PDA

View Full Version : Audi A6 front suspension knock



rosssomerville
21-11-2006, 10:40 AM
I have recently bought a 1.8 a6 avant on a t plate. Many faults have been sorted inc shocks on the rear electrics in the aircon and a new abs unit costing a fortune however the last problem is a knock from the front left corner when going over speed bumps pot holes anything uneven. I took it to the garage and they said they couldnt find anything and to just wait until its more obvious:aargh4: Anyway haveing now replaced many of the suspension arms the noise is more pronounced and has led me to believe that it is the antiroll bar bush.

Having a look at the bush it seems quite solid i have given it a good shake with the wheels off the ground and nothing moves. Is it the case that these bushes can be very worn but not show it when inspecting it?

Could the problem be something else? steering rack, engine mounts mabe?

I am going to replace the antiroll bar bushes anyway so if that sorts it I will post the result.

Anybody else having this problem?:1zhelp:

Gaz the Cab
21-11-2006, 09:10 PM
Have you changed the lower control arms, I had exactly the same symptoms with my Passat, turned out to be the bush that the shock absorber connects to, but it wasn't visible without dismantling them.

paul20v
22-11-2006, 01:04 PM
lots of diagnosis problems on the multilink suspension is that most people pick the car up on the sill or body the suspension then drop into a non working position hence a lot of things wont show because the get put into new positions in the joints etc and wear has not accured in these positions so its best to pick them up under the shock mounting which keeps the car in a more natural ride position use a good jack head so as not to damage the lower arm when picking up happy hunting

Emjay
22-11-2006, 01:32 PM
Have had several Audi's over the past 5 years, all developed problems relating to speed bumps.

A3 1.8T Sport Quattro - From new - After just three months a squeeking noise developed (front passenger side), so I booked it in at the dealer. The dealer could not trace a fault. Over the following months the noise intensified and the dealer had the car back a further four times before the fault was finally tracked down.
The anti-roll bar bushes had cracked; I was informed this was a common fault by the dealer. Q - If it was a common fault then why did it take so long for the problem to be rectified?

A4 3.0 Quattro Cab - From new - As before (A4 above) a squeeking noise developed after a few months. The car went back to the dealer on six occasions before a fault was traced, this time to the front left damper.
Again this was a fault previously reported by other owners of the same model. The damper was replaced and everything was fine until three weeks ago when the same noise developed, this time on the front right hand side. The car is now two years old.

Before the A3, I had a Renault Megane Coupe - from new - everything was fine for the first week, then all hell broke loose. The car spent more time at the dealer than on the road. Loads of issues! When I finally got the car back in working order and after twelve months trouble free motoring, the exhaust fell off. The dealer replaced the offending article and added a note of caution "don't drive over any speed bumps".

As I live on a relatively new estate, complete with 'speed bumps' and other 'traffic calming measures', and before I splash out on a new car, I shall wait until 'hover cars' are available. Or maybe I'll win the lottery and get myself a big house in the country with plenty of land for a helicopter!

SPEED BUMP - Oxymoron!:aargh4:

paul20v
22-11-2006, 06:17 PM
hover car would save me money on tyres :D

Bloobat
11-12-2006, 11:07 PM
I have the new shape A6 2.4 SE with sports suspension on a 54 plate bought from an Audi garage with 4000 miles on the clock. Fantastic car but ever since I took possession I have been troubled by a slight knock which appears to come from the front left suspension when this wheel goes over a bump. The strange thing is that it does not seem to matter how severe the bump is and it does not always occur. Audi as good as rebuilt this section of the car under warranty but replacing virtually everything did not cure the problem and it still persists to this day. Car has now done 36000 miles and it does not seem to be getting any worse. At one stage I thought it may just be a loose plastic bottle within the engine compartment as this is what it sounds like!!!! I have now resigned myself to live with it but very irritating as no other problems whatsover!!!!

beaver3167
03-09-2008, 08:45 PM
I have a A6 2006 3.0 S-Line ..... Exactly the same offside front knock when going over slight bumps or on slighlty not even roads. The car only had 12,000 on the clock and it has done it since this milage.

This is really irratating especially when you pay all that money. Previouly I had a BMW 3 series and never a rattle or bang in sight. Seems like Audi havenet grasped suspension yet.

Still have the knock on the car on 20k but havent had chance to ask the garage. If I knew what it was and it didnt cost loads I would sort it as it ruins what is in all other respects a great car.:mad:

Niall76
04-09-2008, 06:52 PM
Guess what?

I too have the exact same problem.

I did wonder if it was the drop link for the ARB hitting off the lower wish bone? I may have to investigate this....................

Niall76
04-09-2008, 06:59 PM
oh, and if anyone figures it out please let us know.

Georgie
09-10-2008, 01:33 PM
I have the same problem on my 08 plate A6 3.0 TDI Le Mans Avant. Slight low level hollow knocking / rattle coming from front offside when at low speed (below 20 mph) on uneneven / rutted roads or speed bumps. I reported this at the 3 month inspection with Camberley Audi, who I bought the car through, and they told me they couldn't detect the knocking. I reported it again a couple of weeks ago with Crawley Audi and, although the service manager thought he could hear the noise with me on a test drive, the engineers couldn't find any problem when they inspected it. My in-laws live up an uneven private road which makes the knock / rattle very noticeable indeed. I challenge any Audi engineer to come along with me and I assure you you will be convinced of the issue. If any one finds the source of the problem or manages to resolve it please let me know as it is an annoyance, although the car is otherwise fantastic. Thanks

Bloobat
11-10-2008, 08:40 PM
If it is any consolation Georgia my A6 has now done 67,000 miles and, although the knocking is still there, it has not got any worse. Fingers crossed that if it was anything serious it would have got a lot worse by now or failed totally:banghead::banghead:

Steve2.7T
24-10-2008, 05:08 PM
Hi. Bear with me on this story! It might be relevant!

I have an A6 2.7T (1999). I have just given it a light service myself (filters, plugs and oil etc) and whilst I had the air box out (located on the off side of the engine bay) to change the filter I noticed what looked like a suspension link arm beneath it NOT attached to a bodywork bracket right next to it (which incidentally was bent).

I have had a knocking over speed bumps and strangely, when reversing out of my drive! Now it looked like this control arm had been rubbing/knocking on this bracket. I thought that this must have been the problem and was annoyed as the car had allegedly had all the front suspension links replaced, so I took it into my local Audi specilist thinking that a bolt/bush had broken and fallen out!

After inspecting it, he told me that this bracket was something used to locate suspension components wen assembling the car and is not meant to be connected. However, it shouldn't have been fouling this part of the suspension. He's "relocated" the bracket with a large hammer presumably and now - hey presto - no more knocking!!!!!!

Maybe all audi's are assembled in the same way?

Hope this helps and that my explanation is understandable!

:beerchug:

CanadianAudinut
24-10-2008, 06:05 PM
I also had the same problem with my 2003 A6 left front suspension; it has been corrected though. In my case, there were 2 sources of noise.

1) Front lower left suspension rear arm's inboard neoprene bushing was delaminated form its metal sleeve, causing the bushing to tortionally load-unload-and-bang when the arm moved over bumps; and
2) the left front shock-absorber upper support bearing needed to be replaced. This was a difficult one to track down though, because if the laft front corner of the acr was loaded, there was no noise. With the hood open, one person sat on the front corner to load it, while we drove slowly over bumps.

I hope this info may be of some help to some out there

jhassell
25-02-2009, 01:37 PM
Hi I had the same problem 18 months ago. I have an A4 advant sport and i took it back to the garage several times and was diognosed with worn wheel bearing. The car had just come out of warrenty. They changed the bearing only to tell me that it was not that and i still had the problem. After kicking up a real fuss. The Epsom Audi, Agreed to replace the fornt sub frame as they found it was cracked. This fixed the problem but now i am getting a knocking noise on pulling away. Lost hope with local garge and there fault finding tech. Any one help.

Bluebower
25-02-2009, 03:18 PM
I have had an annoying front suspension knock since I bought my Allroad a couple of months ago, the lower arms have been replaced, anti roll bar bushes replaced, upper arms replaced, thankfully all paid for by the previous owner who I assume lost faith at this point and sold the car. After loads of looking/playing and shaking the car and visits to various garages the problem was finally found, a broken caliper clip causing the disc to bang agains the caliper when going over bumps, the part was £10 from Audi and I am very pleased especially as one garage diagnosed play in the steering rack as the fault and wanted £800!! Hope this info helps someone.

loopie6
05-03-2009, 02:19 PM
I have the same problem on my 08 plate A6 3.0 TDI Le Mans Avant. Slight low level hollow knocking / rattle coming from front offside when at low speed (below 20 mph) on uneneven / rutted roads or speed bumps. I reported this at the 3 month inspection with Camberley Audi, who I bought the car through, and they told me they couldn't detect the knocking. I reported it again a couple of weeks ago with Crawley Audi and, although the service manager thought he could hear the noise with me on a test drive, the engineers couldn't find any problem when they inspected it. My in-laws live up an uneven private road which makes the knock / rattle very noticeable indeed. I challenge any Audi engineer to come along with me and I assure you you will be convinced of the issue. If any one finds the source of the problem or manages to resolve it please let me know as it is an annoyance, although the car is otherwise fantastic. Thanks


I have had four audis now, starting with the A4 avant, now have an Allroad.
They all have had warranty work done on the front end suspension.
This knocking occurs on full lock and going over speed bumps/rough tracks.
The shock mount was the cause of the speed bump knock, when the suspension was extended and the full lock bump was the lower stearing arm.
I dont know anymore about it, but all four faults were fixed underwarranty.

Hope this helps a bit.

regards

jhassell
23-03-2009, 09:48 PM
Hi Finnally got another garage to confirm what i thought was the problem when pulling away and getting the knocking noise. Front sub frame faulty .
This is the second subframe to be defective in 18 months. know taken reoprt to Audi garage, firstly would not belive what i was telling them but soon agreed when there master tech looked at issue.

All i can think is this must be a out lining fault that Audi are keeping quite about. Thank heavens it coverd on a warrenty.

If any one is in doubt about these noises get the subframe checked out.

jhassell
23-03-2009, 09:50 PM
Hi Finnally got another garage to confirm what i thought was the problem when pulling away and getting the knocking noise. Front sub frame faulty .
This is the second subframe to be defective in 18 months. know taken reoprt to Audi garage, firstly would not belive what i was telling them but soon agreed when there master tech looked at issue.

All i can think is this must be a out lining fault that Audi are keeping quite about. Thank heavens it coverd on a warrenty.

If any one is in doubt about these noises get the subframe checked out.[/quote]

nicibrook
24-03-2009, 12:04 AM
I have the same issue on my A6....i have replaced the lower suspension arms and drop links, after much head scratching i found a post on another forum advising it could be the top strut mount bush...i have had it checked and mine has gone!!! woo hoo....the symptoms are chatter over rough ground and steering squirmy steering!!! I have replaced it and the car drives and sounds like new.

:biglaugh:
Nick