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-   -   Eliminating Wind Noise (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/135563-eliminating-wind-noise.html)

Hi,
I find a lot of wind noise(howling) inside the cabin when driving my Skoda Laura at 120 kmph and above. I noticed this especially when I drive on the Mumbai Pune expressway. The moment I decelerate below 120 kmph the noise stops. Also when i floor the accelerator and touch 160 plus the noise stops.

I have checked if Bonnet was not shut properly, windows if left cracked open, rubber beading on all doors appear OK and not torn, worn or broken.No protrusions which may cause the sound. Cannot feel the ingress of any air past the windows or doors

Recently my Aircon compressor was replaced. Could there be some link here ?? if so what should I get checked out.

How do I isolate and identify the source.please: Takes the pleasure out of driving.:mad:
Any feedback welcome
regards,
Seacat

Is it surely wind noise?

What if you drive with AC OFF and all windows rolled up?
What if you drive with AC OFF and all windows rolled down?
What if you drive with AC ON and all windows rolled down?

Any difference when you use fresh air mode versus recirculation mode?

How old are the tyres and how do they look?

Hi Anand,
many thanks for the fast response. To answer you;
1. AC OFF + Windows UP - Not tried- will do and revert soonest
2. AC OFF + window down - Not tried - scared to do this at 120 kmph !!- previous
experience on my Ford Fiesta blew my rear w/screen off on the E.Way :-). They said
it was air pressure but I think it was a bad piece... car was only 5 days old at that
time !!
3. AC On + Windows UP -
4. Tyres - good shape - car is a jan 2011 model

Regards,
Seacat

Mod Note: Team-BHP strongly discourages unsafe driving practices that put yourself and other road users at risk. Please do NOT post about illegally high speeds on public roads.

This is a known issue. My friend also faces the same issue in his Laura especially after a wash. The source is front window beading. I remember him saying that the noise is reduced if you keep the front windows a bit open.

@Seatcat

Wind leakage either through beading or could be a design flaw of side mirrors. Try closing the mirrors and drive to see if the sound profile changes.

The side mirror and noise is infamous in some cars but not sure if laura is one of them.

The howling can also call for some mechanical problems. Check this link for other reasons why howling can happen.

http://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-howling-noise

Mod team note: Back to back posts, please wait for Mod approval of posts. Thanks

Hi Jaguar,
Cannot understand why a noise after a wash !!! Does your friend know the reason for this.? Is he 100% sure ?? Is it window or windscreen beading ? Should I change the window beading ?? Really want to know because you would appreciate that Skoda parts are EXPENSIVE so don't want to go by a trial and error method.
Regards,
Seacat

Thanks VW2010, Yes I tried closing the OVRM's but no improvement. Will check out the link. Many thanks

Fellow BHPians,
I will be travelling out of India for the next 15 days so If I dont reply please excuse but please dont stop giving me all your suggestions . I really look forward to them:thumbs up

Is the AC in Recirculation Mode or Fresh air mode?

In my Swift if I keep the car is in Recirculation Mode Off + AC Off + Blower off, at high speed (above 120Kmph) I can sense the stream of air coming through the air vents inside the cabin. If I keep it in Recirculating mode then I don’t feel the same.

Interesting. I have driven at such high speeds (infact touched the top speeds as well )with all windows rolled down, many times. it may not be aerodynamically efficient, but other than that there should be no problem. Of course, if you roll down only the front two windows, there there is a lot of wind noise, and it reduces drastically when you roll down the rear two even by a few inches.

BTW, my Laura has not faced this issue yet (it's a Feb 2010 car), so I would say it's not a design issue (related to mirrors or anything)...

May be you can record the noise and upload the file here so that someone can crack the puzzle...

Cheers!

Flip side thinking is that are you sure its wind noise and not the road/tyre noise? I am doubting on the tyre noise because you mentioned you feel the noise higher when driving on Mumbai-Pune E-Way and that is concrete road where tyres make more noise. If that is the case, you can play with different air pressure in tyres.

Gents,
Thanks for the comments so far. to reply to all;
1. AC was kept in Recirc mode. I never put it on Fresh air. In Mumbai you will get
gassed otherwise :-)
2. This does not only happen on the expressway but I have also experienced it on Palm
Beach road in Mumbai at night with no traffic where I could floor the accelerator.
3. Tyre pressure - I have driven with diff tyre pressures but Yes perhaps i could retry
this one .

hey!! this is a known problem. I saw it first in my Skoda laura. I showed it to the A.S.S. but they couldn't identify the problem. However, it was rectified itself. After a month or so the same thing happened to my friend's Skoda laura. He also went to the service center but they still didn't have the solution. He waited for the sound to go by itself but it didn't so he went to the service center again but was shot down same as last time but this time he got angry and asked them for a written acknowledgement of the problem and the fact that they are unable to fix it. So the service adviser kept his car for another day and next day voila no noise. When he asked what they did, they replied that some nuts and bolts were faulty and they were replaced.

so now you can either go to the A.S.S. or you can wait for it to go away. Its up to you. In my case i heard the sound an year after buying the car. It went away after a month and i haven't got it back since 2 years.

cheers,
varun

Hi,

I need some help on this one, please. My Vento is about 6 months old, and I've been facing this issue from the beginning.

There is a distinct hissing sound coming in from all 4 windows - typically at the point where the door glass meets the door glass run. I've done about 4 trips to the VW Service Center and they've tried checking the door body alignment, door glass alignment, using some spray, etc. But there is no change to the situation. I had a Polo earlier, and it did not have this issue at all. Once the windows were up - it was only the engine noise and road noise that filtered into the cabin.

Furthermore, this niggling issue sets in at speeds > 80 kmph, and I'm not sure if I'm imagining - but I feel that the stability of the car goes down, as thought it gets buffeted by the wind (esp. on the E City elevated tollway in Bangalore). I can feel a light sway which needs a light correction to the steering wheel.

Any pointers / suggestions?

Thanks,
Vinod

When was the last time you got WA/WB done?

Were you able to get the problem resolved? I've been facing this issue on my brand new rapid at speeds beyond 110 with windows rolled up, could feel the wind when I run my finger around that area.

Yes. The wind noise was on account of installing an aftermarket sound system - HU, speakers, amplifiers, and a woofer. There is a grommet on each of the front doors, into which a hole is drilled into, for drawing out wires, which then connect the battery to the sound system. While going at high speeds, wind was funneling through these two holes (which are actually pretty small in size), and into the doors, and into the windows.

We blocked this by using the black tar/gel like material from the car audio noise dampeners. We smeared this around the hole + wires, like a putty, and it stays put there. There is no impact of continued driving, or impact of heat generated from the engine / car running, or wind force. The only thing that was ensured is to tell the car wash guys not to use their jet spray in that area.

This was how it got resolved. Not sure if you have a similar situation. It is still worthwhile to check the grommets, and door alignment.