Regular knocking, 2011 Golf TDI. Pulliing my hair out!
Discussion
HI,
Got a 2011 Mk6 Golf TDI DSG (GTD) with 134k miles. Over the last year or so it has developed a regular knocking noise, most noticeable around 25mph on smooth road. You can hear the knocking and feel it lightly through the floor of the car/pedals on both the passenger and driver's side. Have made the following observations so far:
Varies with vehicle speed, much more noticeable between 20-40mph
Still happens with engine not running (coasting out of gear, engine stopped)
Doesn't seem to be affected by turning the steering
Doesn't seem to be affected by using the brakes/handbrake
I've been trying to get to the bottom of this for a while now and have so far replaced (with known good used parts) the front suspension on both sides. This was swapped from a known good donor car and included hub carrier, drive shafts, ball joint, roll bar drop links, bearings, brake disc, brake pads, shock absorber, coil spring, top mount, strut bearing
I have also 'replaced' the rear bearings and all the wheels/tyres. When I say replaced the bearings, what I actually did (to save money) is fit a new bearing to the OSR, and heard no difference. This lead me to assume the original OSR was fine so swapped it to the NSR, still with no improvement.
Of the front suspension, the only parts that weren't swapped over were the roll bar, lower arms and the brake caliper itself.
I have tried running the car with each front wheel off the ground but suspension loaded on a jack and cannot hear the noise then.
I'm at a bit of a loss here as I seem to have replaced all of the rotating parts and nothing I do has affected the noise.
My greatest fear is that it's something internal to the gearbox final drive but I am out of ideas as to how to prove/disprove that.
Any ideas where to go next with this? I've ran out of ideas and I'm fed up with swapping suspension!
Thanks,
Ted
Got a 2011 Mk6 Golf TDI DSG (GTD) with 134k miles. Over the last year or so it has developed a regular knocking noise, most noticeable around 25mph on smooth road. You can hear the knocking and feel it lightly through the floor of the car/pedals on both the passenger and driver's side. Have made the following observations so far:
Varies with vehicle speed, much more noticeable between 20-40mph
Still happens with engine not running (coasting out of gear, engine stopped)
Doesn't seem to be affected by turning the steering
Doesn't seem to be affected by using the brakes/handbrake
I've been trying to get to the bottom of this for a while now and have so far replaced (with known good used parts) the front suspension on both sides. This was swapped from a known good donor car and included hub carrier, drive shafts, ball joint, roll bar drop links, bearings, brake disc, brake pads, shock absorber, coil spring, top mount, strut bearing
I have also 'replaced' the rear bearings and all the wheels/tyres. When I say replaced the bearings, what I actually did (to save money) is fit a new bearing to the OSR, and heard no difference. This lead me to assume the original OSR was fine so swapped it to the NSR, still with no improvement.
Of the front suspension, the only parts that weren't swapped over were the roll bar, lower arms and the brake caliper itself.
I have tried running the car with each front wheel off the ground but suspension loaded on a jack and cannot hear the noise then.
I'm at a bit of a loss here as I seem to have replaced all of the rotating parts and nothing I do has affected the noise.
My greatest fear is that it's something internal to the gearbox final drive but I am out of ideas as to how to prove/disprove that.
Any ideas where to go next with this? I've ran out of ideas and I'm fed up with swapping suspension!
Thanks,
Ted
Known good as in removed from another same age 'donor' Golf TDI I have which doesn't have the issue. All swapped parts are now back on the donor car and it's still fine. Hence the feeling of being fed up with swapping suspension over 
The lower arms have had rear bushes replaced recently and I can detect no free play in front or rear bushes with a crow bar. Roll bar is an idea - I could try driving a short distance with the roll bar disconnected but I'm not really seeing how things like roll bars and lower arms could cause a regular knocking that varies with road speed. Surely it has to be something that rotates?
Thanks,
Ted
The lower arms have had rear bushes replaced recently and I can detect no free play in front or rear bushes with a crow bar. Roll bar is an idea - I could try driving a short distance with the roll bar disconnected but I'm not really seeing how things like roll bars and lower arms could cause a regular knocking that varies with road speed. Surely it has to be something that rotates?
Thanks,
Ted
SteBrown91 said:
Have you checked all exhaust mounts?
If they getting old the exhaust will be rocking all over the shop
It's a regular knock, in time with wheel rotation and changes with speed. Not affected by turning left/right etc so just doesn't feel like it would be anything 'loose'If they getting old the exhaust will be rocking all over the shop
Have just had a look and exhaust is secure front to back.
shtu said:
Your best plan is to get a garage to put it up on a lift and run it with wheels off the ground, be better able to pinpoint it then.
(I'll have a side-bet on the diff.)
I have jacked it up one side at a time (jacked on suspension arm to simulate loaded suspension position), and i cannot hear the noise when running the car up to 25-30mph. Of course that doesn't load the bearings etc, but they have been replaced.(I'll have a side-bet on the diff.)
Current situation is the car is back on its wheels with no driveshafts, just outer CV joints. Will tow it up to speed soon and see if the noise happens with no connection to the gearbox.
(I have a side bet with myself that it's coming from the rear and is one of those noises that travels through the body of the car, but that's mostly because I don't want ot go through the effort and expense of replacinga DSG box!)
If the Mk 6 suffers from the same issues as the Mk 5 it’s worth checking the subframe bolts.
These loosen off over time as they are stretch bolts leading to movement in the subframe.
Also I had to change the steering rack on my Mk 5, a very common issue but hard to actually pin down.
My knocking was mainly over small bumps on certain surfaces, I changed everything on the front end but eventually the rack change cured it, almost impossible to feel the play in the rack until it’s sat on the garage floor with tie rods and rubber gaiters removed.
These loosen off over time as they are stretch bolts leading to movement in the subframe.
Also I had to change the steering rack on my Mk 5, a very common issue but hard to actually pin down.
My knocking was mainly over small bumps on certain surfaces, I changed everything on the front end but eventually the rack change cured it, almost impossible to feel the play in the rack until it’s sat on the garage floor with tie rods and rubber gaiters removed.
Belle427 said:
If the Mk 6 suffers from the same issues as the Mk 5 it’s worth checking the subframe bolts.
These loosen off over time as they are stretch bolts leading to movement in the subframe.
Also I had to change the steering rack on my Mk 5, a very common issue but hard to actually pin down.
My knocking was mainly over small bumps on certain surfaces, I changed everything on the front end but eventually the rack change cured it, almost impossible to feel the play in the rack until it’s sat on the garage floor with tie rods and rubber gaiters removed.
Usually I'd agree with things like this but in this case it is the opposite of the usual suspension noises.These loosen off over time as they are stretch bolts leading to movement in the subframe.
Also I had to change the steering rack on my Mk 5, a very common issue but hard to actually pin down.
My knocking was mainly over small bumps on certain surfaces, I changed everything on the front end but eventually the rack change cured it, almost impossible to feel the play in the rack until it’s sat on the garage floor with tie rods and rubber gaiters removed.
It is most noticeable on a smooth road, in a straight line. It is a regular knock that happens once per road wheel rotation. Imagine you had a stone stuck in a tyre tread. Now change that to a knocking noise that you can feel through the floor of the car and you're there.
I had a knocking/grinding noise on the GTi.
Felt like a driveshaft problem but turned out to be the dogbone mount. Bolt fell out completely and the rubber was way past its best. The mount was pushed out easily by hand.
Well worth a check. (Especially if you have a sloppy feeling time to time when leaving junctions and changing gear etc)
Felt like a driveshaft problem but turned out to be the dogbone mount. Bolt fell out completely and the rubber was way past its best. The mount was pushed out easily by hand.
Well worth a check. (Especially if you have a sloppy feeling time to time when leaving junctions and changing gear etc)
MuddyK said:
I had a knocking/grinding noise on the GTi.
Felt like a driveshaft problem but turned out to be the dogbone mount. Bolt fell out completely and the rubber was way past its best. The mount was pushed out easily by hand.
Well worth a check. (Especially if you have a sloppy feeling time to time when leaving junctions and changing gear etc)
Hi can I ask when the grinding noise occurred? I have a grinding that seems to occur when moving into first gear but only happens when the car is fully warmed up (fearing dsg gearbox - sounds like a bearing is going). However this also coincided with a knocking noise which sounds like it's from the rear, not sure if they are related though or not. Reason I ask is I know the previous owner fitted a dogbone mount so wondering if could be this. Car is a mk5 gti. Felt like a driveshaft problem but turned out to be the dogbone mount. Bolt fell out completely and the rubber was way past its best. The mount was pushed out easily by hand.
Well worth a check. (Especially if you have a sloppy feeling time to time when leaving junctions and changing gear etc)
Worse case for me is the grinding is the dsg gearbox and the knocking is the steering rack :-( :-( :-(. Btw I've had all the suspension checked and they found nothing.
I came to a stop and the car was still in D with an obvious grind. I inched forward, and the car still had a vibration/grind but drove reasonably ok.
I feared driveshaft/CV boot and inspected it the best I could at the roadside. Drove it around 8 miles to my mechanic with a grating/grinding noise that lessened when over 10mph. It was also only apparent in D, not in R.
Was 90% certain it was the driveshaft but lifted the car up and could see the mount hanging below the gearbox on only at the subframe side. Replaced the bush with a poly replacement (Vibramantics) and a new bolt.
Most of the grinding noise came from under the glovebox area. Mk6 GTi (2011) with less than 60k on it. Worth a check on yours when under the car next time. Also a post further up regarding the subframe bolts was true for my previous mk5 eddy
I feared driveshaft/CV boot and inspected it the best I could at the roadside. Drove it around 8 miles to my mechanic with a grating/grinding noise that lessened when over 10mph. It was also only apparent in D, not in R.
Was 90% certain it was the driveshaft but lifted the car up and could see the mount hanging below the gearbox on only at the subframe side. Replaced the bush with a poly replacement (Vibramantics) and a new bolt.
Most of the grinding noise came from under the glovebox area. Mk6 GTi (2011) with less than 60k on it. Worth a check on yours when under the car next time. Also a post further up regarding the subframe bolts was true for my previous mk5 eddy
OK so it's confession time...
This turned out to be something that I thought had been checked right at the start - a front tyre.
Nice to have it come down to something 'normal' like this, and the last week spent swapping suspension will teach me a lesson to double check everything and not believe what I'm told!
Thanks for all the help
Ted
This turned out to be something that I thought had been checked right at the start - a front tyre.
Nice to have it come down to something 'normal' like this, and the last week spent swapping suspension will teach me a lesson to double check everything and not believe what I'm told!
Thanks for all the help
Ted
Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff