Disc Brake Splash Guards

[Gazdebaz]

Folks,
Had an incident at the weekend, which you all should be aware of. Apparently this is quite a common problem with the golf.

After reversing out of my drive, then when moving forward I heard a horrendous squealing and crunching noise coming from the rear offside side of the car. Now this noise was so bad even a neighbour, who stays 3 doors down, heard it from inside his house.
Quickly put the car back in the drive. My first thought was to jack the car up and maybe take the wheel off to have a look. Quickly dismissed that idea, (This is what warranty’s are for!) so phoned the dealer but as it was a Saturday afternoon no mechanics were available to come and have a look, immediately he suggested that it might be a stone in the disc as this is a common problem and suggested I phone VW rescue.

This I did and about 2 ½  hours later the van appeared. I gave him a description of the noise and he went to his van, got a stick and pushed the disc splash guard back a bit and hey presto a stone fell out. Drove the car and it was fine. He also mentioned this is a common occurrence, more usually on the back wheels but has been known to happen on the front wheels as well.

So if anybody else experiences this don’t panic, just carry a wooden stick in your car. 
Note: Baseball bat doesn’t fit between the spokes.

[Snoopy]

Happens with alot of cars. Had it happen a few times to me over the years.

[daviescotland]

That's good to know, just incase

[mac7]

My first thought was to jack the car up and maybe take the wheel off to have a look. Quickly dismissed that idea, (This is what warranty’s are for!) so phoned the dealer but as it was a Saturday afternoon no mechanics were available to come and have a look, immediately he suggested that it might be a stone in the disc as this is a common problem and suggested I phone VW rescue.

This I did and about 2 ½  hours later the van appeared.

You'd better be a dainty young lady with freshly manicured finger nails . Was it really worth all that when you obviously had a good idea what it was and could have sorted it yourself in 5 minutes?

Seriously, if I was the chap in the van I'd have given you a slap. Unless you were a dainty young lady with freshly manicured finger nails, in which case I'd have asked for your phone number...

[The Danno]

It happened to met he first day i recieved my new Mk5 gti five years ago. i freaked and thought i was dragging the exhaust along the road. It IS seriuosly loud!!! I also phoned the vw assistance guy who did exactly the same thing to fix it. It was only ever a problem when it was brand new.

[Gazdebaz]

You'd better be a dainty young lady with freshly manicured finger nails . Was it really worth all that when you obviously had a good idea what it was and could have sorted it yourself in 5 minutes?

I had an injured hand at the time and the dealer did not inform me of the trick of just pushing the splash guard back. I have owned and driven many cars in my life and never came across this before. Also it did concern me that it might have been something more serious in which case recovery might have been needed. So nah, nah, nah, nah... nah.... nah.

[mac7]

I had an injured hand at the time

You're excused. 

[Neil gti]

Happens with alot of cars. Had it happen a few times to me over the years.

Happened to me a few times on my old Ibiza Cupra,
and on mk5 R32 driving through Edinburgh town centre, certainly turned some heads and on noisy cobble streets aswell  :embarassed:

[Snoopy]

I had this happen to me yesterday on the way to work i think this is what it was. 
Well i hope it was a stone!!
I was about 6 miles into my jouney to work in a line of traffic doing 30mph and then i heard this loud squeel for a mile or so, i thought it was the transit 2 cars in front (was not in the best of states) but then i realised as i backed off from the traffic it was still as loud as it had been so as i weaved about it changed pitch slghtly. It was my car 
So as soon as i could find a place to stop i did and wiggles and pushed the brake disc guards as i remembered this thread (thank you for posting it you saved me from  )
I Reversed out from were i had stopped and continued on and it seemed the noise had gone.Touch wood its not come back so i think it must have been a stone between the guard and the disc except i did not see it fall out.
The feeling as my hart sank when i realised it was my new car was not nice but because of this thread topic i remembered what it maybe.
So thank you for posting it. It shows the power of the forum. 

[Ess_Three]

Easy fix - remove the stupid things.

1. No chance of catching stones.
2. More air into the brakes to cool them - so braking improvements.

Mine will be removed as soon as I can be bothered taking the wheels off again.
It's usually the first thing I do on a new car.