Lots of noise from drivers door

I've had the wind noise problem all along, but yesterday a new noise started, and it seems to be getting worse. I was driving on some pretty rough roads when I noticed that I was getting lots of creaks and vibrations from the door panel. I figured I would be ok once I got back onto normal roads, but the noises persist. I drove 50-60 miles today and as the day went on the noises seemed to be being triggered by smaller smaller imperfections. Now I have a constant buzz coming from the drivers door. The problem goes away if I roll the window down even the slightest amount, so I'm stumped. I played with pushing the door in to see how much play there was compared to the passenger side (no wind noise or buzzing) and there seems to be quite a bit more give in the drivers door. I would adjust the striker plate myself, but I don't have any triple squares.

I plan to pull the door panel thursday or friday to check it out, but I was just curious if anyone else has experienced this. The dealership is a last resort because they are generally a-holes and refuse to not wash my car.

just take it to the dealer the wind noise is a seal problem mine has the same the dealer will fix that next time i go in. and if your hearing creaking and other sounds you dont wanna be pulling off the panel and breaking a clip cause more than likely they will just blame you.

Just my 0.2

I've already had the door panel off a couple times and I haven't broken a clip yet, but I have a bunch of spares in case I do. It's possible that the noise is a result of something I did while taking the panel off and putting it back on, but its been a couple thousand miles since I messed with it and the noises just started.

Update:
First, I don't normally visit Vortex much, but I decided to check it out to see if there was some info on what I'm experiencing. In their on-going wind noise thread someone has mentioned that VW may have revised the door seal to a thicker rubber. The part number is the same, but the part is supposed to be slightly different. I will head by the dealership and get one ordered to see for myself.
Second, After some careful measurements with my calipers and some play-doh it looks like my drivers door is closing about 1mm less than my passenger side. I've been wanting an excuse to buy some triple square bits, so I will pick up a set and adjust the striker plate. I also lubed the door seal to see if that helps any in the meantime.

To anyone that may be following this, I seem to have isolated the problem. As most people suspected, it is the door seals. I lubed the drivers side door seal Sunday night and the noise was all gone on Monday. The drivers door was so quiet in fact that I noticed the same creaks and crackles coming from the hatch and passenger door. Today (Tuesday) the noises started up again on the drivers door, but I lubed the passenger and hatch seals so now they are quiet. I would re-lube the drivers door just to confirm that the lube works, but I want it to be nice and noisy for the dealer.
I made an appointment with the dealership for first thing Thursday morning. I will tell them what I have found, and push for them to order the new seals. Hopefully the parts have been revised and we can all put this problem behind us.

Thanks for the update.

I don't have any strange noises on my car, but this is good to know if some ghosts start tagging along for the ride.

Another update for anyone that might be following. I dropped the car off at the dealer 7am Thursday morning. They've told me that the technician was unable to solve my problem using their standard methods so they are keeping my car over the weekend. Kinda pissed about that, but I suppose as long as it gets fixed. They are contacting the "VW technical support office", whatever that is, and will give me an update Monday. Judging by the dealership's response, it seems that my GTI may have some kind of problem above the standard wind noise issue. Hopefully they are actually getting it fixed and not jerking me around.
So far they have supposedly:
Lubed the door seal
Lubed the hinges
Adjusted the door in, out, and every which way possible
Adjusted the window mechanisms
and removed the door panel more than twice (leaving the panel off doesn't solve the problem)

After waiting all day for a call from the dealership that I never received I decided to stop by in person. I got some good news and some bad news.
good news first: I get my car back, woohoo.
Bad news: they didn't fix a damn thing. I'm beyond pissed that they had my car for 5 days and still didn't accomplish anything. VW has apparently told the dealership to "release the car as is" and is sending out a rep to diagnose the problem further. Which means that I will lose my car again in the near future. Awesome.

If you're leasing or financing (through VW Credit), I'd request they take a month off due to loss of use of the car. That's one of the things they're generally willing to do.

Also, will this be time #3 at the dealer for the same problem? If it is, it may fall under lemon laws (check your state laws on this) - so they'll do a lot to keep you happy

I have the same little creaky noises coming from my driver's side door off and on too (and once and awhile from the passenger side). I'm not too worried about it though and I really don't want the service guys at the dealer opening and shutting my doors and wearing stuff out in the process for 5 days. I will just deal with it. It's good to know that others are hearing the same noises too.

jmblur said:

If you're leasing or financing (through VW Credit), I'd request they take a month off due to loss of use of the car. That's one of the things they're generally willing to do.

Also, will this be time #3 at the dealer for the same problem? If it is, it may fall under lemon laws (check your state laws on this) - so they'll do a lot to keep you happy

Click to expand...

good ideas, but unfortunately I paid cash, so no go on payment restitution. Also, as far as Texas is concerned, creaks and rattles are generally not covered under lemon laws.

I actually just got back from picking up my car and thought I should share this last tidbit of info.
1. My car was returned to me with so little gas that it stalled on me pulling into the gas station about five miles away (the nearest one).
2. The service advisor asked me to report to the phone survey deal that my car was fixed even though it was not. When I asked her why I should do that she said because we're going to fix it next time, as if they know the solution but chose not to use it until next time. I said NO.
3. I asked them to please not wash my car, and they didn't. They just wiped it down with the dirtiest f'ing rag they could find.
4. They actually did order the new door seal that is supposedly thicker. They are supposed to call me when it comes in. They wont be installing it.

Sounds like it's time to take it to a new dealer...

While this dealer was exceptionally bad, my experiences with others in the past (different makes) haven't been exactly stellar either. I can turn a wrench or two so I'm probably done with dealers all together. Unless I get some sort of major problem that will be covered under warranty, I'm fixing it myself or upgrading.