Brake noise on Octavia 2

[guineapig]

My Octavia 2 (1.9 Tdi 06 reg) has had a strange noise coming from the offside front wheel since I bought it. The bearing on that wheel was changed after about 3 weeks, but the noise has gradually got louder since then and I'm suspecting now that it's the brakes as it seems it gets louder when I'm braking.

The most accurate description of the sound I can give is that it sounds like the noise you get when sitting on a plane and it's starting to take off - a kind of rough, resonant howling sound (although not quite as loud yet).

The sound also changes with the road surface - I know it's not the road noise as I can hear that under it. On the smoothest tarmac it's still there but nowhere near as bad.

Has anyone come across this before? I'm sure it's got to be connected the the braking system as even a light tap of the brake pedal makes it louder.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to cure it or could a dealer sort it out?

Sorry to go on, but I really need help with this as it's starting to make my ears ring quite badly after a long journey (there is only so far you can turn the stereo up to mask the sound).

cheers in advance,

guineapig.

[bub]

Sounds like your wheel bearing.!!!

Try and find a quite bit of tarmac with bends. Drive along the road and if

the noise gets louder on the bends then I would suspect the bearing.

However if the garage claim they fixed the bearing it might have something

to do with the final drive. Take it back to the garage and comlain.

[guineapig]

I've had it checked for wheel bearing problems three times now and each time I get told that there's nothing wrong with it.

It does get worse under braking - much louder.

I could always try a dfferent dealer.

guineapig

[Organist]

That's a wheel bearing - no question of it!

[guineapig]

I'm going to try a third and final dealer today to see if they can sort the problem out and if I don't get any joy there, I'm going to complain direct to Skoda.

[Octavia 2 vRS]

Wheel Bearing or maybe a stone in the disc NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY

[guineapig]

To be honest, I'm not bothered if I have to pay for something doing or not - the noise has gotten so annoying now that I would happily pay for someone to make it stop.

It's booked into the final dealer next week, so hopefully somehting will come of it.

guineapig

[bub]

Let us know what the findings are. out of interest.

[Toneboy]

One easy way to check if it is bearings is to find a large space like an empty car park then do a series of gentle swerves.

If you are turning right for example and the noise becomes more pronounced then it could be a LHd wheel bearing. It shows up as you load the relevant wheel bearing.

[guineapig]

Turning doesn't make any difference apart from a fairly sharp right hand turn at speed (eg. 50 mph) and that seems to flag up a sound coming from the nearside rear wheel.

The bulk of the noise though is coming from the offside front (when sitting in the drivers seat), but when sitting in the passenger seat, the sound starts coming from the rear.

I've only managed to sit in the back once and the sound was definitely coming from the nearside rear then.

Could the sound be thrown around inside the car so much? I seem to remember once just after getting the car I had a mobile phone ring which was in the boot and the sound appeared to be coming from the offside front.

I'll post how the car gets on when it goes in on Thursday - it'll have been sitting for 2 days without being driven (the longest it hasn;t moved since it was bought), so hopefully if it is a bearing it should have had time to get rougher.

guineapig

[Toneboy]

Yes sounds are hard to pin point, but if it is a bearing then loading and unloading the load pressure on the duff bearing should show it up and pin point it by doing the turns I described above.

Next to water leaks I think sounds are difficult to track down, I could tell you some stories!

[guineapig]

Hmm, just driven the car back from the station after it has been sitting there for 2 days.

Noise is still there, but there is more of a 'brake rubbing' / hum / howl noise.

Also, the car feels like it's being driven with the handbrake on.

So, just as an experiment (and as there are lots of nice straight very quiet country lanes where I live), I got up to about 50mph in 4th and did a bit of left foot braking (whilst keeping the power on).

After i took my foot off the brake the car really struggled to get back up to speed - and this was with the revs at 1,900 (max tourque). tried this again in 3rd and also then in 5th. I also tried 4th and 3rd again but this time with higher revs. Same thing every time - car really struggled to get going again.

does this sound like the brakes binding? It would explain the sound (resonant moo-ing) and also the fact I can sometimes feel it through the steering wheel......

Just a thought before I take it in tomorrow.

guineapig

P.S. a quick tap of the brake disks with the blunt end of a screwdriver and.....roughly same frequency as the noise......

[rana77]

Check the brake discs , maybe they need a rectification. Or new brakes.

[Toneboy]

Yep this sounds as though is now a dealer visit job, by messing around like this you could be causing yet more damage.

[guineapig]

Well, took the car in today but they couldn't 'hear anything untoward'. By that, I think they mean that the noise is normal. I did keep getting told that the cars to transmit a lot of road noise into the cabin, but the conversation dried up when I mentioned that can tell the difference between road noise and this particular noise.

Anyway, one result came out - they can to a complete brake clean...not under warranty though....at a cost of £58.

I'm still undecided on this one...the noise hasn't really got any worse over 2000 miles - it's just changed from a growly rough noise through to a low moan / howl now.

One thing to note is that it takes about 15 / 20 minutes of driving to get it up to full song - annoying as it wasn't really apparent at the dealer and on the test drive, but by the time I got home it was there again.

Does this suggest brake discs heating up and rubbing on the pads?

Anyone reckon it's worth going to the brake cleaning?

guineapig

[guineapig]

Car went in today for the 'Brake Clean' ... and the result?

Well, the noise seems to have been coming from the metal guard behind the brake disc - a quick tap of it produced a sound at the same frequency as the howl.

One quick 'bend' of it later and hey - most of the noise has gone.

Not sure if it's completely cured, but it sounds a lot better now (and I can hear the noise of the blower on setting '1')

cheers,

guineapig

[rana77]

But that was EXACTLY what i told you to do: a brake disc rectification. I don't know if you call it that way in your country, but its to put perfectly flat the disc and some other corrections. Good luck with the noise now.