Hello guys,

I hope you can help me...

 

There is a strange humming noise coming from engine/front of my car. However I was unable to locate where it is exactly coming from. I can hear it from 15 km/h but most clearly at around 80 km/h.  Do you have any idea what is is?

 

 

Does the note (the tone) change with changes in road speed?

Is it constant regardless of which gear you are in?

Does it vary when cornering?

 

1 hour ago, StickyMicky said:

Does the note (the tone) change with changes in road speed?

Is it constant regardless of which gear you are in?

Does it vary when cornering?

 

It seems to get the loudest at 80 km/h and stay constant but after 80 km/h I can't really tell since there is lot of road noise.

It is constant in any gear so changing gear or pressing on clutch does not stop it. However pushing the gas pedal makes it little bit more loud. Cornering does not seem to be effecting the noise. 

It sounds like something related to wheel speed in which case I'd look at uneven tyre wear or a wheel bearing.

 

56 minutes ago, StickyMicky said:

It sounds like something related to wheel speed in which case I'd look at uneven tyre wear or a wheel bearing.

 

This. If its mostly around a certain speed then It's likely going to be wheel bearing. It's easy enough to check, as long as you're able to lift up the car. 

17 hours ago, shahins said:

Hello guys,

I hope you can help me...

 

There is a strange humming noise coming from engine/front of my car. However I was unable to locate where it is exactly coming from. I can hear it from 15 km/h but most clearly at around 80 km/h.  Do you have any idea what is is?

 

 

 

Had exactly the same issue on mine, coming in at 60mph - 70mph.  Had the wheel bearings changed and was immediately better.  There's a recent post discussing this I'll dig out. 

 

Had exactly the same issue on mine, coming in at 60mph - 70mph.  Had the wheel bearings changed and was immediately better.  There's a recent post discussing this I'll dig out....

 

 

1 hour ago, CooperDJ said:

 

Had exactly the same issue on mine, coming in at 60mph - 70mph.  Had the wheel bearings changed and was immediately better.  There's a recent post discussing this I'll dig out. 

I lifted the car and check both front tires for any play but there was none. I also grabbed the struts and turned the wheels and felt no vibration. Also tried to turn tires as hard as I could and I heard no noise. What is bothering me is that the sound appears to be more or less constant but it is related to moving because I turned the engine off while driving and the sound was still there.

1 hour ago, shahins said:

I lifted the car and check both front tires for any play but there was none. I also grabbed the struts and turned the wheels and felt no vibration. Also tried to turn tires as hard as I could and I heard no noise. What is bothering me is that the sound appears to be more or less constant but it is related to moving because I turned the engine off while driving and the sound was still there.

 

Well obviously I really wouldn't recommend turning off the engine while you're driving, but dipping the clutch should let you know if it's engine related or something to do with the wheels. You wouldn't necessarily hear wheel bearings being an issue when turning manually, my mechanic ran a wheel up to 20mph on a stand and just started to hear the noise.   When he changed the hubs for the wheel bearings they were completely fused together.

 

When were the bearings last changed?

3 minutes ago, CooperDJ said:

 

Well obviously I really wouldn't recommend turning off the engine while you're driving, but dipping the clutch should let you know if it's engine related or something to do with the wheels. You wouldn't necessarily hear wheel bearings being an issue when turning manually, my mechanic ran a wheel up to 20mph on a stand and just started to hear the noise.   When he changed the hubs for the wheel bearings they were completely fused together.

 

When were the bearings last changed?

Idk when but I guess around 50 000 km ago.

Just now, shahins said:

Idk when but I guess around 50 000 km ago.

 

Mine was 55k miles but on the other post someone was talking about having a Golf where they had to change them after 15k or something

Today I took apart front suspension and took out the bearing.  I went to a local garage and they tested the bearing and its completely fine. 

So now I'm at square one again. I have no idea where this sound is coming from. Any other suggestion? 

On 14/10/2019 at 03:01, shahins said:

Today I took apart front suspension and took out the bearing.  I went to a local garage and they tested the bearing and its completely fine. 

So now I'm at square one again. I have no idea where this sound is coming from. Any other suggestion? 

Tyres

 

Has someone rotated them front to rear recently?

 

How worn are they?  photos?

I finally found a solution for this noise!
I notised that my sound appered in lower speed limits, when I drove was driving upwind, so I checked the window.
The noise only appered on the left side, so I saw that a plastic clip was a little bit looser on this side, than on the none-sound-side.

 

Got some ducktejp and a little bit plastic, and the sound was gone!

 

This worked for me

On 30/10/2019 at 03:26, brad1.8T said:

Tyres

 

Has someone rotated them front to rear recently?

 

How worn are they?  photos?

I have the same problem on my Toledo. I know this is a Skoda forum, however, Toledo is literally the same as Rapid. 

So, I have had my front bearings changed - no change. I've had 4 new Michelin E-Primacy tyres fitted - no change. I've also bought another set of winter tyres on steel wheelies - no difference. I have also recently had fitted new front shocks as one of them was leaking - still the same. What are the other options?

What else could cause this high pitched whirring/droning noise? My car is currently on 31k miles and the droning loudness changes depending on what type of road I'm driving. When it's the typical "porous" UK road, it's super loud, however, it gets much quieter on these brand new soft roads they laid out around here the other day, but still, the droning noise is still there!

Could it be bad wheel alignment? I'm starting to lose my wits with this one. I've also driven in my friends 16 plate Skoda Rapid Spaceback, which esentially has the same suspension and everything and she doesn't have this high pitched noise. Her car is on 195/50/16 and mine on 185/60/15, though. That should have no impact on it though.

Any ideas guys? I'm literally going crazy. Thanks!

Run it through the gears with it secured up on axle stands and see if you can locate the source of your craziness or have a garage diagnose/rectify it.

5 minutes ago, MicMac said:

Run it through the gears with it secured up on axle stands and see if you can locate the source of your craziness or have a garage diagnose/rectify it.

Hmm I could try to do that, however,the noise is all the same 20mph+, no matter what gear its in. I also tried to run the car 70mph with the clutch depressed, crystal clear noise as the engine quieted down. 

 

My old 06 Octy II never had that issue. 😐

If engine RPM has no influence on sound you need to check from the gearbox onwards using a stethoscope.

CV joint? check the boots for any holes or signs of leaking grease.

1 hour ago, PNCZ said:

When it's the typical "porous" UK road, it's super loud, however, it gets much quieter on these brand new soft roads they laid out around here the other day, but still, the droning noise is still there!

 

And there, I think, is your answer.... it's the tyres (in conjuction with the suspension setup)

 

You chose Michelin E primacy tyres are designed for heavy EVs. They are ECO tyres, ultra low rolling resistance and very hard wearing. And thats the problem, ECO and EV specific tyres have a hard compound and stiff construction in order to acheive ECO status, the trade off being grip and their stiffness transmits through the wheel and suspension, and on basic setups like your car straight into the steering and bodywork. Lack of weight, any suspension isolation and insufficient sound deadening makes things sound worse especially when engines are so quiet nowadays.

 

I find you tend to tune into these noises and because its a drone type noise start to worry, I suffer exactly the same issue with my Superb and its OE P7 tyres. Very noisy. However occasionally I'll drive over a smooth continental type tarmac and the silence is so refreshing. Proving the tyres are the issue.

 

Don't confuse EU Noise ratings with what to expect in the cabin. Those noise ratings are external drive by ratings and have no relation with the noise transmitted through the suspension into the car.

 

On the plus side I've done 22,000 miles and the fronts are on exactly 5mm and rears on 6mm having started life at 7mm, again showing how hard the compound must be.

As a precaution, I would get the car on a lift and thoroughly check for any small oil leaks from the gearbox which I presume is a manual. Check the gearbox oil level, they only take around 2 litres so any leak is significant and low oil level means the gears over heat and an early demise. While its up in the air, check for side play (in/out) at the output shaft flanges, there should be none. If there is, then one or both diff support bearings are failing allowing the diff to move sideways. First audible symptoms are a drone under power or on the overrun, quietening or changing when when you put / lift your foot on/off the throttle, often accompanied with a clunk when go on/off/on throttle which is the diff moving side to side. Left too late, the diff will start to machine the inside of the housing.

Edited 9 February, 20224 yr by xman

Thank you for your input, @xman

The pitch/loudness of the droning noise is stable from 15mph+. I could almost say it feels like as if there were some bits of dust in something rotary, hence I've had the front bearings replaced.

Regarding the tyres - as I've mentioned above, I've had 3 different sets of tyres on the car and the droning noise is the same with all of them. I also sometimes get this sub-base wub wub wub noise as well, even after changing the wheel bearings. 

When I bought the car last May, I presumed the noise is coming from the tyres the car was on, as 2 of them were pretty worn. Then I changed it to the new e-Primacy ones, no change and then I fitted the winter ones on steelies, no change.
 

2 hours ago, xman said:

"quietening or changing when when you put / lift your foot on/off the throttle, often accompanied with a clunk.."

This doesn't happen at all. There is absolutely no difference between pressing the throttle or lifting my foot off of it. It also applies to any gears the car's in as once I depress the clutch and put the gearbox in neutral, the noise is still present.

 

2 hours ago, xman said:

 "often accompanied with a clunk when go on/off/on throttle which is the diff moving side to side."

No clunk whatsoever when "depressing->lifting->depressing" situation either.

55 minutes ago, PNCZ said:

also sometimes get this sub-base wub wub wub noise as well, even after changing the wheel bearings. 

 

If the wub wub wub noise is most noticeable at slow speed and linked to wheel rotation then that is almost certainly due a tyre that has irregular wear or is distorted/non circular.

 

I had this on one of my Fabias, the Michelin Crossclimates on the front had patches of quite severe abnormal wear on the inner side of the tread so in effect the tyre was changing its contact as it was rotating. Never found the real cause, but it happened at the same time the gearbox diff failed and I suspect the geometry was way out , maybe as a result.

 

Suggest you get a wheel alignment done, some places may even check it for free if no adjustments are required.

 

Edited 9 February, 20224 yr by xman

Not sure if this helps but some cars suffered from a horrible humming noise coming from the rear window quarter lights.  Mine suffered from it after a dent was repaired and the bodyshop hadn't seated the rubber trim properly. It was immediately noticeable from about 15-20mph so I turned the car around and took it back for them to fix.  It was hard to tell where the noise came from.

 

There were lots of threads about this problem on the forum in about 2010-2012. One fix was to put an old numberplate in the windown channel when the rear window was down and to give it a good thump with a mallet.

 

Edit: 

 

Edited 9 February, 20224 yr by Golf-Fiend

  

38 minutes ago, xman said:

If the wub wub wub noise is most noticeable at slow speed and linked to wheel rotation then that is almost certainly due a tyre that has irregular wear or is distorted/non circular.

 

It's most noticeable when driving 55+, on top of that, it's not present every time as it comes and goes. I guess I'll have to have the alignment checked to see if it goes away, but as I remember correctly, when I had the new Michelin tyres fitted, I asked for having the wheel alignment done as well. Now the question is, if the garage actually did it or not. I've been with this local garage for the past 3 years and I feel like sometimes they just don't do things I ask them for. Now, I usually supply my own parts, however, the last time I had my car in for an MOT and then eventually shocks replacement as one of them was leaking, they have fitted their supplied brand new shocks - one of them seems to be faulty as it's badly clunking. I've had it checked the other day along with the wheel bearings fitment and now I have this bad feeling they haven't fitted my wheel bearings (FAG ones) as I've asked for and just kept them. They had checked the wheel bearings about 3 months ago and said they are fine, hence the thought of the garage keeping them and thinking I won't spot it. But that's a different story, I suppose. 

 

 

17 minutes ago, Golf-Fiend said:

Not sure if this helps but some cars suffered from a horrible humming noise coming from the rear window quarter lights.  Mine suffered from it after a dent was repaired and the bodyshop hadn't seated the rubber trim properly. It was immediately noticeable from about 15-20mph so I turned the car around and took it back for them to fix.  It was hard to tell where the noise came from.

 

There were lots of threads about this problem on the forum in about 2010-2012. One fix was to put an old numberplate in the windown channel when the rear window was down and to give it a good thump with a mallet.

 

I know what you mean, however, the noise I'm going crazy about is more of an actual strange scratchy-high-pitched noise, rather than booming noise. I do have a booming noise in the cabin as well, which is apparently an issue with Rapids/Toledos produced before 2015, where there was an issue with a badly designed stock rear shocks, however, I have lifted the boot plastic bits that hold the 5th door when closed to have a little bit more clearance, so that the low frequency noise can escape. This has helped it a bit but I'm hoping once the rear shocks are replaced, it will resolve this issue completely. As long the rear shocks are okay, I'm going to leave them there as It's not driving me crazy that much at the moment.

 

 

 

I'm a bit in a weird situation when it comes to my car. There is couple of things I'd like to ask about (ie. driver side wing mirror chassis is loose, but I don't want to spam here). I expected to get rid of these minor issues when buying a newer car, however, it turns out there is more things to be ironed out, than I expected.  

 

At least I get decent fuel consumption and only £30 road tax.