Clunking Rear

[Doctee]

Car arrived this morning and overall very happy. However....

Something on Passenger seat was rattling/ buzzing quite loud- seems to have stopped after moving seat back a bit. Has anyone else had rattle buzz/ from seat?

When I drive over a bump there is a really loud thump noise from rear of car. I've checked for loose spare wheel, compartments closed properly, etc. Anyone got any ideas on this? Would be nice if could solve this without a trip to Audi.

[ianfarnham]

I've not had the clunk in the back but if you've got the manual seat height levers it's almost certainly one of these rattling. mine does occasionally and if i lean across and touch the passenger lever the rattle stops.

[Goatistuta]

Funnily enough, I had the exact same problem with a clunk when driving over bumps and potholes. I took the car to Liverpool Audi who diagnosed the problem as being that the suspensions stops had been dislodged. After they carried out the repair, the problem disappeared and I now have a clunk- less car!

The service guy told me that they had seen this on a couple of cars recently and thought that it was caused by the car being poorly unloaded from the transporter.

As an aside, I was a bit disappointed with Leeds Audi, from whom I bought the car last week as the problem manifested itself on the drive home, so I would have thought that it would have been apparent on the PDI.

[Doctee]

Yep- it was the suspension stops. Audi advised me to call roadside assist. Nice man from RAC had a look but couldnt fix so we went unannounced to Walton Audi at 10am. They were really nice and squeezed us in- fixed an on the road again 11am! Superb service from Walton.

Great forum as well- Goatastitua: your pointer was really helpful :)

The buzzing still there occasionally- but def something to do with passenger seat.

[AZO1]

Took delivery yesterday & yep had exact same problem with a clunk when driving over bumps and potholes. Otherwise car is great :-)
Am keeping an ear on the situation as it does seem less/not noticeable today.

[Doctee]

@AZ01 it was pretty easy to spot prob, even to my untrained eye- the shock stops are yellow, hard-foam like springs on the shocks- If you can move these up and down, I'd say they've dropped and you have same issue. Audi said that continued driving without these working properly could damage suspension.....

[AZO1]

Doctee - thanks for the reply.
This evening I went out in the car to find a road with some potholes (not difficult!). Strangely (& thankfully), the problem seems to have cured itself. Not sure why that would be (I have taken the car out for a long mainly motorway drive earlier today...& maybe things have settled down since yesterday and the initial drive). The clunking sound had been coming from nearside rear. If it reoccurs I shall update here & will certainly take it to the dealers ASAP.

[MFGF]

Funnily enough, I had the exact same problem with a clunk when driving over bumps and potholes. I took the car to Liverpool Audi who diagnosed the problem as being that the suspensions stops had been dislodged. After they carried out the repair, the problem disappeared and I now have a clunk- less car!

The service guy told me that they had seen this on a couple of cars recently and thought that it was caused by the car being poorly unloaded from the transporter.

As an aside, I was a bit disappointed with Leeds Audi, from whom I bought the car last week as the problem manifested itself on the drive home, so I would have thought that it would have been apparent on the PDI.

Oh yikes! I noticed this on my car tonight over rough road surfaces. Looks like I will be at the dealer on Monday...

MF.


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[MFGF]

Update. I called my dealer this morning, and they asked me to bring it straight down. The thudding had mysteriously improved after carrying two passengers in the rear of the car last night. It seems the weight in the back was enough to allow the bump stops to re-seat themselves. My dealer checked the car and said all was fine.

MF.

[Carlin4737]

Took delivery yesterday & yep had exact same problem with a clunk when driving over bumps and potholes. Otherwise car is great :-)
Am keeping an ear on the situation as it does seem less/not noticeable today.

Ditto, took delivery this morning , and said same knocking from rear end over potholes and traffic calming humps . Will see how it goes over weekend then back to Audi next week.

[fozzie10]

Had my A6 S-Line saloon delivered on Friday and has exactly the same knocking noise. Just checked and low and behold the yellow stops are out of the housing. Is it as simple as pushing them back into the housing. My nearest dealer is 20 miles away.

[Sheroo]

I'm really concerned about this lack of attention to detail from Audi showrooms when preparing a car! There seems to be a common theme developing here? My car isn't due until July, I'd better stick this in the diary to ensure it is checked before I drive off.

[Carlin4737]

Ditto, took delivery this morning , and said same knocking from rear end over potholes and traffic calming humps . Will see how it goes over weekend then back to Audi next week.

Took car in thursday, hoping for repairs to be complete this afternoon. Unfortunately both rear dampers are u/s and require replacing, so car wont be ready now until tuesday :( but on the bright side got a A6 C7 3.0TDI Sline for the bank holiday weekend :)

[MFGF]

That's worrying news! I wonder what could have caused both rear dampers to go faulty like that?

MF.


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[Carlin4737]

That's worrying news! I wonder what could have caused both rear dampers to go faulty like that?

not sure as yet MF, will hopefully have a bit more info on tuesday when I pick car up. But did notice the yellow bump stops were lose from their housing in suspension unit and rattling about as per previous posts...


the shock stops are yellow, hard-foam like springs on the shocks- If you can move these up and down, I'd say they've dropped and you have same issue. Audi said that continued driving without these working properly could damage suspension.....

I would suggest anyone with same symptoms to get an inspection/repair asap, I only had car 5 days before returning to Audi :(

[Carlin4737]

Picked up car yesterday and have had both rear shock absorber mountings and both rear shock absorbers replaced under warrantee as you would expect ,but still none the wiser as to why these parts failed in the first place.

[digitollie]

I recently changed the struts on the back of mine and the bump stops were pretty knackered, Anyone have any recomendation for decent replacements?

[MFGF]

I recently changed the struts on the back of mine and the bump stops were pretty knackered, Anyone have any recomendation for decent replacements?

All the issues in this thread are with brand-spanking-new A6s, fresh from their PDI checks. I very much doubt anyone will have covered enough miles to have to choose or pay for new dampers or bump stops on these vehicles yet. Where replacements have been necessary, they have been original equipment under warranty at the dealer, seemingly as a result of the PDI checker not seating the bump stops when removing the shipping blocks. You may have better luck over on the A3 8P forum - these have been around for a while, and I think I remember seeing a couple of threads about rear bump stops and a revised design.

Good luck!!

MF.

[ihsanr]

I took delivery of my A6 2.0TDI 3 months ago and im having the same noise from the back, sent to Audi three times, they cant figure out what it is, they changed shocks, mounts on my brand new car and still tho noise exists and its more prominent now, i have written to Audi AG germany regarding the problem and no response from them either, very disappointing service. ive been reading below and "suspension stop" was something to look at, i will ask our dealer here in Sri Lanka about this. by the way what is the suspension stop ?