"Explosion" in car ?

[BBDom]

Strange one this ..... was driving home tonight at around 60mph and suddenly what can only be described as a massive bang / explosion happened inside the car.

 

Now I can liken this to a 12 bore shotgun type bang (I used to shoot) - not as loud but loud enough to actually make my ears ring. Think "idiot stepson jumping on a giant bubble wrap packet". First thought was the windscreen but no damage, nothing was thrown up from the road (I've checked the dashcam footage too). Next reaction was to grab my phone and check it for swelling / heat - fine as well. I do a fair bit of work with engines / high voltage / high current / fuel systems etc so follow my nose a lot for issues but nothing smelt out of the ordinary.

 

Spare tyre intact, nothing else in the car personal posession wise that could have caused that kind of noise. No damage to any of the bodywork / tyres, everything in the engine compartment seems normal.

 

I have a theory that is could have been the ICE system freaking out and making the noise but thought I'd pop it up on here to see if anyone else has experienced a similar issue.

 

Car is a MY18 1.5TSi SE Octavia.

[VRS_White_Hatch]

I wonder if the sound was outside the car but so loud you thought it was inside, RAF sonic boom - depends on distance away for the volume but can be very loud!!

[BBDom]

1 minute ago, VRS_White_Hatch said:

I wonder if the sound was outside the car but so loud you thought it was inside, RAF sonic boom - depends on distance away for the volume but can be very loud!!

Possible - certainly "felt" it more on my left side than right so you might be on the right lines. I doubt anything other than a sonic boom or explosion externally would cause that level of volume in the car.

[J.R.]

Had a couple of WinCe Shatnav cards that had a speech impediment with certain words where one syllable would make all the speakers try and leap out of the doors, it would always have me on edge waiting for it to happen again, it would be certain words of regular instructions but not every time.

 

Seatbelt pre-tensioner deployment? - a lot of heat and burnt gases would be expelled from any of the pyrotechnics.

 

 

[encephalopathy]

i had this a few times in my mark 2 vrs - it appeared to be the radio. quite unnerving when it happened. Nothing similar to date in the Mk3

[Walterzkoda]

I’d forgotten about my ‘incident’ until reading this thread.
 

Not long after getting the car, I was driving at around 50mph on a clear road, when there was a loud bang in the car. My first thought was that I’d run over something, even though the road was clear and my eyes went straight to the rear view mirror, with nothing to be seen. My second thought was that a tyre had blown, but again, that wasn’t the case and a good check around the bodywork later, suggests nothing was thrown at the car.

 

It’s a mystery ?

 

[roaddetective]

I had a loud bang when I was driving my last car, another Octavia VRS. I also felt a little vibration at the same time. I stopped as I thought I knew what it might be and I was right. One of the rear springs had broken, although it was still in place and driveable. Look closely underneath the car at each suspension spring to spot any breaks.

[nidza]

3 hours ago, Walterzkoda said:

I’d forgotten about my ‘incident’ until reading this thread.
 

Not long after getting the car, I was driving at around 50mph on a clear road, when there was a loud bang in the car. My first thought was that I’d run over something, even though the road was clear and my eyes went straight to the rear view mirror, with nothing to be seen. My second thought was that a tyre had blown, but again, that wasn’t the case and a good check around the bodywork later, suggests nothing was thrown at the car.

 

It’s a mystery ?

 

 

Mysteries doesn't exist, everything can be explained when you have enough information.

 

Most likely a stone. It can be stuck in the tire thread, or it can be launched by a truck 50-100m away. I had tens of stones hitting my car in the highway here, many times you can see them fly by. Windscreen is chopped in a few places, but luckily in one piece yet, front of the car and hood also have traces everywhere.

 

One case I had with a stuck stone in the P-Zero, most likely, aquaplaning channel (where else?). Entire car was shaking above 40mph. Stopped 3 times to see what is going on, checked wheel bolts, couldn't find anything. It finally dropped with a very loud bang in the back, hitting the underwing, after what shaking immediately stopped. 

[Lingnoi]

When I had this, it was the clips holding the air guide pipe to the throttle valve module which both snapped off completely. The inlet pressure was too much and blew the pipe off. The dealer had snapped one of the clips whilst working on the car and I had spotted this and told them. They agreed to fix it and would contact me when the part came in. They never did and I forgot to follow it up with them and a couple of months later I was driving at 60+mph on a dual carriageway, used kickdown acceleration to overtake another car and there was a massive bang and the car went into limp home mode. I have lost faith with my local Skoda dealers as a result of this because a technician broke the clip and put it back together hoping I wouldn't notice. The engine ingesting unfiltered filthy air from the under bonnet won't have helped it's longevity either, but so far it seems no worse off. This isn't the only thing that the dealer's technicians have done, more recently the crankcase breather pipe connected to the air filter housing was left split after they did a service involving an air filter change. Those things plus a couple of other items have made me wary of letting them touch my car ever again.

Edited 24 January, 2020 by Lingnoi

[TDIum]

That is a shocker Lingnoi I hope you spoke to the dealership service manager

[BBDom]

3 hours ago, Lingnoi said:

When I had this, it was the clips holding the air guide pipe to the throttle valve module which both snapped off completely. The inlet pressure was too much and blew the pipe off.

Reminded me of the time I was working in an engine dyno cell and they were testing the turbo hoses for leaks at 6 bar ........ that was a change of underwear time when one of those blew off ......

[Lingnoi]

2 hours ago, TDIum said:

That is a shocker Lingnoi I hope you spoke to the dealership service manager

 

Absolutely agree it's shocking but in my experience very little gets done if one makes a fuss. The dealership have been pretty shoddy from the day I bought the car secondhand from them nearly 4 years ago. It's a pity as I love the car itself but the dealership ruins the experience. So much so, I'd be very tempted to choose another manufacturer for my next car.

[TDIum]

All you can do is alert them to the problem. If they fail to do anything about the shoddy spannering their business won't survive for long. I suppose you could do it in writing, and escalate it up the Skoda UK chain. Not saying you will get anything out of this, mind. 

[varaderoguy]

Sounds definitely like a broken spring. I had this on a 2009 Scout (Barnie) that I used to own. That went off with an enormous bang. The spring breaks are not at all obvious but it is worth getting a health check at your nearest dealer and tell them about the loud bang.

[Walterzkoda]

12 hours ago, nidza said:

 

Mysteries doesn't exist, everything can be explained when you have enough information.

 

Mysteries don’t exist ?  Sacrilege I tell you 😉  You obviously didn’t have enough Scooby Doo in your life when you were growing up 🤣

[BBDom]

46 minutes ago, Walterzkoda said:

Mysteries don’t exist ?  Sacrilege I tell you 😉  You obviously didn’t have enough Scooby Doo in your life when you were growing up 🤣

Hey - just noticed where you're from. I spent a bit of time up your way in the early 90's picking fruit at a farm in Parton ...... hope it hasn't changed at all

[Walterzkoda]

6 minutes ago, BBDom said:

Hey - just noticed where you're from. I spent a bit of time up your way in the early 90's picking fruit at a farm in Parton ...... hope it hasn't changed at all

Small world.  
 

I actually live in Durham, but my gf lives in Kirkcudbright and I spend most of my time at hers, thus both locations get a mention. I’m still getting to know the area, but as small as Parton is, I do know it. We do a lot of kayak training on Loch Ken and use the big lay-by, not far north of Parton.

[BBDom]

1 minute ago, Walterzkoda said:

Small world.  
 

I actually live in Durham, but my gf lives in Kirkcudbright and I spend most of my time at hers, thus both locations get a mention. I’m still getting to know the area, but as small as Parton is, I do know it. We do a lot of kayak training on Loch Ken and use the big lay-by, not far north of Parton.

I've jumped off the old bridge a few times into Loch Ken - also knew Mungo and Penny who ran the camp site as well as the guys who owned a farm further down the road. Found the place by accident and ended up staying / working there over summer one year. Even ended up joining in the yearly Games. Great memories and lovely part of the world.