, there's no movement in that at all and it's almost silent inside the car.

Well, after reading this and having the same problem I scooterd off  to D M Keith, from whom I bought the vehicle a couple of months ago, and I'll be blowed, they agreed that Skoda recognized that there was a problem and have agreed to rectify the problem early February under warranty. I will ask whether a proper fix or just a bit of grease was used to shut it up.

2 minutes ago, DennisMenaced said:

Well, after reading this and having the same problem I scooterd off  to D M Keith, from whom I bought the vehicle a couple of months ago, and I'll be blowed, they agreed that Skoda recognized that there was a problem and have agreed to rectify the problem early February under warranty. I will ask whether a proper fix or just a bit of grease was used to shut it up.

 

My D M Keith dealer admitted there was a known issue with the mounts and the 1st port of call was to grease it. Unfortunately my car is no longer under warranty, and they quoted me somewhere around £250 for a new mount and labour. They did however grease it for free.

2 minutes ago, FabiaGonzales said:

 

My D M Keith dealer admitted there was a known issue with the mounts and the 1st port of call was to grease it. Unfortunately my car is no longer under warranty, and they quoted me somewhere around £250 for a new mount and labour. They did however grease it for free.

Sons of bitches, I can grease my own knob, my car however needs/wants a proper fix. I'm going to sell this piece of **** and get a Fiat Panda instead.

33 minutes ago, DennisMenaced said:

Sons of bitches, I can grease my own knob, my car however needs/wants a proper fix. I'm going to sell this piece of **** and get a Fiat Panda instead.

 

I bought a £45 part that i can replace myself. I guess it's the same deal as the brakes, they charge £250 to change a pair of brake disks/pads, £500 for the whole vehicle. I bought parts and did it myself for just under £100 total of parts, and a day of my spare time. If it's under warranty though, they will do it for free (the mount at least).

14 hours ago, FabiaGonzales said:

True, these small turbo petrol engines kick out alot of torque at low rpms, probably not the kind of stress those mounts are designed for. I got quite a lot of clunking, but that was before i had the dogbone bush replaced, it's alot quieter now, with slight vibration at idle (probably going to replace the whole mount rather than just the bush), but i can still feel there is a slight thump when pressing/releasing the throttle, and the engine still rocks quite considerably compared to a friends mk2 diesel monte, there's no movement in that at all and it's almost silent inside the car.

 

Couldn't agree more. Getting the power back on smoothly at lower revs requires an almost superhuman level of right foot precision.

 

The damn mounts just ain't up to it.

Edited 24 January, 20197 yr by ettlz

When you report an issue when under warranty and get panned off with a Lube (grease) or 'They All Do That' or 'Never heard of that'. 

and then after the Warranty Expires or during the Warranty there is a TPI issues, because 'Skoda / VW' knew about the issue and some muppet at a Dealership could not be arsed to read them or act on then then get back to the Warranty Provider, so Skoda / VW and tell them their Approved Repairers Staff are taking the Pith and even out of Warranty now you want the Warranty Action / Repair carried out.

Vorsprung Durch Techhnik. 

Learn from the same carry on with the Mk2 Fabia TPI's and then the 'All New 3rd Generation Fabia that was really no more than a rehash has of the platform and mounting points & issues that carry over.

Dealership Technicians or Fitters doing the same old same old again....

I found that with my wife's August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, these noises were always worse in hotter weather, which was almost spot on for VW as I moaned to myself about this just after the car was past its 2nd birthday - then forgot about it until the next spring, booked the car in for its final "included" service early and got them to sort out these noises, actually there had been an extreme drop in temperature on the day I handed it in, so the car was "noiseless" - but they sorted out the reported slip lower wishbone mounting and greased up the gearbox mounting, so there was plenty time left for another "warranty attack" - which they took on and replaced the gearbox mounting for the TDI version, I was not too fussed about them doing nothing as I would just have blabbed out loud to the world in general and bought what I hoped would be a suitable/useful alternative mounting from Lemforder who seem to be the original suppier of that part.

5 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I found that with my wife's August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, these noises were always worse in hotter weather, which was almost spot on for VW as I moaned to myself about this just after the car was past its 2nd birthday - then forgot about it until the next spring, booked the car in for its final "included" service early and got them to sort out these noises, actually there had been an extreme drop in temperature on the day I handed it in, so the car was "noiseless" - but they sorted out the reported slip lower wishbone mounting and greased up the gearbox mounting, so there was plenty time left for another "warranty attack" - which they took on and replaced the gearbox mounting for the TDI version, I was not too fussed about them doing nothing as I would just have blabbed out loud to the world in general and bought what I hoped would be a suitable/useful alternative mounting from Lemforder who seem to be the original suppier of that part.

 

As it turns out, looking at the part inside the box, the part ive got is the  6Q0 xxx xxx AS one, not sure why it says AD on the box, seems ive got the TDI mount (woo!). Once rain wind and snow hold off long enough for me to replace it ill find out if it works i guess haha

43 minutes ago, FabiaGonzales said:

 

As it turns out, looking at the part inside the box, the part ive got is the  6Q0 xxx xxx AS one, not sure why it says AD on the box, seems ive got the TDI mount (woo!). Once rain wind and snow hold off long enough for me to replace it ill find out if it works i guess haha

 

Result!  I'm sure that it will last a lot longer than your original one, I'm interested to know what the part number on your original one is, 6Q0 xxx xxx AR or ?

1 hour ago, rum4mo said:

 

Result!  I'm sure that it will last a lot longer than your original one, I'm interested to know what the part number on your original one is, 6Q0 xxx xxx AR or ?

 

Ill update once i get it done  ill also get a video of the condition of the original one. It failed at 25k miles and now its got 50k so i wonder what itll be like haha

23 hours ago, rum4mo said:

 

Result!  I'm sure that it will last a lot longer than your original one, I'm interested to know what the part number on your original one is, 6Q0 xxx xxx AR or ?

 

The original one was the AR version, it's very very soft compared to the new one. It helped reduce some cabin vibration, gear changes feel slightly smoother.  Didn't get the wishbone bush done though, gearbox mount took long enough, and the amount of grease on and around the old mount made it a proper hassle!

Ah well it seems that both VW and Skoda are being consistent with which version they are using at the factories.

 

Are you feeling/hearing a bit more noise coming in from the gearbox?

 

Edit:- I think that the dogbone mount needs to fitted under tension, ie the gearbox/engine needs dragging either backwards or forwards before bolting it up.

Edited 25 January, 20197 yr by rum4mo

1 hour ago, rum4mo said:

Ah well it seems that both VW and Skoda are being consistent with which version they are using at the factories.

 

Are you feeling/hearing a bit more noise coming in from the gearbox?

 

Edit:- I think that the dogbone mount needs to fitted under tension, ie the gearbox/engine needs dragging either backwards or forwards before bolting it up.

 

There’s no difference in gearbox noise that i can tell, gearbox feels smoother, main source of vibration is still the dogbone mount, which has a powerflex diesel bushing in it, the petrol bushing was a fair bit worse. Trying to find the oem diesel dogbone mount to try see if i can clear that idle vibration up.