tikhon

2001 Y, 1.9 Tdi Elegance. Now 80000 on the clock. Lots of previous problems since last September when I bought it second hand under the Skoda approved used car scheme from Dennis Horton and son in Lincoln(see my tale of woe thread).

Perhaps I am a bit paranoid that something else is going wrong, but the latest problem worries me. When I pulled up on to my drive the other day, my next door neighbour stopped me and said she could hear a loud rattly sound as I pulled up.
You know what it is like with rattles and noises in general. Sometimes you don't notice them because you become accustomed to them as the noise gradually gets worse! The noise is there every time I drive the car and I can always hear it when the engine is idling and I am stationary in traffic or when I pull up.

With the drivers window down and the bonnet closed you can hear a relatively low speed rattle which is almost continuous. On opening the bonnet and standing in front of the engine, it is coming from the left hand side of the engine compartment, as if it is under the large engine cover.

Does anyone have any ideas what it might be? I had a quick search on the forums but could only find reference to a noise which someone thought was a charcoal filter?

I am a bit embarrassed to go back to the dealer in case there is nothing wrong, but several people have listened and said it shouldn't be as noisy as it is.

stumpy1

I'd take it back to the dealer. Being embarrassed is the cheapest option. They are the experts.

Goochie

It was our Octavia that has the rattly charcoal filter - I dont think that is what you're eharing ai is it is well clear of the engine cover you say the noise is coming from.

Charcoal filter is hard up against the inner wing.

tikhon

Went to dealer and they think the noise is from the faulty compressor or possibly the water pump.

After much deliberation I have decided to have a new air conditioning compressor fitted with the dealer as a goodwill gesture paying a third of the cost. This leaves me with a bill for £677 which is painful but I want to keep the car for several years.

Having it done at a Skoda dealer will mean that the repair has a 2 year warranty.

Thank you to those who explained that I could get the part for £3-400 on Ebay. I haven't got the time to search around and do it this way.

It drove me mad not having cooling in my car during this summer but the most significant thing was that I could not have ever sold my car knowing it had an expensive to fix fault. Originally I thought I would for the rest of the life of the car, simply using the windows to keep cooler.

I just hope nothing else goes wrong now! Fingers crossed.