Buzz in dashboard

[Txmax]

I am new to this forum. Before opening a new thread I have read all the information concerning rattles, buzzes and other strange noises that are common on my car. I have been amazed that many people here have problems with this. Until now car was very silent, but since a month or so I have an annoying buzz, very low volume but noticable coming from (I think) the center dash on the center vents area I think. I have checked the following:

 

- There is nothing loose on the glovebox and other compartments causing the noise.

- Fuel lines seem to be OK, as this is known to cause rattles in VAG cars sometimes.

- Pollen filter seems to be OK, I have tried to put a small piece of cloth between the two halves of the filter housing and it did no difference.

 

I have read that it can be some plastic part at the rear of the center vents. I have ordered an special tool to remove the vents and check if there is some plastic - plastic contact causing the rattle, but I would like to be sure if the noise is really coming from there before starting to disassemble things.

 

My car has 76.000 Km (47.000 miles) and I think the noise is new, I mean I began to hear it a month ago and now I can’t stop hearing it.

 

Specifically it happens when:

 

- Car is at operating temperature with oil temperature over 100 C.

- Seems to be linked with the engine load. Downhill it won’t make it. When accelerating or going on a slope with partial charge it will appear.

- When the car is stopped sometimes it can be heard at around 2.000 rpm (resonance). (Car is a TDI 150)

 

Has anyone a similar issue? It’s driving me mad!! 

[penguin17]

Seems to be a a common area for a buzz.  I reported a similar problem to my dealer within 3 months of having the car.  Oddly it becomes silent in Winter as I surmise that whatever surfaces are close enough to interface and cause the vibration have contracted just enough, in the cold.   With my car it normally manifests above 3.5-4K revs and continues till about 5.5k revs and becomes more intense/louder as the revs increase. It sounds like a very angry bee!  I've padded out and taped the area around my central dash speaker cover and vent and also unscrewed the speaker and checked in that void but nothing seems to be the culprit.  I'm pretty sure it's originating from behind the two central dash vents.   Frustratingly I couldn't access that area when I taken the speaker out due to the angle/proximity of the windscreen. 

 

I've seen reports that there's HVAC pipes and ancillaries which run from this area to behind the bulkhead which are prone to vibrate/rattle.  I was going to wait until Spring and buy the tool which I think you've also purchased and remove the centre vent assembly to see if there's anything obvious.  I've given up on the dealer investigating any further; they observed it first hand and still said they couldn't find anything and/or the tech tasked with fixing it couldn't even hear a noise.  Typical! 

 

Sorry not much concrete info, I wish I could help more but please keep this thread updated as it could help me and a few others who've reported a similar problem. 

[Txmax]

Thanks for the reply. I went today to the dealer just to notice that it has shut down... forever. I have to find a new dealership where they don’t know me and explain the problem so to be honest, I don’t have much confidence that they will solve the problem as the typical answer will be as you say “we don’t hear it”, “it’s normal”, etc. That’s why I’m trying to find a solution by myself.

 

Has anyone drawings or indications on how to dismantle the center vents / dash, speaker and so on?

[penguin17]

 

[Txmax]

Thank you. In this thread I found the refernce number for the tool, that I ordered in Aliexpress. Still waiting for it.

[Txmax]

Yesterday I took the car to a new dealership in the city I live now, Valencia. What a horrible experience. When I bought the car I paid an extra 300 € for an extra warranty year. Ok until here. They didn’t recognise this warranty, didn’t want to bother working on the car and at the end I took my car back home and placed a complain to Skoda Spain. 

 

Will try again in an other “stealership”. Wish me more luck...

[mandp]

More Luck, Mate.

[Itsrelfy]

Sounds similar to an issue I had. It was eventually. Rectified by replacing the evaporator pipes behind the dash and a brace or bracket that holds them in place. 

Link to that thread is here. 

[Txmax]

21 hours ago, Itsrelfy said:

Sounds similar to an issue I had. It was eventually. Rectified by replacing the evaporator pipes behind the dash and a brace or bracket that holds them in place. 

Link to that thread is here. 

 

Thanks for your feedback. To replace these evaporator pipes did they have to remove the dash? Or they did it from the inside of the engine compartment?

[pcspinheiro]

I just posted about this on another topic that I opened some time ago. I have this annoying metallic-like rattling noise under load, most noticeble on steep uphills when in 2nd or 3rd gear, but it's there most of the time. This week, by chance, I discover that it immediately and completely goes away if I turn on the AC. Therefore it does point to something AC related, and not "normal injector noise" as I was told at the dealer! Will take the car back and threaten with a written complain to Skoda if they keep ignoring the problem. 

Edited 13 February, 2020 by pcspinheiro

[GAG]

You would be wasting your time complaining to Skoda if the dealer won't fix it under warranty. I made a complaint to them regarding a warranty problem and Skoda replied "Each retailer is franchised and have their own warranty clerk on sites to make decisions on the vehicles that are brought into them.  Customer Care are not in a position to overturn any warranty decision"

[Itsrelfy]

6 hours ago, Txmax said:

 

Thanks for your feedback. To replace these evaporator pipes did they have to remove the dash? Or they did it from the inside of the engine compartment?

They removed a lot of the dash is what I was told. She said it was quite an involved job took them. A while to complete it. I think they had the car around a week. 

[Txmax]

23 hours ago, Itsrelfy said:

They removed a lot of the dash is what I was told. She said it was quite an involved job took them. A while to complete it. I think they had the car around a week. 

And how did you convince the dealership to accept the repair? It looks like a massive job that can lead to having even more rattles afterwards.

[Itsrelfy]

It took quite a lengthy conversation for them to take it back in out of warranty and look and the conversation ended by them saying that they would take it and look only. I just stuck to my guns and said that they had had just over a year and multiple times to fix it and every time I got it back I was told it was fixed but it wasn't. 

 

After they took it in and had it a few days they phoned to say they thought they had found what was wrong and that they were going to replace the parts. 

 

When I got the car back they said they were picking up the cost. 

 

I consider myself very lucky because that was a fair while ago now and it's been OK ever since. I guess the opportunity is there for other rattles to occur but luckily I haven't had any. 

[Txmax]

I need to find a honest dealer that has time and is willing to look after my problem. I’m not sure this is possible in my area though 😄