I've owned my brand new Octavia vRS for week now. Last night as I started the car up for my journey home from work it made quite a concerning noise. The sort of noise a slipping fanbelt makes. I opened the bonnet to have a look, and it wasn't the fanbelt but the sound was coming from around the top left corner of the engine cover. It is the petrol TFSI version.

Outside temps were around 3 degrees.

I let her sit there warming up for a good 5 minutes, in which time the noise became quieter as it warmed up.

After I let it warm up I decided to go on my way, keeping the revs below 3k. It came to a point where the noise has momenterally stopped so I booted it just the once and there was no drop in performance whatsoever. For the rest of the journey it appeared that the sound had gone.

Then this morning I started it for the journey to work, and it was doing it again. After it warms up it goes away.

Should I get the AA out to have a look at it?

It's a bit concerning as the car is only 1 week old which has been driven sensibly for its short, but entire life so far. :(

Any help or advice would be fantastic.

Harry

Yes, i have a suggestion.....If it's only a week old take it back to your dealer, presumably it's under warranty!?

Personally i would not like the idea of Mr AA spannerman looking at it at such a young age, not unless you need a tow to the dealer that is.

As Ken says pop it back to your dealer for a check over.

I'd be inclined to call the dealer from a mobile while it is cold and making the noise and ask for their advice! No point in arriving at the dealer with it all warmed up! If they say 'bring it in', fine. If they say 'tow it in', fine. If they say 'it'll be OK'(!!!), I'd then ring Skoda Customer Services and get their advice. They should then record it as a potential problem under your reg mark, which may help on a warranty claim in the future.

A 'slipping fanbelt' type noise from the top of the engine sounds, worst case, like oil starvation on the camshafts, best case, just a 'clearance' problem with a bolt head just touching a rotating part until it all heats up.

Don't know if it's relevant, but there was a thread on here last winter about Fabias making a sort of whistling / squeaking noise when warming up on a cold day. IIRC, everyone agreed that the noise went away once their cars warmed up, so it was probably Just One Of Those Things...

isn't that where the auxillary air pump hides??

they sometimes get a bit noisey!

Well the car is back at the dealers hopefully find a solution tomorrow. Not that impressed -

My fabia made a nasty squeaky rattly noise this morning, but it went away after a few seconds. Didnt do much winter driving in my 1.4 last year, so im being very cautious bout what the car does.

Kev

Mine is doing exactly the same. Dealer attempted fix by repositioning cam belt cover to no effect. Booked in again next week.

Mine got fixed within 2 days. (FR Pulleyn of York are excellent)

When I picked it up the mechanics had gone home so I'm not sure on what exactly was the matter with it, but all is well now.

Could you find out what the problem was as my dealer has failed to find the fault

Thanks for the info Harry, my car has been diagnosed with the same problem as yours. It seems that on start up when the temp is below around 4 degrees C, the cam belt pulley is fouling the upper cam cover. The fix requires replacement of both the upper cam belt covers. Unfortunately these covers are not available in the country and are on "Back Order" no telling when they might be fitted. Could this be because so many are being required?

I'm guessing they just adjusted the cover if it was done on the same day.

Take your point but F R Pulleyn reckon they replaced two cam belt covers

Yes they did. Very quick diagnosis and swiftly dealt with. I was back on the road in no time.