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.
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.