Just purchased a 2013 Golf R, 14k miles, hearing the infamous whine. Need feedback.

So I traded my 2013 GLI in Friday, Aug 7th in for a 2013 Golf R with 14k miles. Drove it all weekend with the wife, didn't notice a thing. We love the car.

Jumped on the highway this morning, hear the most obvious whine or drone coming from the car somewhere. Searched online and have found all kinds of reports. Some say normal, some say replace the diff.

Question is, it just passed VW inspection and I took possession only a few days ago.

Is this a confirmed issue or is it just common annoyance?

Does the car need go back to the dealer?

Thanks for all your help guys! Hopefully will have more positive things to talk about as I'm a new member.

Probably the soundaktor....fake sounds into the cabin. vibrates the whole dash and windshield.

Or could be the rear diff whine.

Only at certain speeds?

I will check soundaktor, I briefly read about that. It did sound like a windshield hum at first, the more I started to pay attention, the more it sounded like it could be from something rotational. (I honestly don't know what I'm hearing but I've read and searched a lot of threads. It's a whine, a hum, or something, and pretty obvious sounding).

I've only noticed the sound on the highway so far.

I will report back this afternoon or evening when I can spend more time in the car again.

jkmimages said:

I will check soundaktor, I briefly read about that. It did sound like a windshield hum at first, the more I started to pay attention, the more it sounded like it could be from something rotational. (I honestly don't know what I'm hearing but I've read and searched a lot of threads. It's a whine, a hum, or something, and pretty obvious sounding).

I've only noticed the sound on the highway so far.

I will report back this afternoon or evening when I can spend more time in the car again.

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It took me a few tries, but I was able to get the dealer to replace my diff and the noise went away totally. Don't take any :bs:from anyone that it's "normal" or it's the tires. Just make sure you know how to replicate it and be persistent... especially at 14k miles...

Xler82.0 said:

It took me a few tries, but I was able to get the dealer to replace my diff and the noise went away totally. Don't take any :bs:from anyone that it's "normal" or it's the tires. Just make sure you know how to replicate it and be persistent... especially at 14k miles...

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Thanks for the tip. I hope it's the soundaktor and not the diff. I just got the car and would really hate to have to deal with that. So this is something covered under warranty?

rupertpupkin said:

Probably the soundaktor....fake sounds into the cabin. vibrates the whole dash and windshield.

Or could be the rear diff whine.

Click to expand...

Does this make a lot of noise at highway speeds? Does it have to be defective to sound drone or whine like? I'm sure it's intact on a low mileage car.

Hello Gentlemen, after an extended commute home this evening I've spent more time paying attention to this. First, let me say that I come from a family of Corvettes. Noise is not something I am new to. Especially drive train noise. The T56 in my Z06, is a garbage disposal. My old daily, the 13' GLI had the DSG. Smooth as silk... so I'm not sure what I am hearing is "common"?

What I am hearing, I hear mostly, two different ways. Coming to a stop, and highway speeds. I can only describe it as a very faint air raid siren, if you will. As far as volume is concerned, it's not extreme. The radio or AC often masks the sound. I just want to know if the drive train noise I hear is not the dreaded bad differential or just normal Haldex sounds. My Corvettes have always made gear noises, my GLI didn't. Does the Golf R make more noise than I should expect?

I only ask these questions because I'm new to this specific car, it should still be under factory warranty and I also bought the extended 75k powertrain coverage. Totally in love with this car, but I don't want to complain to the VW Dealer and have them tear it down or hassle me over it, if I am alright. I mean, the car pulls hard, shifts smooth, everything is all there. Am I being OCD? Thanks for the input guys.

*edit. This sound is however noticeably louder with speed. Audible whine (50+) Than the slow hum coming to a stop, like an air raid siren., (30mph-0). This probably makes little sense to most over the internet. I called the dealer, they said they have heard of no issue. I search online, I can find 20 threads. So beats me....

Anyone in Vegas care to hop in and give me an opinon?!

Hmmm... Perhaps maybe you can record it on your phone and post it .

I had a unfortunate situation with my Golf R with my Final Drive aka Rear-Diff. When it failed you could hear a whine and it would vary on sound depending on speed. In my circumstance a object damaged it while driving or casting failure occurred around 48k miles. In hindsight it most likely occurred while driving. In the final stages you can hear it getting louder and eventually whine becomes more like a gron or deep honing... like what you'd imagine unlubricated gears would sound like. When it finally fails you can feel the drivetrain intermittently jerk.

The damaged area had a crack where a the bolt met the other end of the casting.

At 14k miles theres no reason why this part should fail unless you had a circumstance of exterior damage. You could possibly rule that out by visually inspecting it yourself by lifting or jacking it up. Look for oil seepage... there should be no signs of that around the casting.

Many Golf R owners experience failures because rookie/inadequate techs drained the Rear-Diff thinking it was the Haldex. At your mileage this would be highly unlikely because that maintenance interval is done at 40k or 30k miles(can't remember the exact mileage this should be done).

Best wishes, hopefully the whine pertains to something not as serious. If I happen to find myself in Vegas sometime soon(because of a spontaneous decision:23: ) I'd be more than happy to be a second set of ears for you:thumbsup:.

jkmimages said:

Thanks for the tip. I hope it's the soundaktor and not the diff. I just got the car and would really hate to have to deal with that. So this is something covered under warranty?

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If its not from damage on the exterior it should covered.

My experience, as noted above, was from exterior damage to the casting... I filed a claim with VWoA because that repair bill is no joke, right under $6k. I was very fortunate and paid a fraction of the cost. I can't remember how much it cost me but I consider myself very lucky. I did play the I purchased 2 VW and 1 Audi card and I recently got laid off of work card, which was all true(at the time) and it worked to some degree.

iGTI said:

Hmmm... Perhaps maybe you can record it on your phone and post it .

I had a unfortunate situation with my Golf R with my Final Drive aka Rear-Diff. When it failed you could hear a whine and it would vary on sound depending on speed. In my circumstance a object damaged it while driving or casting failure occurred around 48k miles. In hindsight it most likely occurred while driving. In the final stages you can hear it getting louder and eventually whine becomes more like a gron or deep honing... like what you'd imagine unlubricated gears would sound like. When it finally fails you can feel the drivetrain intermittently jerk.

The damaged area had a crack where a the bolt met the other end of the casting.

At 14k miles theres no reason why this part should fail unless you had a circumstance of exterior damage. You could possibly rule that out by visually inspecting it yourself by lifting or jacking it up. Look for oil seepage... there should be no signs of that around the casting.

Many Golf R owners experience failures because rookie/inadequate techs drained the Rear-Diff thinking it was the Haldex. At your mileage this would be highly unlikely because that maintenance interval is done at 40k or 30k miles(can't remember the exact mileage this should be done).

Best wishes, hopefully the whine pertains to something not as serious. If I happen to find myself in Vegas sometime soon(because of a spontaneous decision:23: ) I'd be more than happy to be a second set of ears for you:thumbsup:.

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Thanks for your response and input!!!

Going to spend more time with the car. So far, so good. Let's hope I am just crazy.

If you do ever make it out here to this crazy town, hit me up!!! :fighting0030:

UPDATE:

I took my car to my VW Dealer last week, Thursday 08/27. I took a technician for about a 10 mile drive, in which the tech agreed it was not tire noise. After getting back to the shop, I left the car with them to investigate further. Later in the day, they called me back to confirm that they would be replacing my differential under warranty. As of today, Thursday 09/03, my Golf R is still in their shop waiting on the differential shipment to arrive.

RECAP:

Bought car unaware of differential issue, 2013 Golf R with 15k miles. VW agreed to replace the differential under warranty.

Guy- I think it's safe to say, this is a known issue on these cars and VW is aware of it.