Recently, I (Trev) had some hassles with a funny noise that was originating from the front of my car. It was a knocking sort of noise that was only heard at low speeds and only after the car had been running for a while - eg, just after a highway drive. This 'knocking' noise seemed to be coming from very low down…towards the lower right front suspension. I took the car in to VW quite a few times, and I had my outer CV joints, and right wheel bearing and hub replaced. They also diagnosed the sunroof and ball-joint as being the cause….they were wrong!! After having most of my suspension 'looked at' I felt it was time I to do something….
It was then that Vish and I decided to try and locate the fault on our own……the first thing we had to do was to try and reproduce the sound with the car standing still. We tried pressing down on the body just above what seemed like the source of the noise….this did not reproduce it. Then, we tried rocking the car left and right, and guess what……we could hear the noise.
Then, we tried to locate the exact source of the noise as follows:
Vish rocked the car while I felt around for the culprit. In about 30 minutes, I discovered that the noise could actually be felt on the sway bar…..this is shown in the pic below:
I took the car to VW again and told them about my discovery…..the diagnosis from their side was that the end link and bush on the sway bar did not seem to be right. They replaced it, and the noise has not returned since!
While going through all of those problems, I also learned a few other possible sources of noises in these cars:
1. Wheel bearing click
This used to be a problem on the MK III golfs, and I guess it could surface with the MKIV's as well. What usually happens is that the bearing becomes a little loose in the hub, and this results in a loud 'click' noise when making a turn. A common cause of this is putting bigger wheels on the car. Eg, if your wheel spec is 14" from the factory, and you put on a 17" wheel, the increase in force experienced by the wheel bearing causes it to become loose in the hub.
2. Sunroof 'knock'
Another common source of rattles is believe it or not the sunroof. The bolts holding the sunroof sometimes become a little loose, and this results in a very irritating rattle/knocking noise - nothing a little lubricating spray and tightening won't cure. This is however best left to you VW workshop as it is a very difficult place to work.
3. Door U bolts
This is one that I have not personally experienced, but that was suggested to me by a few people on the VW Club of South Africa bulletin board (See links). Apparently, with a little wearing, the door catches become a little loose when latching onto the U portion of the mechanism. This is said to be curable by using insulation tape on this U clamp, and in doing so, making the closed door sit tighter. The way to do it is to wrap some insulation tape on the U catch - just enough so that you can close your door, and this will cure that problem.
4. General rattles and squeaks
Believe it or not, but a lot of the rattles and squeaks come from the contact between the door and the door rubbers. I personally found that by using a little bit of silicon spray this can be solved. All you have to do is spray the silicon mixture on a cloth and wipe the rubbers on the doors, boot and bonnet. WORKS LIKE A CHARM!
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