Wind noise solved

It took me 12000 miles but I have finally pinpointed and fixed the wind noise in my Golf! Here's a recap:

Very soon after purchase I started noticing a hissing sound coming from the passenger window of my 2-Door Golf 2.5 when traveling at highway speeds. I brought it back to the dealer a number of times, and the dealer did the following but none of them fixed the noise:

- Adjusted door striker. Door was pulled all the way in and out of alignment with the rest of the body.

- Replaced door seal - this is the thick rubber seal that goes all around the door body frame (not on the door itself).

None of the above made any difference to the wind noise, so I asked the dealer to re-adjust my door back to flush with the rest of the car and continued to live with the hissing sound.

Some people also said that it could be caused by the contoured side mirror directing wind to the door causing the noise. I put that theory to rest by folding in the mirror and driving at highway speed, and the hissing noise remains.

Finally I stumbled upon the actual cause - it is the window seal that is bad. This is the seal in between the door frame and the window glass. I found a spot on the window seal where if I pressed 3 fingers on that corner, the wind noise disappears. I showed it to the mechanic and drove with him. He pressed it himself and agreed with my findings, so the dealer agreed to one last try to fix it. I just got my car back 2 days ago and I am pretty sure this fix is effective. I can finally enjoy my car again!

Attached is a picture showing the source of my wind noise.

congrats. good persistence and detective work.

Damn! Incompetent dealer mechanics...

I'm going to be on the lookout for this - thanks!

nice

I'm having a noise but the door is perfectly aligned. I'll try this on my 200km road trip tomorrow. I'll let you know if I am victim of this faulty seal also...

great find OP

If that is it, u will be a hero

i dont even know if i have the wind noise, i dont think i do. but everytime i go 80mph it can get loud. but its never from any 1 particular spot. i think my noise is normal.

Good stuff man, did they replace the seal or repair it?

This was a good find and through persistance and good fortune you have found your leak.
Fortunately, my car has no leaks as of three months and 5000km.

I have noticed that the window seals are very poorly installed and aligned.
The rubber has portions that have buckled. But it is minor. Albeit in my opinion should not exist at all.
Also their are gaps in the rear passenger door window trim for the small widow on the rear doors. Again, not a big deal, as long as it doesn't leak. But surely, this is poor fit and finish for a car which claims to be a very quality product. Regardless, these are things I have come to accept but definitely reduces my faith in the brand........

the seals on my three MK5's were way better. (hence the cost cutting on MK6.) I'm still waiting for someone to order a MK5 front door seal and see if it snaps into a MK6. (Replacing the MK6 "felt" seals with the MK5 "rubber" one.)

Bruh Man said:

Good stuff man, did they replace the seal or repair it?

Click to expand...

They replaced it. Here's the part detail:

FP-NUMBER: 5K3-837-432-B-5AP
DESCRIPTION: CHANNEL
QTY: 1

Had to wait 2 days for them to ship it from another location in the USA.

plac said:

i dont even know if i have the wind noise, i dont think i do. but everytime i go 80mph it can get loud. but its never from any 1 particular spot. i think my noise is normal.

Click to expand...

Definitely you will hear some kind of noise of wind blowing past the car when going at a high speed, however the one that I experienced is very obviously different and I can tell because it happens on only one door but not on the other. It's really irritating, a hissing noise rather than a normal buffeting kind of wind noise.

Congrats on the finding!