# Passat (06) creaks over speed bumps



## Carmel (9 Nov 2007)

Hi

I am having a problem with a 06 Passat that I bought earlier in the year.  When I drive over a speed bump slowly, there is a creaking/ crunching noise from the suspension.   I've had in back in the garage twice now (under warranty).  They replaced the mountings and bearings and the noise is only in the front now (was front and back). The garage say that any noise I hear now is 'a characteristic of the suspension system'.  

Obviously I'm not happy with this.  Am wondering if any other Passat owners have come across this and were able to get it resolved?

Thanks
C


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## muffinsda (9 Nov 2007)

Carmel said:


> Hi
> 
> I am having a problem with a 06 Passat that I bought earlier in the year.  When I drive over a speed bump slowly, there is a creaking/ crunching noise from the suspension.   I've had in back in the garage twice now (under warranty).  They replaced the mountings and bearings and the noise is only in the front now (was front and back). The garage say that any noise I hear now is 'a characteristic of the suspension system'.
> 
> ...



The garage may be right, suspension systems (I think the strut/damper part) do make a creaky noise especially when cold (or at the beginning of driving) and it's not unusual. Does the creaking persist throughout the journey?


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## Carmel (9 Nov 2007)

Yes, it persists through the journey.
C


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## Mr2 (9 Nov 2007)

The suspension is always moving, depending on milage but there may be a dry bush somewhere. It's very hard to find when there probally isn't much wear. You could lube them up but there has to be a certain level of noise that you will hear that you can't get rid of.


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## aircobra19 (9 Nov 2007)

I don't know about Passats but its not usual to have a constant creaking. Some cars do suffer from it but theres usually a solution like greasing a noisy bushing or replacing with a different bushing etc. I'd look for some VW forums to find out out passats specifically. A quick google seems like there lots of info out there.


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## Carmel (9 Nov 2007)

Thanks for your replies. I spent a couple of hours yesterday going through VW discussion boards and found plenty of problems with the new Passat, but not this specifically (a couple of them mentioned it, but in connection with the older mdoel which I understand has a different suspension system). 

C


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## usrbin (13 Nov 2007)

Longshot: sounds quite like a top link, part of the upper suspension, up over the wheel in the arch.  I had a similar persistent noise (though NB not on a VW - on a Nissan) but never did anything about it (just learned to live with the noise ).  Top link could be too tight/possibly too lose, a bad fit, have perished rubber around it... 
Note also that the part may be called something else in the VW lexicon, a good mechanic will know...
Just a suggestion, could be waay wrong
Good luck


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## cerberos (13 Nov 2007)

had 2 passats 98 and 01 models = No CREAKS ever


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## Carmel (15 Nov 2007)

Thanks for all the replies. 

The noise disappeared totally yesterday (first wet day in ages) and I can only assume it was something to do with the rain. I will be interested to see if it comes back when it dries up. 

Bring the garage manager for a drive in it on Monday, so will report back.

C


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## werner (16 Nov 2007)

The post highlight how poor the design of so called speed humps are.

Some are lethally sited on bends in neighbourhoods

The worst I have seen caused a car braking at modest speed (within the local speed limit) to lose traction due to an unequal weight distribution between the front and rear wheels (braking on the hump) resulting in it sliding onto the footpath.

If anyone was standing there they would have been killed


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## BIG (16 Nov 2007)

this is apparently common with golfs and A3s, garage replaced bushings when i got it serviced and it was fine from then on


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## aircobra19 (16 Nov 2007)

werner said:


> The post highlight how poor the design of so called speed humps are.
> 
> Some are lethally sited on bends in neighbourhoods
> 
> ...



I don't understand your point tbh. Maybe I just don't understand it though. 

Fair enough they shouldn't be on a bend unless its long sweeping gentle bend prone to speeding. I could be wrong but I always though that most of the braking effort is done by the front brakes, and most cars weight distribution is even more bias to the front under braking. The back of the car goes "light". So a car always has uneven weight distribution under braking unless its a racing car or something. 

What you describe in my opinion is not the fault of the hump. You shouldn't be braking on a hump or through a corner. If you do, you're going too fast and braking too late and thats driver error. You should enter a corner or arrive at a ramp at the correct speed. Of course speed will vary for different vehicles. 

Theres some ramps near me that have deep dip either before or after, or just on one side or the other, not by design, but just bad workmanship. Unless you know to avoid the dip, or crawl over them practically stopped the car bounces in and out of them. I would say you'd rip the sump, or nut out if you not careful on them. 

It would annoy me only theres too many people doing [SIZE=-1]ridiculous [/SIZE]speeds around the estate, 80~100kph in a 50 zone, where theres lots of people out walking, often with kids, and near playgrounds etc.


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## werner (18 Nov 2007)

aircobra19 said:


> I don't understand your point tbh. Maybe I just don't understand it though.
> 
> What you describe in my opinion is not the fault of the hump. You shouldn't be braking on a hump or through a corner. If you do, you're going too fast and braking too late and thats driver error. You should enter a corner or arrive at a ramp at the correct speed. Of course speed will vary for different vehicles.
> 
> It would annoy me only theres too many people doing [SIZE=-1]ridiculous [/SIZE]speeds around the estate, 80~100kph in a 50 zone, where theres lots of people out walking, often with kids, and near playgrounds etc.


 
Beacuse of the dreadfull Dublin City council engineering I witnessed this happening due to a child running across the road resulting in the driver braking on the hump at low speed ans sliding sideways. 

I also remember an RTE interview with a Fire Brigade driver giving his very negative opinions of nearly losing control of a Fire Engine again due to the inherent fault of the design of ramps.

I would suggest to eliminate speeding in an estate you need correct traffic flow design as well as police enforcement as carried out in Germany.

Anti social hooligans who speed in estates ignore ramps and the ramps actually increase the incidences of crashes by speeding motorists


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/19463/skoda_superb.html


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## aircobra19 (18 Nov 2007)

werner said:


> Beacuse of the dreadfull Dublin City council engineering I witnessed this happening due to a child running across the road resulting in the driver braking on the hump at low speed ans sliding sideways.
> 
> I also remember an RTE interview with a Fire Brifade driver giving his very negative opinions of nearly losing control of a Fire Engine again due to the inherent fault of the design of ramps.



Still not with you. The point of a ramp is that its only safe to drive over them at very slow speed, and dangerous to drive over them too fast. Also where there are ramps there are hazards like kids running around.

What inherent fault with a speed ramp would cause a car to slide at slow speed or a truck (fire engine) to lose control. I can only think that the driver is going too fast.


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## Carmel (19 Nov 2007)

Just to get back to the original post. Told the garage that the noise disappeared in wet weather and came back in dry weather and they said it is probably a dry bushing, which gets lubricated in the wet weather. 

Unfortunately I still have to go back to them when its dry so that they can hear where its coming from (apparently there are 20 to chose from). Anyway, glad they know what it is at last.

Thanks for all the tips.

C


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