Hi all, I own a mk3 Octavia TDI Vrs. Recently a rumbling sound has developed that seems to be coming from the front of the car. This sound slows as the car slows, I’ve checked the front wheel bearings and no sign of wear, the noise doesn’t get any better/worse whilst cornering so I’m ruling out cv joints. Visual checks under the front don’t reveal any damaged joints. Brakes have recently been replaced (discs and pads) and the front tyres are sub 1000 miles and I’ve had the tracking done.

if anyone could shed any light or perhaps I’ve missed something obvious!

many thanks

Have you confirmed it's linked to car speed and not engine speed?

I have not, it’s hard to decipher but what I can say is that it sounds a lot like going over rumble strips on a dual carriageway approaching a roundabout 

Hmm. Maybe sawtoothing on the tyre/s? If you are confident it's not the bearing or CV there's only a few more things it can be.

I had a similar noise at low speeds only, I was convinced that it was a wheel bearing except it did not change amplitude when I threw the weight of the car from one side to the other.

 

I checked everything and could not find any play anywhere then I realised that it was only doing it in the UK on the rotten roads around my property in Sussex and only when I drove on a rare badly surfaced road in France, that gave me the clue that it was the anti-roll bar drop links, no visible play but some wear and the noise dissapeared when I changed them.

 

They are cheap and easy to replace so it wont do you any harm to change yours to eliminate the possibility.

 

If the rumbling noise is very regular like your description of the rumble strips and proportional to your speed then ignore my suggestion.

I have had 3 wheel bearings replaced on my mk2 over a number of years. Not wishing to question your mechanical ability, on one occasion I was assured by a reputable garage who checked the car out that it was not a wheel bearing. After eliminating other possible causes I had the bearing replaced anyway. Solved the problem. 

Thanks for the replies peeps, I will have a look at replacing the drop links and after that I will also try and check the rear wheel bearings as I know sound locations can be deceiving! My hope is that it’s something straight forward and nothing gearbox/ engine related

How old are the tyres? 

The fronts are 3 months old but barely any mileage on them, the rears however haven’t been changed in the 3 years I’ve owned the car

10 hours ago, Dmaudsley said:

Thanks for the replies peeps, I will have a look at replacing the drop links and after that I will also try and check the rear wheel bearings as I know sound locations can be deceiving!

As per the suggestion from @MarkyG82also take a look at all the tyres for sawtoothing - that's been reported to be the cause of strange noises several times on here.

My money's on rear tyres as Marky said. Saw toothing or out of balance.

What do we think?, tried to get a decent photo, they are old but still enough tread so hadn’t thought about replacing them just yet

Can you post a picture of the tread please? That's where any sawtoothing will be visible.

Is that a better angle?

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I can't see any sawtoothing there, which IMHO rules that out.

Looks like a lot of cracks though. I wouldn't want to drive on those.

It still might be the tyres as they are old and worn. Depending on the compound of the tyre and tread design can make them very noisy.

*update* 

I replaced the rear tyres and the rumbling is gone, they were on the edge age wise, had some splitting and even an imbedded nail! 
I’m a little ashamed that I hadn’t thought to replace them earlier 😞 

the car is nice and quiet now and I recommend Michelin Pilot sport 4 👍

 

Thanks for all the help peeps 🙌