stevehodder Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Morning Gents, First post on this forum - been reading the A8 section in detail - loads of great information. I've just bought a 2001 A8 3.7 Quattro Sport, with 59k miles. It’s a great car and I'm very pleased, so much car for the money 2nd hand. I picked it up last week and bought it home and poked about as you do with any new car; One thing that has become noticable - its got a slight rattle at idle from the front of the engine that seems more obvious when its warm. If you listen outside the car with the bonnet shut - it soundslike its coming from the area directly in front of the grill. If you rev the engine the rattle goes away - so it doesn't appear to be effected by revs. Before I take a trip to my local Audi garage, and as I'm unfamiliar with Audi's in general - has anyone got any ideas where it could be originating from so at least I can be better informed... Many Thanks, Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Try switching on/off the aicon etc. and anything else that could be driven from the front belt assemblies to see if you can isolate the component. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickGUK Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 My guess is it's the aircon electric fan, had the same rattle and as Atomic suggested, open the bonnet with the car running and aircon on, then directly behind the Radiator is 2 fans, as your looking at the car, the right hand fan is the aircon fan. When mine went you could actually see it vibrating as it was running, If you switch the aircon of, you might notice straight away that the rattle stops. If it's not 100% obvious, then stop the engine, and wait till the fans stop, then grab hold of the fan / bladed part of the aircon fan and if it is that as i suspect you can wobble / rattle it on its shaft. These fans are quite prone to wear as they are running all the time the aircon is on so the bearings eventually wear out. I would not suggest a dealer as the price / labour to fix it will be £350 + for parts and labour, if your technically mineded, then the fans are availabe on Ebay for around £50 and then just fit it yourself, its a little tricky and you need access under the car to route the loom, took me about an hour to do mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehodder Posted April 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Thanks for the replies gents, The fan could be a good place to look. Will pop out and check in a minute. Took it to an Audi independent at lunchtime - he took all the covers off the front end and checked the belt tension and water pump. No problems with any of this. His opinion is low oil pressure wihich is starving the top end of oil, it goes away as gas is applied as oil pressure increases ???. Causing it might be a case of either blocked strainer or new oil pump will solve the problem - but has quite rightly has indicated that if its been starved for too long the damage may have been done and it may never quiten down. Anymore ideas very gratefully received before I decide what needs to be done... Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickGUK Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Low oil pressure ? from 59k miles.....mm sounds a bit of a stab in the dark. If the car has a service history i find this hard to believe unless its had a really "hard" life Imo if the top end is worn, it would be really noisy at first fire up from cold until sufficent oil pressure has been reached and would significantly reduce as the engine warms up There is an obvious audible difference between a "rattle" from worn engine parts and a "rattle" from something else spinning / loose / worn. Does it make any diff with aircon on / off ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muppet_man Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 What area do you live shed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehodder Posted April 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Hi All, Thanks for the replies. I'm in W.London by the way. After a bit of negotiation with the seller we have decided to cancel the deal, and I have returned the car and had my money back. My hunt for a low mileage A8 / S8 re-commences... Rgds, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickGUK Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Oh errr!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ska Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 I'm in West London could have had a listen and look for you, but since you've managed to return the goods I guess thats no longer an option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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