Spoiler

Can any mechanics shed light on this please? For the past two years my front passenger wheel croaks and groans loudly over bumps. 

 

In this time I have paid to replace the anti roll bar bushes, drop links, top mount struts, and lower swing arms and balljoints to rectify the issue.

 

Shock absorber looks fine and doesn't appear to be leaking.

 

Any advice??

 

FYI: car is a 1.4 tdi, mk3, 2015.

 

 

You seem to have covered nearly or all of the usual suspects, maybe now check if the power train mountings are still okay, ie lower gearbox mounting and the upper gearbox mounting.

8 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

You seem to have covered nearly or all of the usual suspects, maybe now check if the power train mountings are still okay, ie lower gearbox mounting and the upper gearbox mounting.

What would the likelihood be of a worn shock on a 15 plate at 44k miles? Bearing in mind this noise has been ongoing since 20k miles? And I've not noticed any wear or tear in the shock from my inspection.

Definitely coming from mainly the front passenger side of the vehicle over bumps.

Would what you say result in croaking?

Car did have new clutch and flywheel conversion from dmf to solid flywheel around two years back.

So perhaps something is loose as you say and causing this croaking.

I'm not sure of the full scope of annoying noises that a failed front shock absorber could make, so I'll not comment there.

 

Why I've suggested the powertrain mountings is, because I had that issue on a 2015 Polo, but I could clearly discriminate between it being a suspension movement issue and it being a powertrain movement - if you can definitely discount it being a powertrain movement issue, then discount what I've suggested. 

 

Edit:- is this noise there at all times, or is it just there now and again, like in only dry winter weather, but not there in wet winter weather?  If so then it will just be annoying rubber mountings, my wife's 2015 Polo can get very noisy in a way that I could consider that "something needs sorting" - then a few days later, under different weather conditions that car's suspension is as noise free as it was when factory new.

Edited 10 February, 20233 yr by rum4mo

4 hours ago, CReese123 said:

my front passenger wheel croaks and groans loudly over bumps

Bushes, not just damper and suspension arm but front subframe, and rear suspension?

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

My wife's 2015 gets this, started fairly recently but was a squeak before this.  I've yet to investigate - but it better not be the front damper (or road spring) as the front dampers were a distress (and extremely annoying) purchase and replacement two MoTs back.

 

Very disappointing to find the VW front dampers are so short-lived and the replacements were "misting" at less than a year old and considered an MoT failure at the independent garage - yet weren't even an MoT Advisory at the Dealership that fitted them.

 

I think the croak to be more likely to be an engine or transmission based on when the squeak was - but of course it might be two, or more, different things causing a croak that now covers a squeak(s).

 

If there's nothing obvious to see what I will do to try locate the source of the croak is spray some GT85 on one bush at a time and drive the car over some humps and see if the noise differs (or disappears).  If it stops I'll see how long before it returns and decided from there.

 

German engineering quality. 🤣

Edited 10 February, 20233 yr by nta16
ETA: Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

5 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I'm not sure of the full scope of annoying noises that a failed front shock absorber could make, so I'll not comment there.

 

Why I've suggested the powertrain mountings is, because I had that issue on a 2015 Polo, but I could clearly discriminate between it being a suspension movement issue and it being a powertrain movement - if you can definitely discount it being a powertrain movement issue, then discount what I've suggested. 

 

Edit:- is this noise there at all times, or is it just there now and again, like in only dry winter weather, but not there in wet winter weather?  If so then it will just be annoying rubber mountings, my wife's 2015 Polo can get very noisy in a way that I could consider that "something needs sorting" - then a few days later, under different weather conditions that car's suspension is as noise free as it was when factory new.

It triggers whenever I go over a large speed hump and sounds as if it is coming from the front passenger side wheel.

It's worse in cold weather.

Not as noticeable in warm weather.

And regardless of weather, it is most likely to be heard first thing in the morning when going over humps (lots of speed humps where I live).

4 hours ago, CReese123 said:

It triggers whenever I go over a large speed hump and sounds as if it is coming from the front passenger side wheel.

It's worse in cold weather.

Not as noticeable in warm weather.

Dry or wet weather?

Spoiler

Betting on dry

 

16 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Dry or wet weather?

  Reveal hidden contents

Betting on dry

 

Both but worse in dry weather 

1 hour ago, CReese123 said:

Both but worse in dry weather 

It might be one or more dry bushes, maybe even subframe bushes or engine mounts. Try adding a few drops of brake fluid (used is fine here) to bushes, one at a time until you find the offending bush. Start with ones that haven't been replaced by the parts cannon.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

I'd prefer the use of GT85 as it's not harmful to paint, has a propellant so nor reliant on gravity, drives out water and has a nice smell.

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/CatS9OnKh38?start=173&end=223

 

On 10/02/2023 at 16:02, CReese123 said:

It triggers whenever I go over a large speed hump and sounds as if it is coming from the front passenger side wheel.

It's worse in cold weather.

Not as noticeable in warm weather.

And regardless of weather, it is most likely to be heard first thing in the morning when going over humps (lots of speed humps where I live).
 

Old forum I know. For anyone reading on this, I've had this problem since ownership of my car in Nov 22. I found out it was my bushes on the front control arms. Dealer quoted me £310 repair for one side, Euro car parts served me nicely with £15.99 for 2 bushes. Did both sides in a day. Would have been WAY easier to replace whole control arm, but hey ho.

 

Sound has since gone, although it hasnt been cold enough to know for sure. Until next winter!

1 hour ago, lewiswal47 said:

Old forum I know. For anyone reading on this, I've had this problem since ownership of my car in Nov 22. I found out it was my bushes on the front control arms. Dealer quoted me £310 repair for one side, Euro car parts served me nicely with £15.99 for 2 bushes. Did both sides in a day. Would have been WAY easier to replace whole control arm, but hey ho.

 

Sound has since gone, although it hasnt been cold enough to know for sure. Until next winter!

I never found the issue buddy and just accepted it for what it is. 

 

I've changed the control arms, top mount struts, amongst other things. I never pinpointed the exact issue. The car drives great all the same, and I can't justify wasting money to chase a phantom. Virtually everything suspension wise has been replaced.

Edited 29 May, 20233 yr by CReese123

51 minutes ago, CReese123 said:

I never found the issue buddy and just accepted it for what it is. 

 

I've changed the control arms, top mount struts, amongst other things. I never pinpointed the exact issue. The car drives great all the same, and I can't justify wasting money to chase a phantom. Virtually everything suspension wise has been replaced.

 

how bizarre! it happened on my mates old mk3 fabia too, must be a common issue. I pinned it down to my bushes as, well, see the picture…

@lewiswal47,  did these rear mountings just tear the voided rubber part, or did the complete rubber part detach from the metal casing?

 

Also how did you replace them, with the usual bespoke tool/press or other means, and finally did you manage to replace them just by removing the bolt and moving the lower arm round a bit.

 

I bought the bespoke tool/press but so far have not had a proper reason to replace these mounting bushes, though I sort of plan to, when one of them starts to tear, replace them both with the Audi TT etc non voided version, I have just swopped winter>summer wheels today and that lower mounting is still intact on both sides!  One side was replaced under warranty during the 2 year service, or close to then.

 

One thing that I noticed is, if you have lots of suspension noises from rubbery parts, after you have jacked the car and placed on axle stands etc when you check over everything, on starting to use the car without changing anything, the annoying suspension noises will have vanished - for "a while", which makes sense as all the moving elements have been moved a lot more than they normally get moved while driving around.

 

One thing that I did notice was, at 7 years and 10 months/43K miles, the rear bump stops are starting to break/tear just above where the pipe cover damper protector gets connected to them - which is about average age/miles for that part on these small VW Group cars, just a job that I should take care of soon now that I'm aware of this.

9 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

@lewiswal47,  did these rear mountings just tear the voided rubber part, or did the complete rubber part detach from the metal casing?

 

Also how did you replace them, with the usual bespoke tool/press or other means, and finally did you manage to replace them just by removing the bolt and moving the lower arm round a bit.

 

I bought the bespoke tool/press but so far have not had a proper reason to replace these mounting bushes, though I sort of plan to, when one of them starts to tear, replace them both with the Audi TT etc non voided version, I have just swopped winter>summer wheels today and that lower mounting is still intact on both sides!  One side was replaced under warranty during the 2 year service, or close to then.

 

One thing that I noticed is, if you have lots of suspension noises from rubbery parts, after you have jacked the car and placed on axle stands etc when you check over everything, on starting to use the car without changing anything, the annoying suspension noises will have vanished - for "a while", which makes sense as all the moving elements have been moved a lot more than they normally get moved while driving around.

 

One thing that I did notice was, at 7 years and 10 months/43K miles, the rear bump stops are starting to break/tear just above where the pipe cover damper protector gets connected to them - which is about average age/miles for that part on these small VW Group cars, just a job that I should take care of soon now that I'm aware of this.

 The complete rubber part had detached, when I removed the control arm it just popped right out.

 

I replaced them with great difficulty, At first me and my mate tried to use a Erbauer Holesaw to push the metal ring out, then we gave up and I found a bespoke press that my dad had used on my sisters mini cooper bushes. Although it was slightly too big, We managed to push it out using the Holesaw wedged between them.

 

Getting the new ones in was far easier, Just greased it up, lined up the new one & used the old ring to push them down into place. Took us about 4 hours to do the totally f**ked one, and about 30 mins on the other side as we knew what to do that time!

 

Thinking about it, I couldve taken that opportunity to upgrade my control arm & bushes to S1 or Ibiza cupra ones. Oh well!

 

Putting the control arm back in was a bit of a battle, But with a few kicks and shoves we got it all aligned and bolted back up. 

 

I believe the creaking noises i was experiencing over speed bumps or deceleration from a slow speed (ie 20mph to stop) was down to the rubber grinding and the metal ring grinding too, as the pushed up rubber was pushing the control arm down into the frame.