Road Noise/Vibration Help also Dash Cluster lights go dim under cloudy conditions

[118stip]

Hi VWWatercooled forum members.

I am a long time reader of this forum and I have found many topics useful in troubleshooting the issues that I have had with my golf.
Now for my first post!

I own a 2010 118tsi with sports pack and DSG and I noticed over the last couple of days a slight road vibration and when I go over 70km/h it just gets louder. The vibration isnt intense at the moment but it is noticable. Sort of sounds like a tiny flat spot in the tyre, but there isnt one.. I can hear it when breaking as well.
Any ideas/thoughts? FYI the clutch packs were replaced a couple of weeks ago. Could it be the wheel bearings?

Also, when the lights are on auto and it is a cloudy day everything in the dash (besides the red needles) goes really dim. It happens when it is just not too dark to put the lights on. When the lights are on its fine, or when it is a sunny day it is also fine. I have had the dash already replaced in the car and the fault was still there. Kinda frustrating!

Thanks in advance for your help!

[mfl]

Hi VWWatercooled forum members.

Also, when the lights are on auto and it is a cloudy day everything in the dash (besides the red needles) goes really dim. It happens when it is just not too dark to put the lights on. When the lights are on its fine, or when it is a sunny day it is also fine. I have had the dash already replaced in the car and the fault was still there. Kinda frustrating!

The dash lights dimming, is the signal to tell you that you should switch your headlights on as the car thinks its too dark, but ignores the fact you have your headlights set to auto.

there are circumstances when its annoying,

[Stan]

Might simply be wheel balance - you may have lost one of those little weights.

to check wheel bearing jack up the front of the car, grab the front and back of the wheel and try to shake it . Any slack and it might be the bearings.

Movement can also be lower control arm bushes (my car at the moment), tie rod ends.

[brad]

I'd recomend you have the tyres inspected thoroughly. Especially the inner 1/3 of the rears.

[Ryan_R]

To the left of the light switch are two vertical scroller wheels, one of which controls the headlight angle (adjust this downward when towing heavy trailers/caravans), and the other controls the brightness of the interior lights. Try and have a fiddle with that.

[jacs]

I'd recomend you have the tyres inspected thoroughly. Especially the inner 1/3 of the rears.

have to agree, i had a corolla with rear tyres (OEMs) that looked perfect, but produced a noise which convinced me it was wheel bearings!!!............. anyway, eventually changed them after tyre place convinced me, and finally, no more noise!!!!!.

[Ozram]

I'd recomend you have the tyres inspected thoroughly. Especially the inner 1/3 of the rears.

+2

The noise on ours became quite bad. New tyres and a wheel alignment have fixed it all up. If you catch it before it gets bad you may be OK with a tyre rotation and alignment, but once the tyres start to wear unevenly there's not much that will correct them.
Not a bad idea to get an alignment done regularly anyway, its fairly cheap.

[118stip]

The dash lights dimming, is the signal to tell you that you should switch your headlights on as the car thinks its too dark, but ignores the fact you have your headlights set to auto.

there are circumstances when its annoying,

This gets dark to the point where you can only see the red needle, does yours also do this? I believe it is a fault as it has only happened recently and I have owned the car for 18 months.

To the left of the light switch are two vertical scroller wheels, one of which controls the headlight angle (adjust this downward when towing heavy trailers/caravans), and the other controls the brightness of the interior lights. Try and have a fiddle with that.

Thanks for the tip, but I already know about them and it is on the brightest setting all of the time.

+2

The noise on ours became quite bad. New tyres and a wheel alignment have fixed it all up. If you catch it before it gets bad you may be OK with a tyre rotation and alignment, but once the tyres start to wear unevenly there's not much that will correct them.
Not a bad idea to get an alignment done regularly anyway, its fairly cheap.

Ok, So I just got the tyres balanced (balance was out about 10 grams on each rim) and rotated front to back and there is still the noise issue and slight vibration. The tyres are getting to their last 5000km so I am guessing all of this is a result of the tyres.

Any other thoughts or opinions on this?

Thanks again!!

[Corey_R]

Yeah - if the tyres were substantially out of wack, then the damage can already be done. Having said that, some tyres are just no good towards the "end of their life" regardless. Note that it isn't just brand/model specific - it can be batch specific.

If you're looking at replacing the tyres soon, you may well just do it a bit earlier

[mfl]

This gets dark to the point where you can only see the red needle, does yours also do this? I believe it is a fault as it has only happened recently and I have owned the car for 18 months.

Yes it does, I have had my car for almost 2years now, took a few months before I noticed it and also thought it was a fault, but discussions on this and the golfmk6 forum, came up with the answer,

I've given up asking my dealer anything, everything is normal for them.

[Ryan_R]

hehe, I wouldn't notice too much since I use the digital speedo on the MFI

[brad]

Ok, So I just got the tyres balanced (balance was out about 10 grams on each rim) and rotated front to back and there is still the noise issue and slight vibration. The tyres are getting to their last 5000km so I am guessing all of this is a result of the tyres.

Any other thoughts or opinions on this?

Did you specifically ask the tyre fitter to look for abnormal wear patterns such as saw toothing on the edges? Unless you do, they will just carry on thumb in bum, mind in nuetral as the tyre assembly is covered when they are spinning the wheel on the balancer.

Did they x-rotate the tyres? (fronts to rear, rears to diagonally opposite).

[118stip]

Did you specifically ask the tyre fitter to look for abnormal wear patterns such as saw toothing on the edges? Unless you do, they will just carry on thumb in bum, mind in nuetral as the tyre assembly is covered when they are spinning the wheel on the balancer.

Did they x-rotate the tyres? (fronts to rear, rears to diagonally opposite).

I went over the tyres with the fitter and on the left hand side due to roundabouts the outside edge is more worn than the inside on the front and back. He advised not to cross rotate the tyres as the rear wear on the insides more. Either way i am going to get new tyres soon!! The noise in unbareable.