Golf R Rattle/Buzz

[Idle]

yep its the same with and without a passenger.. my wife and i agree that its def coming from that side.

That probably rules out the seat belt, which often vibrates a bit on mine if it's left loose.

I've also found that a rattle from somewhere in the rear can sound as if it's up front — Golfs have funny acoustic effects sometimes.

[lincs]

so i ventured back to the dealer today with my buzzlightyear R. it buzzed beautifully for the assistant tech when i went for a cold test run this morning and he was quite surprised by it....

however when mr head german tech got round to having a look at a warm test run, he couldnt hear the buzz (surprise surprise). his little computer told him that everything was normal (what a smart little computer), however he believes that a solenoid behind the dash connected to the exhaust is what's vibrating and causing the rattle. does anyone here know what he might be referring to or where it's located? apparently it's a whole day job to get to this mystery exhaust solenoid (which apparently is designed to make the R sound cool like the R32, but instead makes it sound like i have 100 flies on a pile of dog **** under my dash every morning). so of course because HE didnt hear it, everything is fine, but after i said it's not acceptable, they said they would put through a report to vw hq and see what they say. apparently because it's not a fault it's not covered under warranty. kiss my arse, vw, you'll fix my rattle one day!

so yeh, looks like another trip back soon for a cold run with the german man to convince him that myself and everyone else (including the vw assistant tech) that we're not going mad.

[REXman]

I think I found it...

LMAO **** head that ****en killed me!!!

[Corey_R]

so i ventured back to the dealer today with my buzzlightyear R. it buzzed beautifully for the assistant tech when i went for a cold test run this morning and he was quite surprised by it....

however when mr head german tech got round to having a look at a warm test run, he couldnt hear the buzz (surprise surprise). his little computer told him that everything was normal (what a smart little computer), however he believes that a solenoid behind the dash connected to the exhaust is what's vibrating and causing the rattle. does anyone here know what he might be referring to or where it's located? apparently it's a whole day job to get to this mystery exhaust solenoid (which apparently is designed to make the R sound cool like the R32

I'm no mechanic, but from the description it sounds as though there is a mechnical actuator (solenoid) which opens the valve (or flap, or whatever it is) in the exhaust at a defined RPM to create additional/different sound.
I was under the impression that the valve in the exhaust opened by the exhaust flow/pressure through the exhaust - but I guess a solenoid doing it makes sense too.

VW aren't the only manufacturer who has an "active" or "variable" exhaust. Plenty of manufacturers use them, including companies like Aston Martin on some of their V8s (and V12's) etc.

It's one of the ways that manufacturers are able to make an exhaust which is both "sporty", but then also "refined" (i.e. it shuts the hell up when all you're doing is cruising... nothing worse than driving from Sydney to Brisbane and then not being able to get some sleep cause your ears are ringing so loudly from 10 hours of LOUDNESS!)

[lincs]

I'm no mechanic, but from the description it sounds as though there is a mechnical actuator (solenoid) which opens the valve (or flap, or whatever it is) in the exhaust at a defined RPM to create additional/different sound.
I was under the impression that the valve in the exhaust opened by the exhaust flow/pressure through the exhaust - but I guess a solenoid doing it makes sense too.

VW aren't the only manufacturer who has an "active" or "variable" exhaust. Plenty of manufacturers use them, including companies like Aston Martin on some of their V8s (and V12's) etc.

It's one of the ways that manufacturers are able to make an exhaust which is both "sporty", but then also "refined" (i.e. it shuts the hell up when all you're doing is cruising... nothing worse than driving from Sydney to Brisbane and then not being able to get some sleep cause your ears are ringing so loudly from 10 hours of LOUDNESS!)

yeh its the actual solenoid that's vibrating by the sounds of it, but as the vcds said it's a-ok, they wont do anything about it... yet... i need the head tech to hear it when cold! that should change his mind.

[shakespeare]

If it's a buzzing rattle then it sounds similar to our Mk V Jetta, which turned out to be the aluminium VIN plate behind the windscreen. Unfortunately this required full dash removal to access it and it wasn't fixed till the third attempt which happened outside of warranty and took them a week with the car to indentify it. Since then no more rattles, buzzes, squeaks, "to infinity and beyond" speeches or other noises.

Get the service manager to come for a ride with you to listen, then they can identify it

[Ryan_R]

In my old Toyota, I'd hear a buzzing sound if leaves got stuck in the air vents (don't ask me how - maybe via the grill near the bottom of the windscreen).

[lincs]

hey shakespeare... did it sound anything like this?

http://rapidshare.com/files/445449005/rattle.m4a

that recording was taken on my iphone with my wife holding it steady at the front left dash. in comparison to the drone in the background, you can tell how bloody annoying it is. the recording was taken on a highway at 90-95kmhr. it's going back to the dealer on wednesday for them to play detective again - at least even if the bastard doesnt rattle then for the head tech, i still have this recording.

[shakespeare]

hey shakespeare... did it sound anything like this?

http://rapidshare.com/files/445449005/rattle.m4a

that recording was taken on my iphone with my wife holding it steady at the front left dash. in comparison to the drone in the background, you can tell how bloody annoying it is. the recording was taken on a highway at 90-95kmhr. it's going back to the dealer on wednesday for them to play detective again - at least even if the bastard doesnt rattle then for the head tech, i still have this recording.

That's exactly the same noise! Geez that gave me chills listening to it. Good luck getting it sorted

[lincs]

That's exactly the same noise! Geez that gave me chills listening to it. Good luck getting it sorted

wow.. ok.. well i took it back this morning and everyone has heard it.. (they had to test another R just to make sure that sound wasnt normal.. yeh like anyone would buy the car if that was normal! ). today they were going to get into the actuator and disconnect it to see if that fixes it (and get a replacement)... if that's not it, then theyre going to keep it for 3 days and give me a loaner.

going on what you just said, i'll let them know when i get back there in an hr! thanks