bpsmith Posted August 19, 2003 Report Share Posted August 19, 2003 I seem to have a small noise coming from the front of my A3 1.8T. It seems to make a creaking noise when the body or suspension is twisting and only happens when almost stopped? It is very difficult to describe but I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? The car is still under its 12 month warranty as bought it from dealer 2nd hand so may well take it to them to look at although it is difficult to do this due to the creak not always being able to be replicated on tap, so to speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted August 19, 2003 Report Share Posted August 19, 2003 pretty sure I know what this is had same problem on my 23k mile S3 and ex girl friends 44k mile TT. Its probably the front anti roll bar bushes. Does it sound like a creaking noise ? They also replace the anti roll bar because the worn bushes damage the roll bar. I got a 70% contributiom from Audi cos it was out of warranty (import). Watch the price though, if I'd paid full price it would have been about £160, but ex was quoted over £300 at another dealer. Jury is out though whether you need the alignment done afterwards. The front wishbones have to be dropped to do the job. Mine wasn't done, but the other dealer said it needed it. I queried my dealer but they were adamant it didn't need it. Instills confidence when dealers disagree! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted August 19, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2003 Cool. I will get this checked with a mate at ATS first and can see for myself if this is likely to be the problem. I can then tell them straight at the dealer. Would this be an item that is covered by the 12 month 2nd hand car warranty though? If so I will get them to change them and hopefully do the alignment too under the warranty!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted September 3, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 I just went to ATS to see if my mate was there as not seen him for a few months now. We was not there as, back in June, he was racing one of those really "mini" motorbikes around the local race track (Pembrey) and one of the bolts on the front caliper sheered off and hit his knee and ankle and he came off the bike. He wont be back in work for the rest of the year!!! Anyway, I had the exhaust checked out as a lot of warm air was coming from under the driver side door when I stopped and got out of the car and I wanted this checked. It turns out to be the heat generated from the CAT. I took the liberty of getting the front end looked at around the roll bar and bushes and all are fine. They have sprayed them with WD40 to try this as weather has been very dry and early impressions seem to be that this has fixed the problems with the squeak! Thanks for the pointer and hopefully it will stay right for a while now. The car is booked in next week for the other issue with the vibration and revs pausing at 1.2K after coming to a stop to be looked at so I will ask them to check this out too. Although I know they will probably tell me that it is fine and not even check it knowing them at my local dealer!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted September 7, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2003 I have been driving the car for a few days now, since the bushes were sprayed and the noise is back! Cant tell where it is coming from still but know that the guys in ATS checked them all out visually and they were all fine. I had a glance myself and could not see anything amiss, so dont hold my breath when the local dealer has a look at it due to the fact that it is a little bit intermittent and that they tend to palm people off in saying nowt is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominicbatty Posted September 7, 2003 Report Share Posted September 7, 2003 My A3 has been creaking badly for the past few weeks, the noise seems to come from somewhere under the clutch pedal if I had to pick a location. Went into my dealer three times before they eventually found it and replaced 2x rubber mounts (1J0411314T) @ 3.63 +VAT 1x Stabiliser (8N0411303G) @ 47.00 +VAT All back to normal now ... hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lynham Posted September 8, 2003 Report Share Posted September 8, 2003 mines going back in for a similar problem that was there for ages - may not be the same - turned out i had to have the engine mounts replaced - noticed it when i was pulling away and when i was almost at a stand still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted September 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2003 Mine seems to be when I twist the car and also when I am almost at stand still and again when I brake fairly heavy at almost stand still. These could all point at dodgy engine mounts I suppose so will have a look at that too. Would I see this visually when I jack the car up or put it on ramps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lynham Posted September 8, 2003 Report Share Posted September 8, 2003 don't know, sorry - mine was in and out of the dealers for ages before they actually found what was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlo Posted September 9, 2003 Report Share Posted September 9, 2003 I had exactly the same problem... a good test is speed bumps, when you come down the speed bump the suspension creaks... Had to have my front anti-roll bar replaced along with the bushes and this sorted the problem straight away. Was all covered under the warranty and when I had a quick look at the warranty receipt it was quoted at £338 (Lucky I didn't have to pay!) As soon as I took it into the Audi dealer they knew exactly what it was... apparently pretty common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted September 9, 2003 Report Share Posted September 9, 2003 [ QUOTE ] I had exactly the same problem... a good test is speed bumps, when you come down the speed bump the suspension creaks... Had to have my front anti-roll bar replaced along with the bushes and this sorted the problem straight away. Was all covered under the warranty and when I had a quick look at the warranty receipt it was quoted at £338 (Lucky I didn't have to pay!) As soon as I took it into the Audi dealer they knew exactly what it was... apparently pretty common. [/ QUOTE ] I've had the same thing replaced a couple of months back... been sweet as since. Didnt realise it costs that much tho, thank feck for warranty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted September 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2003 Cool, I had the same info previously also. Is this visibly noticeable though as had the car on ramps at ATS and they said it looked fine? Suppose the bushes could go in different ways so may not always be able to tell with them rollbar still on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted September 11, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 Sinclair Audi cannot replicate the problem. See post about other problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlo Posted September 14, 2003 Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 I managed to relpicate it by pushing down and back (Towards the rear of the car) on the front wing... bouncing it a fair bit seemed to start the creak off... made a difference of I had a passanger in the car too... I am surprised by your dealer not being able to replicate it... my dealer is Sh*t hot when it comes to that sort of stuff... As soon as I described it they knew exactly what it was... Same with my steering column fault as soon as I described my problem they gave me 3 possible causes and they were spot on... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted September 14, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2003 Thanks, I will try doing that tomorrow after work and see if I can hear it. What problem did you have with the steering column also as seem to have a strange noise from that when moving from left to right passing over the centre. It is quite notchy but that may well be standard thing as there may be a groove of some sort? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlo Posted September 15, 2003 Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Funny you should say that as that is the problem that I had... When you move the wheel over centre it would feel rough and almost step down slightly, almost like a minor knock... This was due to a worn bush (Again) on my steering column and had to have the whole column replaced... nasty thing was it came back again on the second column fitted so had to have another... plus some additional parts that I think should have been fitted anyway... The roughness sometimes turned into a knock, especially if the steering lock had been applied hard... and seemed to reduce when the car was warm or if the wheel was moved a fair but. All covered under warranty so I didn't have to pay... don't fancy the cost of a new steering column... If I were you I would have the car properly checked out by a dealer you can trust... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpsmith Posted September 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2003 Hmmm...I think my local dealer is pulling a swift one by the look of it!?! Thing is, the 3 nearest dealers are all owned by the same people. I wonder where else I could get it looked over by? Would they then charge for this or is the warranty the same no matter which dealer you go to considering I bought the car second hand? Is there any other tell tale signs for me to look out for. Thinking about it the creak from the front could be down to the same thing as I thought it was when the suspension was at full torsion when turning but could just be the steering making the noise and not being obvious. I have a shake from the wheel at around 80mph too and thought that was down to balancing which I have been meaning to get looked at. All the signs seem to be there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlo Posted September 21, 2003 Report Share Posted September 21, 2003 Give Audi UK a call... don't know the number try 118 118 or whichever...they seem really helpful and ask their advice... they might have a chat to the dealer for you or get you booked in at another dealer... Worth a try if your not confident with the dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnie Posted September 22, 2003 Report Share Posted September 22, 2003 Hello, first post. I have had a problem as described in these posts, my car is booked in this Weds to have the bushes sorted, interesting about the anti-roll bar being replaced as well - will keep this in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snail Posted September 22, 2003 Report Share Posted September 22, 2003 Welcome winnie.....sounds like you have the right idea, everyone seems to be getting their bushes done at the mo (no gardening jokes please) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spearcey Posted September 23, 2003 Report Share Posted September 23, 2003 My first S3 had this (among a catalogue of others), the dealer replaced the bushes under warranty. They said that it was due to the roll bar being painted under where the bushes sit and this causes the problem - dunno whether that's true or not but it got sorted out anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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