Road Noise - Tyre Wear - Rumble!!

[shaunfriend]

Hi,

Firstly I'm Shaun, have just traded my 03 Leon 110SE for an 06 Leon 2.0 Stylance 140 with DSG.

Love the car - and especially the gearbox.

I however have picked up on a problem that I didn't hear when test driving, probably because of all the banter between myself and the salesman.

There is a low sounding rumble coming from the back of the car at various speeds, but most noticeable at about 45 that almost sounds like a wheel bearing.

I jacked the car up on Saturday and spun/shook and rattled each wheel in turn and it is now evident it is not a bearing! - I've looked at the tyres today and the inside edge of the tyre is wearing in an uneven pattern - every other tread is lower than the one before.

Seat dealer says its called sawtooth - but don't want to look at it until I have tried going back to garage I bought from. So, I have a few questions - if anyone has the time to offer some pearls of wisdom I would be greatful:

1) Is this common on the 140 with/without DSG - from a few threads here it seems it has happened before.

2) Does it happen with particular tyres? the car has Pirelli P7s on the rear - front tyres are unaffected.

3) Car is booked in for roadtest tomorrow - what should I expect? it's clearly a problem with the tyres, can I expect them to replace FOC? at discount? etc?

4) If they don't want to do anything can I take this up with Seat UK? car stilli under Seat warranty etc - Tyres on the car look quite new so am assuming it's only going to get worse.

5) Anything else I should be asking/telling them to do - 4 wheel allignment etc?

Other than this minor issue the car is fantastic!

....anyone know if the Aux in isn't included on an 06 with MP3/CD? I'm damned if I can find it but its shown on the spec in the most recent brochure I have...

Thanks for your time

Shaun

 

[Deev]

I had this exact same problem with my 140 Sport. I was under the impression it was common with the standard fitment Bridgestones although it worries me that it has happened with Pirrellis. I moaned at the dealer who sold me the car and they agreed to meet the cost of two budget tyres. I didn't want to fit budgets obviously but I bought a pair of Goodyear Excellences (recommended on here) for only £30 the pair more than the budgets so I'm not complaining. Cured the problem too, despite my scepticism...

 

[shaunfriend]

I guess there is nothing to say the previous owner of mine didn't swap front to back at some stage.

Do you mind me asking how many miles you have done on the Excellences since having them fitted?

I'm more annoyed now that this wasn't picked up when the dealer did its inspection - you would think all round tyre tread would be one of the things checked.

 

[markirel]

Had exactly the same symptoms on my Altea (Bridgestones). Dealer didn't want to do anything to help but accepted there was a problem and pointed me in the direction of a tyre dealer capable of four wheel alignment. Rear alignment was significantly out and corrected (fully adjustable on the Altea and I presume the same on the Leon) along with fitting 2-new tyres.

You can change tyres without having the alignment done and it will seem OK for a while, at least until those inside edges go again. I'm taking mine back once a year to put right the bad that speed bumps and pot-holes do.

 

[OLDOILER]

Hi,

Firstly I'm Shaun, have just traded my 03 Leon 110SE for an 06 Leon 2.0 Stylance 140 with DSG.

Love the car - and especially the gearbox.

I however have picked up on a problem that I didn't hear when test driving, probably because of all the banter between myself and the salesman.

There is a low sounding rumble coming from the back of the car at various speeds, but most noticeable at about 45 that almost sounds like a wheel bearing.

I jacked the car up on Saturday and spun/shook and rattled each wheel in turn and it is now evident it is not a bearing! - I've looked at the tyres today and the inside edge of the tyre is wearing in an uneven pattern - every other tread is lower than the one before.

Seat dealer says its called sawtooth - but don't want to look at it until I have tried going back to garage I bought from. So, I have a few questions - if anyone has the time to offer some pearls of wisdom I would be greatful:

1) Is this common on the 140 with/without DSG - from a few threads here it seems it has happened before.

2) Does it happen with particular tyres? the car has Pirelli P7s on the rear - front tyres are unaffected.

3) Car is booked in for roadtest tomorrow - what should I expect? it's clearly a problem with the tyres, can I expect them to replace FOC? at discount? etc?

4) If they don't want to do anything can I take this up with Seat UK? car stilli under Seat warranty etc - Tyres on the car look quite new so am assuming it's only going to get worse.

5) Anything else I should be asking/telling them to do - 4 wheel allignment etc?

Other than this minor issue the car is fantastic!

....anyone know if the Aux in isn't included on an 06 with MP3/CD? I'm damned if I can find it but its shown on the spec in the most recent brochure I have...

Thanks for your time

Shaun

It is well documented within the Leon threads, if its a early build there is a service bullitin to check rear wheel alignment also some tyres seem more prone to "50p"shape which causes this rumble. You should take it back and get it sorted under warranty - good luck.

 

[phil fr]

Hi
Same problem with my 2006 FR, the rear tyre looks more like a scrambles bike tyre.
What can we do?

 

[shaunfriend]

It is well documented within the Leon threads, if its a early build there is a service bullitin to check rear wheel alignment also some tyres seem more prone to "50p"shape which causes this rumble. You should take it back and get it sorted under warranty - good luck.

Can you clarify what is a an early build? mines a March 06...

Cheers

 

[Deev]

Do you mind me asking how many miles you have done on the Excellences since having them fitted?

Not long yet. I only had them changed a couple of weeks ago. I originally took the car to the local SEAT dealership to troubleshoot the noise and they told me that it was the fault of the tyres, but claimed the alignment was fine. I plough through a fair few miles with work, so I hope that if the problem does come back, it will be before the warranty expires in December and I can go back and have a moan.

The Leon 2 does suffer a fair bit from road noise in general so it's worth choosing a quiet tyre. The Excellences were recommended to me for that reason and they do make quite a difference. I managed to get them from blackcircles.co.uk for just over £90 each fitted which isn't too bad considering. Much cheaper than Kwik Fit et al...

If you end up having to fork out for the new tyres and you want to use blackcircles.co.uk then PM me your name and email address - As an existing customer I can refer you and you get an introductory discount, plus I get a discount on the next set I buy. Everybody wins!

 

[markirel]

I can chuck in another tyre option to consider as 'noise' was one of the important factors when I changed mine. After reading test review's I ended up with Michelin Primacy HP's (225/45/R17) and they are brilliant. Really quiet and have a reported 25% extra life compared to standard compounds with good grip in wet and dry.

On the front I have some Avon's Z something or other which are also good. Compared to the Bridgestones this combination has transformed the car, even over the concrete dual carriageway that I travel to work and back on each day.

Can't recommend enough getting the tracking done. Not all garages are equal, I had tried a couple myself before being given a steer by the dealer. Some claimed that the suspension wasn't adjustable and one had a go using angles for an Audi A8 as that was the advise he was given from his equipment technician . Mine was visibly out and there was something like a 10mm horizontal difference between the edge of the tyre and the wheel arch when comparing left and right rear wheels. Apparently the worst was still in Seat's tolerances, only just though!

 

[Trapper]

Hi All

I have got this problem with my 140 Sport DSG. If your car has done more than 9K Seat are not interested. Mine has done 20K & according to my local tyre fitter I have 4mm+ on the main body of the tyres & 3mm on the inside about half the tyre used.

I have given all the info to Seat, but they say 9K is the limit. Not happy.

Getting 2 Goodyear Eagle Asymetrics fitted tomorrow £188 the 2 fitted from Blackcircles.com.

If you use this code on line (1E419645) you get 5% discount.

 

[OLDOILER]

Can you clarify what is a an early build? mines a March 06...

Cheers

Thats an early build about Q4 2005, stay away from Bridgestones and they go 50p [my daughter has them on her Leon2 FR Q2 2006] mine as P RED ZEROS and have had no problem as @18k. Will try Goodyears next which seem to have a good feed back on this site. ...........................

 

[shaunfriend]

okay guys.. an update...

Back to dealer today who have agreed it shouldn't have gone like that.

They say they have seen it before, and that they will replace tyres free of charge.

I'll be honest and say I'm not sure what they will put on there, but I have told them it must not be bridgestones or pirellies. At the moment, with a couple of long journeys in the pipeline I'll be happy to just have tyres on there that haven't worn incorrectly.

When the time comes they will be replaced by me with something along the line of Excellences (thanks for all those who recommended them, both here and in other threads.

It goes in on Friday - at least now there will be a record of me taking it back if it ever does do it again - they assure me new tyres will fix the problem and that it is down to tyre compound and being too hard.

Thanks for all your help!

Shaun

 

[MartH]

My aug 06 fr has the same problem... I take they are rectifying the geometry problem before they change the tyres?

 

[shaunfriend]

They insist that they have seen this before and that it was down to the tyre compound. I'm going to take mine back to Seat once they have sorted the tyres and inssit on it being checked for geometry.. in accordance with the service bulletin issued for the fault.

I don't suppose anyone has ElsaWin and can PDF a copy of the service bulletin? or is it ETKA I'm thinking of?

Cheers

 

[MartH]

Dont suppose its going back to exeter is it? my mates took his petrol sport in there and had the geometry fixed under warranty. Waiting for the service which is due soon before i take mine in.

 

[shaunfriend]

it will be Plymouth Seat for me.... they sent me away to the dealer I purchased from (non seat) to get the tyres sorted.. the least they can do is to check geometry according to Seat's bulletin.

Would be really handy if anyone has a way of getting hold of a copy of that for me

 

[OLDOILER]

They insist that they have seen this before and that it was down to the tyre compound. I'm going to take mine back to Seat once they have sorted the tyres and inssit on it being checked for geometry.. in accordance with the service bulletin issued for the fault.

I don't suppose anyone has ElsaWin and can PDF a copy of the service bulletin? or is it ETKA I'm thinking of?

Cheers

I have Elsawin but can,t pull off bulletins at the moment. ..................