Hi there,

Just asking for your collective thoughts about a click type noise coming from the front right wheel of my 2005 1.4 16v estate on 121,000 miles.

The noise is heard more at slow speeds as there is less road and wind noise.

If the last manoeuvre was reversing the click/ tick noise will occur as the drive is taken up as I move forward. If I keep on moving forward with the transmission under load the noise does not reoccur.

If the last manoeuvre was going forward, the click will occur as I start to reverse and once again will only reoccur when the direction is changed again. Steering angle makes no difference.

So something like a 3 point turn with produce lots of clicks as it is most audible at low speeds.

It is not the pad moving in the calliper as the same occurs if I apply light brake pressure.

I’ve had the wheel off and there is nothing obviously loose from a wiggle and external inspection. No play in the wheel bearings or steering gear.

However, It is not possible to demonstrate the noise by manually rotating the roadwheel backwards and forwards.

My son who is to be relied on said the noise appears to be coming from the wheel area when I did some up and down manoeuvres in the street.

My thoughts are resting with a dodgy driveshaft with wear and as the slack is taken up in the joint the metallic click is heard.

I’d really appreciate any comments and I realise you have not heard the noise!?

Just an extra thought, I was in a multi storey today where the clicks were very apparent.

I was last there maybe a month ago and nothing was noticeable then so it’s a fairly recent thing and it’s even fair to say that it’s getting louder.

If the bearings have no play and feel smooth it could be the CV joint thats wearing out. Had one that used to click/clunk at full lock. It in my case was outer one. Didnt seem to be any play but noise disappeared once I replaced it.

Alasdair

Just an update as I think I might have solved the problem.

I got ready by buying a replacement driveshaft. Luckily, I did not take it out of the sealed plastic….

So after thoroughly digesting my Haynes on the subject, I got ready to remove the bolt on the end of the driveshaft in the hub.

Haynes said be prepared that the nut will be very tight.

I had a 36mm 12 point socket poised on the nut with a long extension for max leverage.

Quite surprising that the nut was not tight at all and even almost loose!! So the driveshaft must have been moving in the hub making the click noise.

The driveshaft nut is a one use only and has wings on that interfere with the housing to prevent it undoing on its own.

There were no wings left, just rusty stumps where they had been snapped off and so sometime in the cars history it has been off and then put on again rather than replacing and then gunned up. The edges were chewed showing excess use of the impact gun tightening it up.

So I tightened it up thoroughly for a test round the block. Noise seemed to have disappeared.

I bought two new Febi 12 point nuts and checked the other side too. That was fairly loose as well.

So both replaced and all seems fine after torquing to 37 lbs ft plus 45 degrees.

Moral of the story, if a nut or a bolt is single use, use it once then replace if it needs to come off again.

Fingers crossed I can get a refund on the unopened driveshaft!

I know the nuts your talking about exactly. When they tighten up they click but if you loosen them the tabs break off. My sons had been reused as well. Noticed when I did the front bearings. At least someone had used thread lock on them but I replaced them as the bearing kits had new ones. Reckon they will take drive shaft baack no problem as its still sealed. Glad it was a simple fix.

Alasdair

4 minutes ago, Alasdair1 said:

I know the nuts your talking about exactly. When they tighten up they click but if you loosen them the tabs break off. My sons had been reused as well. Noticed when I did the front bearings. At least someone had used thread lock on them but I replaced them as the bearing kits had new ones. Reckon they will take drive shaft baack no problem as its still sealed. Glad it was a simple fix.

Alasdair

Your son was lucky, mine were not locktited.

In the photo, old and new where you can see one of the tabs missing on the old one. Both sides just span off.

Disappointingly, it may have happened last year at my local “trusted” garage where I had the front shocks replaced.

Release lower ball joint and driveshaft to make getting the shock out easier.

The car has been in my ownership six years and no hassle in this area before.

Thats not good coming from a garage. Reckon they forgot to order two new ones and thought they would get away with it. Hope it hasn't done any damage to bearings. I would have a word with them and if the bearings start to rumble get them to replace them. At least you noticed before it became catastrophic.

Alasdair

1 hour ago, Alasdair1 said:

Thats not good coming from a garage. Reckon they forgot to order two new ones and thought they would get away with it. Hope it hasn't done any damage to bearings. I would have a word with them and if the bearings start to rumble get them to replace them. At least you noticed before it became catastrophic.

Alasdair

The question could be tricky as I give the boss clay pigeon shooting lessons and I used to teach his son who also works there GCSE Science.

Bit disappointed if it’s happened there!

Yeah, I would suspect the same, especially when you weren't having work done on that specific area, so to speak.

I'd make sure the Silver Pigeon is broken in the boot, and then ask him about it. It might be an honest mistake or it might be the actions of one mechanic. Either way, I'd hope he would want to know.

28 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

Yeah, I would suspect the same, especially when you weren't having work done on that specific area, so to speak.

I'd make sure the Silver Pigeon is broken in the boot, and then ask him about it. It might be an honest mistake or it might be the actions of one mechanic. Either way, I'd hope he would want to know.

Ha Ha, wash your mouth out, no Berettas in my cabinet!!

3 minutes ago, prt57 said:

Ha Ha, wash your mouth out, no Berettas in my cabinet!!

Ah, you're a Purdey man?

I'm only a rifle shooter - I've always struggled with other stuff as I'm a right handed, left eye dominant glasses wearer. I did have a Benelli S/A I put 36g or 42g or loads into for some fun, mind. In fact, the day before I test drove Occy I'd been playing around with some Hull 50g export stuff in a mates Franchi Magnum. I could barely reach the shifter the next day😂

59 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

Ah, you're a Purdey man?

I'm only a rifle shooter - I've always struggled with other stuff as I'm a right handed, left eye dominant glasses wearer. I did have a Benelli S/A I put 36g or 42g or loads into for some fun, mind. In fact, the day before I test drove Occy I'd been playing around with some Hull 50g export stuff in a mates Franchi Magnum. I could barely reach the shifter the next day😂

No Purdeys either. Mostly Browning O/U.

I’ve had my coaching gun for about 12 years, it’s a preowned Browning B525 with 30” barrels. It’s seen about 500,000 cartridges with me and to date has only cost me about £100 in spare parts. Lots of maintenance every week to keep it happy.

3 minutes ago, prt57 said:

No Purdeys either. Mostly Browning O/U.

I’ve had my coaching gun for about 12 years, it’s a preowned Browning B525 with 30” barrels. It’s seen about 500,000 cartridges with me and to date has only cost me about £100 in spare parts. Lots of maintenance every week to keep it happy.

Said Franchi Magum is a heavily used single barrel job, picked up from the defunct clearance rack. With the rust, It think it was something like £85. It's had a few thousand 50g carts put through it, which is no mean feat!

I suppose if you had Purdeys, you'd be unlikely to be on a Skoda forum!

10 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

Said Franchi Magum is a heavily used single barrel job, picked up from the defunct clearance rack. With the rust, It think it was something like £85. It's had a few thousand 50g carts put through it, which is no mean feat!

I suppose if you had Purdeys, you'd be unlikely to be on a Skoda forum!

I bet 50g cartridges pack a punch.

Nothing wrong with a Fabia. It cost me £250 five years ago and apart from when the battery died, it has never let me down!

I've taken off the original factory fitted nuts on a couple of cars, and the locking tangs were still intact - I wasn't very impressed with that, the only ones that I took off and they broke as expected, was a 2002 VW Polo - the one's that didn't break were on a 2009 SEAT Ibiza and a 2015 VW Polo - still the same part number .

That's very clean - almost suspiciously so!

I was meaning more for this, or the Holland & Holland one - although with the price of some of the new Skoda range, it's not far off.

The 50g carts a Hull export job I believe, but they are stocked in the UK for game (not too sure what exactly, but there you go). They're absolutely shocking, but they are quite fun. The only thing I've used with more kick is a straight pull .338 Lap Mag - 300gr moving at 3,000ft a second.

Almost as fast as my Octavia 😉 Mind you, I suspect your Fabia is better in shooting environments than my vRS - I've not been yet, but I've been to several MTB places and grounded out every time!

4 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

That's very clean - almost suspiciously so!

I was meaning more for this, or the Holland & Holland one - although with the price of some of the new Skoda range, it's not far off.

The 50g carts a Hull export job I believe, but they are stocked in the UK for game (not too sure what exactly, but there you go). They're absolutely shocking, but they are quite fun. The only thing I've used with more kick is a straight pull .338 Lap Mag - 300gr moving at 3,000ft a second.

Almost as fast as my Octavia 😉 Mind you, I suspect your Fabia is better in shooting environments than my vRS - I've not been yet, but I've been to several MTB places and grounded out every time!

Honestly, that’s the beast with 121k miles on.

I’ve also got this as well, close to 380 BHP now. It certainly does not go to the shouting ground

6 minutes ago, prt57 said:

Honestly, that’s the beast with 121k miles on.

I’ve also got this as well, close to 380 BHP now. It certainly does not go to the shouting ground

That's very pretty - I'm a sucker for an 8P S3. That's an FL isn't it?

A neighbour used to have a dark blue manual 8P PFL S3. It wasn't far off 380bhp (I want to say it was 340ish). Of all the cars I've ever been in, it was by far one of my favourite. It was nowhere near the fastest on paper (that goes to a 918 or Taycan Turbo S), but it felt one of the fastest and most useable.

We've just said goodbye to our 2011 1.4 Sportback. Absolute top spec - special colour, pan roof, electric cream leather bucket seats, Bose system, heated and cooled everything.

The poor thing was tired (95,000 London miles will do that) but damn was that a good little car. Even though it was knackered, it still sat very happily at... the speed limit... on the way to Scotland and France. I've no doubt someone will tidy it up (something we just didn't want to do, given the limitations of stuff like the headlights, connectivity, etc), do the bits that need doing and run it until 200,000 miles.

They don't make them like they used to.

14 minutes ago, OccyVRS said:

That's very pretty - I'm a sucker for an 8P S3. That's an FL isn't it?

A neighbour used to have a dark blue manual 8P PFL S3. It wasn't far off 380bhp (I want to say it was 340ish). Of all the cars I've ever been in, it was by far one of my favourite. It was nowhere near the fastest on paper (that goes to a 918 or Taycan Turbo S), but it felt one of the fastest and most useable.

We've just said goodbye to our 2011 1.4 Sportback. Absolute top spec - special colour, pan roof, electric cream leather bucket seats, Bose system, heated and cooled everything.

The poor thing was tired (95,000 London miles will do that) but damn was that a good little car. Even though it was knackered, it still sat very happily at... the speed limit... on the way to Scotland and France. I've no doubt someone will tidy it up (something we just didn't want to do, given the limitations of stuff like the headlights, connectivity, etc), do the bits that need doing and run it until 200,000 miles.

They don't make them like they used to.

No, it's PFL from 2007. Aluminium underpinnings rather than the pressed metal of the later cars.

You can drive it quite normally around town etc but get it to 4K revs and the beast awakens!