[thomo]

Our Eos is just over 12 twelve months old and has just had its 12 month (first) service during which they (the VW dealer in Canberra) "found" the clunk in the left hand C pillar which had been there since day 1 and which I had mentioned to the service people on several occasions (ie when getting the audio unit replaced).

The Eos was duely booked for another 4 hour session two days ago, but after checking everything from the shock absorbers up ( as required by Volkswagen) the source of the noise is still a mystery despite the fact that I mentioned the Volkswagen Technical Tips TT-07-80 dated May 25 2007 http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3498504 (it is an official VW document)referring to the procedure of removing shims from the lower guide in the C-pillar.

They now want the car for 2 days in late march for further investigation.

I was told that they need to utilise a "jig" or a bracket that holds the weight of the semi-raised roof and hold it in place whilst the work is carried out. It is a "detailed and expensive " operation (for the dealer).They said they have successfully carried out this operation on 1 other EOS.

Has any ony one else had this experience?

Generally I find the dealer pretty good to deal with - friendly etc with the exception of them being loathe to listen to suggestions from a mere customer.

Am I alone in this feeling?

 

[lanmarc]

Hi Thomo.
I had the same knock in the same location and mentioned it to my dealer at the 1 year service.
I sort of expected them to carry out the "shim" procedure but all they did was put some stick-on felt on the plastic housing of the shims on both C-pillars.
This stopped the knock completely but it returned a few weeks later as the felt was pushed aside when lowering and raising the roof.
I removed all of the old scrunched-up felt and stuck a wider piece in the recess that the shim housing slides into (left hand side only) and that seems to work better as it doesn't get forced aside by the housing.
It only takes a few minutes to install the felt and the knocking stops.

The recess is easily accessable, with the roof lowered, under the flap next to the rear headrest (see attached image). The flap can be rotated open by pressing down on the inside edge.

 

[Todd_A]

Hi Thomo.
I had the same knock in the same location and mentioned it to my dealer at the 1 year service.
I sort of expected them to carry out the "shim" procedure but all they did was put some stick-on felt on the plastic housing of the shims on both C-pillars.
This stopped the knock completely but it returned a few weeks later as the felt was pushed aside when raising the roof.
I removed all of the scrunched-up felt and stuck a wider piece in the recess that the shim housing slides into (left hand side only) and that seems to work better as it doesn't get forced aside by the housing.
It only takes a few minutes to install the felt and the knocking disappears.

Can you post a picture of your fix? I take our EOS in the shop today for service, but do not want them tampering trying to fix it and make it worse. Ours is just a slight annoyance right now when going over RR tracks or pot holes..

 

[lanmarc]

Todd, I have attached the picture to my original post.

 

[cb391]

Can you widen the view somewhat. Can't quite see the area involved.

 

[Steve S.]

I just took delivery of my Eos about a month ago. I am hearing a "clunk" when I go over speed humps (wider than a speed bump), usually on the down side of the hump. I also heard it pulling out of my driveway. It sounds to me like a spring on the strut shifting, but I am not sure.
Does this sound like the clunk you all are hearing? I have an appointment on Friday to discuss with my dealership.
Thanks
Steve S.

 

[thomo]

Thanks Ianmarc

I've had a good look at the area you suggest and I agree with your "fix". I was sure it would something rather basic like that, rather than removing shims and the like.

However, I won't touch it at this stage and will wait for the car to be looked at as scheduled by the VW "brainstrust" and see what they come up with.

I will post outcome

 

[lanmarc]

Can you widen the view somewhat. Can't quite see the area involved.

Added to my original reply!

 

[Todd_A]

lanmarc, Thanks you. Once the weather shapes up a bit I will have to check into this fix. The dealer said they checked all mounting, and hinge for tightness, and there was nothing wrong. Even went as far as stating this is normal forgetting this is ny second EOS. Never had the clunk with the first one. I will fix it myself when weather permits. Too cold here now, and would cost a fortuan to heat the garage for this little fix.

 

[thomo]

Sitrep on developments with clunky roof

The Eos went into local Canberra dealer as scheduled on Monday23 March for the 2 day "fix" to cure the clunk in the left hand C-pillar and the intermittent creaking which was increasing despite my use of Krytox.

Nine working days down the track following regular contact with the dealer/workshop nothing has been resolved.

They have worked through the VW procedures for this/these problem/s but to no avail. They even checked the VW bulletin regarding the shims which I provided, but I have been informed that mine is a "unique" problem. They have had the "area supervisor" look at it with no success. They are satisfied all the mechanics are in place, tight etc.

I was told a few days ago they have canvassed other dealers to see if any of them had had similar problems (ie they're stuffed).

Although this is rather frustrating I have remained remarkably cool (at my wife's demand -her car) and haven't got my knickers in a twist (yet) because as I mentioned in another thread they have loaned me an almost new Passat TDi DSG which is a rather pleasant drive but not the buzz of the Eos.

Watch this space and I'll probably be reporting in the (hopefully) near future that all is cured (probably with a little bit of stick-on felt as suggested by Ianmarc)

Thomo

 

[Lopaka]

My EOS had the shim fix done to it at 1 year service. I was really stressed when they did this think they would really screw up the top! To my suprise, they actually cured 90% of the noise! It was a service bulletin from VW that they went by.
I think there will always be some minor noise over bumps, but you really have to be looking for it. I am happy with the fix, and still find reasons to drive this car! Seperate note, my factory installed i-pod dock in my center console has stopped working. does anybody else have this problem? How did you get it fixed?
Lopaka

 

[thomo]

Situation up date

After several further false starts the Eos finally went back into the Canberra dealer 22 June (was given a demo Mk VI Golf 118TSI DSG Comfortline as a loan car - beautiful car to drive, engine absolutely seamless in power supply) and eventually reclaimed Eos on 30 June.

Techo said he was stumped (again) for several days and then took it over his test bumps with the rear passenger side window wound down and "voila" no thunk - repeated exercise with window up and the thunk returned. So he started a procedure to adjust the window during which process he shattered the window, ordered a new one replaced it and adjusted according and still no thunk. (very shortened version of whole episode)

We have since been up to Brisbane and back covering about 2500 kms on the Pacific Highway with all its ongoing roadworks (Oz readers will know what I mean) and still no thunk - here's hoping - watch this space.

Techo said he has inputted all the details into the central VW data base for further reference (whatever that means)

 

[SiJ2000]

If it really is a CLONK, then I agree with lanmarc's fix... If it is more of a rattle, then it is most liekly the parcel shelf, I have a fix for this elsewhere using the same sticky back felt.

 

[thomo]

Sorry guys I'm getting my "thunks" and "clunks" mixed up.

It was definitely a clunk (that is, a solid one-off component to component noise) coming from the C-pillar area when I hit a bump while turning to the left. Definitely not a rattle. So it would appear that it may have been something to do with the rear window not seating properly or the winding mechanism contacting a body part when stressed by a left hand turn ????

Anyway it appears to fixed now and the techo/mechanic appeared genuinely concerned over the problem and took it as a personal matter to resolve.

Lets keep our fingers crossed

 

[lanmarc]

The symtoms sound just like mine, excpet mine were mostly on right-hand turns.
My guess was the the rear window/c-pillar element was moving slightly to the left (by inertia) during the turn, and a bump in the road caused the knocking sound.

 

[fchung]

Hi,

Also encountered the same clunk on the Left Rear side (somewhere near the C-pillar). Not too sure if the sound is the same. Mine sounded like the sound you get when you used your finger to knock on the door panel (plastic part). It happening when I travel on bumpy surfaces, making an abrupt turn (usually left turn) or u-turn or sudden jerk of the car (e.g during hard acceleration on move off or hard braking coming down the slope). The sound could be just 1 knock or consecutive few knocks.

Can anyone who had this problem and managed to resolve using simple fix share if this is what you encountered previously? Many thanks.

 

[fchung]

Hi Thomo.
I had the same knock in the same location and mentioned it to my dealer at the 1 year service.
I sort of expected them to carry out the "shim" procedure but all they did was put some stick-on felt on the plastic housing of the shims on both C-pillars.
This stopped the knock completely but it returned a few weeks later as the felt was pushed aside when lowering and raising the roof.
I removed all of the old scrunched-up felt and stuck a wider piece in the recess that the shim housing slides into (left hand side only) and that seems to work better as it doesn't get forced aside by the housing.
It only takes a few minutes to install the felt and the knocking stops.

The recess is easily accessable, with the roof lowered, under the flap next to the rear headrest (see attached image). The flap can be rotated open by pressing down on the inside edge.

Hi lanmarc,

Could you assist to enlarge to pic as I may wanna DIY following your quick fix to see if indeed this is the prob for my case before sending to the wksp?

 

[agird]

I just took delivery of my Eos about a month ago. I am hearing a "clunk" when I go over speed humps (wider than a speed bump), usually on the down side of the hump. I also heard it pulling out of my driveway. It sounds to me like a spring on the strut shifting, but I am not sure.
Does this sound like the clunk you all are hearing? I have an appointment on Friday to discuss with my dealership.
Thanks
Steve S.

Hey SteveS, if you are still around, I've heard the same clunk on my Eos when going over a particular speed hump. It was so loud I thought I had driven over something. When I went back over the speed hump a second time there was no clunk (probably because I drove a little slower), a couple of weeks later it did it again, its slmost like the speed has to be just right as I go down the speed hump. Its quite a loud clunk from the front left suspension as if something is bottoming out.

 

[Lams]

since ours went on H&R springs these noises are much more frequent.

I tried lenmarc's fix which helped a bit, but it's still there.

Then, apart from the clunks, I was also getting squeaks/rattles from the right C pillar. I saw the white 'marks' by the pen were not lining up. I got my 13mm socket out and tightened the nuts, the squeak/rattle is gone. The nuts were not even finger tight.

But the clunk is still there. I have no idea how to align the black plastic spacer block properly. I may take it apart over the weekend and start removing shims... assuming that's where the shims are?

I tried turning up the music too but when your ear is tuned to listen to something, and that noise is still there, then it is even more annoying

 

[Lams]

Yesterday I had a day off and I decided between attempting to knock out the noises in the Eos or going for a bike ride, I picked Eos.

I had the top half open/close multiple times to remove a shim, to adjust the catches etc. I got rid of the annoy squeak and I thought I'd call it a day, but I looked at the sunshine outside and thought days off are pretty rare, so I kept going to try to eliminate the clunk noise as well.

I should have gone for a bike ride. Somehow I stuffed up the sequences and the car decided it's had enough of the nut screwing around with the roof, and locked me out of all roof operations. I had a partially open roof with no window operations, drove down the freeway (freezingway) to the dealer with windows wide open.

Thankfully, they looked into it for me and were able to reset the computer and only charged me an hour's labour. Highway VW has been great, they replaced the aircon system for us and sorted it out under warranty (even though the car was 1 month expired), and also got our Passat repaired on the next day after the aftermarket battery leaked acid and destroyed the starter motor.

+1 for Highway VW Springwood Service Department