Any car mechanic's about......

pompeyfan1

Hello new member

Hope someone can help before I fork out some money to have the car properly looked over!

Can anyone shed any light on what happened to my Golf MK4 yesterday.

While braking the car had a twanging noise followed by the car shuddering. Phoned the garage and he told me to bring the car down, all the way down to the garage even applying a little bit of force on the brakes the twanging noise would happen.

After getting to the garage the mechanic took the car for a drive around the block breaking sharply and testing the breaks. And nothing happened no noises no shuddering, nothing.

The car seems to be working fine now, but is this a sign of a bigger problem?

cyclonebri1

Twanging noise???, that's a strange 1, can you be more specific? was it through the bake pedal, from the front/back/underneath??

If the mechanic couldn't see anything I would not worry too much about it being catostrophic,

Bit more info would help.

Just guessing but something wrapped around a drive shaft or brake disc that's now cleared?, other than that it sounds like 1 of those issues that will have to get worse before it gets fixed,;)

Also, maybe a post on a specific golf forum would attract comment from folks with previous similar issues

pompeyfan1

It sounded if it was coming from the driver’s side front wheel. It sounded like something being stretched a twanging noise the only way I can describe it.

The noise and the car shuddering only happened for about ten minutes; it stopped as soon as the bloke from the garage took it out for a test drive.

Do you know of any golf forums everyone I’ve tried to post on you have to pay for the privilege!

Trebor16

Try a google search on "VW Golf forums" and that should generate a few hits for you.

rodenal

It's very hard to tell just going from a description but it sounds awfully like one of your abs sensors is playing up - if the wheel speed sensor is going a bit funky it'll often make odd noises and kick the abs in completely innapropriately (hence the shuddering). Could even be a dirty sensor I suppose

This should trigger the abs light though and after the first couple of times the system should turn itself off - when you put the key in the car and ignition on do you see the abs light for a second or so? If not go somewhere quiet and get up to about 30mpg then brake hard, you should be able to get the wheels to lock.

Otherwise could be a snapped spring but the "twanging" noise would more likely occur whilst turning

Strider590

Loose dust shields? Loose retainer clip? Im betting it'll be something like that.

But if it's the same garage you got the car from (or last had work done with), they probably f**ked something up, fixed it when you brought the car back and told you there was nothing wrong just to cover up their own incompetence.

Imagine the legal sh*t storm some people would kick up if they were told "oh yeah, we left something loose on your brakes".

pompeyfan1

rodenal wrote: »

It's very hard to tell just going from a description but it sounds awfully like one of your abs sensors is playing up - if the wheel speed sensor is going a bit funky it'll often make odd noises and kick the abs in completely innapropriately (hence the shuddering). Could even be a dirty sensor I suppose

This should trigger the abs light though and after the first couple of times the system should turn itself off - when you put the key in the car and ignition on do you see the abs light for a second or so? If not go somewhere quiet and get up to about 30mpg then brake hard, you should be able to get the wheels to lock.

Otherwise could be a snapped spring but the "twanging" noise would more likely occur whilst turning

The ABS light comes on at random times while driving, do you think this is the problem?

rodenal

Sounds like it - if you can find someone with vagcom they'll be able to tell you if any of the wheel speed sensors have logged errors. It can also be useful to drive the car with live logging enabled, you can see what each of the 4 sensors is reading as road speed and be doubley sure that you've isolated the problem -if this is the problem it's a £17 DIY fix.

pompeyfan1

rodenal wrote: »

Sounds like it - if you can find someone with vagcom they'll be able to tell you if any of the wheel speed sensors have logged errors, that's usually the problem and it's a £17 fix.

Lovely thanks for your help. Will it be ok to carry on driving the car even if this happens again!?

I am not going to break anything or the brakes will not fall until I can get it into the garage!?

Strider590

pompeyfan1 wrote: »

The ABS light comes on at random times while driving, do you think this is the problem?

ABS sensor sending incorrect readings to the ABS control unit.

This "twanging" though, doesn't really fit an ABS fault....... Hmmmm unless the ABS ring at the hub carrier has broken (not sure if the Golf has the one's that are like a metal strip?). This WOULD make a noise if it was broken and everytime it slipped the ABS controller would think the wheel was skidding and would apply the ABS (shuddering as you put it). But this "twanging" would be more like a quiet rattling noise.
Perhaps your idea of a "twang", is different to mine?

Do as mentioned above, try braking really hard (better on a wet surface) and seeing if the ABS kicks in.

You can often see the ABS ring by turning the wheel fully and peering in behind the brake disc, anything loose around there is a bad thing.

rodenal

The golf does have the metal spiked rings as part of the system - these don't need to be broken to cause the reaction the op is describing though, if the system thinks its slipping it'll do it regardless. You're correct that it could well be broken, from memory they're dead easy to replace on a golf too.

OP IF this is indeed what's causing your problem it should be ok to drive carefully, though I would pull the fuse for the ABS system (after its diagnosed) as you don't really want it kicking in when there's hardly any pressure on the pedal as it'll take you longer to stop. Note you'll lose your traction control too if you do this and obviously you need to be aware that you've no ABS.