Vibration through seat . . .

[daveyboyd]

Hi,

I have recently bought an A4 S-Line on a 56 plate with 37000 miles on the clock 2.0 TDi (140). Previous owner was a woman from new.

I have to do quite a few motorway miles to get to work (around 400/week) and I noticed that around 80mph the car vibrates through my seat.

I guessed it needed the wheels balanced so I took it back to Audi (main dealership). They had the car for three days as they couldn't get the wheels off. The said that when I bought it the body shop who refurbed the wheels (they were really scuffed/kerbed) put the bolts on too tight. Apparently they ruined two 'tools' getting them off so they must have been tight. They balanced the wheels and gave me it back.

I have just driven to work in it and the vibration is still there, its like my drivers seat has a massage function. I called them and its going back in after Christmas.

Point to note, when I bought it they had replaced 3 tyres and left the n/s rear on (which is a Sunny brand?) as it had 8mm left on the tread.

They suggested that I run the tyres in for about 1500 miles to see if the problem go's away, I told them that I have probably already done 1500 miles anyway.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what this may be?

I suspect that one of the wheels is buckled but thought that this would show up when balancing the wheels?

Cheers

Dave

[RickT]

Did they balance the rear wheeks too, not just the fronts,

The A4 really does suffer if the rear wheels are not balanced correctly.

[daveyboyd]

Yeah, both front and rear.

Just took it to my local kwik fit which I know are really hot when it comes to this and he reckons they were all well out! He even said they had counterbalanced their own weights. I haven't road tested it yet but I will let you know how I get on . . .

[Ben]

Previous owner was a woman from new.

......

the car vibrates through my seat.



:naughty:;)

[daveyboyd]

No joy, stillthe same vibration, obviously not the wheel balance, must be something else, Im booking it in again after chrimbo . . .

[venkie]

I have the same problem with my S-line Avant 07 A4. At around 80-90 mph the seat vibrates like u described it. i bought it from the dealer as a used car with 15k on the clock and single owner. they changed 2 sets of tyre and put the new ones on the front and old ones in the back with still 8mm to go. anyone can help it will be great.

[Patb]

how about putting the spare wheel on and change one corner at a time to see if the problem goes away... that way, at least you might be able to eliminate if its a wheel issue...

[fourringsrus]

Well done Patb, just thinking the same thing.
STUART

[daveyboyd]

So changing the tyres didn't help? I was thinking that because they had used budget tyres it might be an option. . . . ?

Still no result, due to the bad weather I need to re-book it in for a road test. I am beginning to wonder if I can give the car back (their 7 day no quibble return warranty) but not sure if I qualify, I did report this fault within the 7 days but I am sure they will have small print some where denying me the return . . .

[irishejit]

was the car sitting parked up in storage before you got it
as tyres can develop flat spots if not moved for a while,
something that balancing wont pick up.thats why us bikers
store our bikes on paddock stands to keep the weight
off tyres or we rotate the wheels 90 degrees every week of
winter storage.

[fourringsrus]

Did you ever do as Pat and I suggest ie; try your spare wheel on each corner to rule out a buckled or damaged rim?
Stuart

[PMJ1]

I have exactly the same problem on my 06 A4 cab with 32k on the clock... i have no idea what is going on as i ahve not hit anything.. i am wondering if its anything to do with Ice adding to the wheel balance as it started right out of the blue .. mine happens around 60mph

[markspark71]

i had this once and it was down to the locking wheel nuts ATS found the problem for me it was not an Audi tho

At one time they could balance the wheels on the car don't know if they still do it, it used to take a bit off the tyres but if it fixed the problem i din't mind

[markspark71]

Just come across this

Wheel Balance: Out-of-balance tires will cause a car to vibrate at certain speeds, usually between 50 and 70 mph. A tire is out of balance when one section of the tire is heavier than the others. One ounce of imbalance on a front tire is enough to cause a noticeable vibration in the steering wheel at about 60 mph. To balance a wheel, the technician will mount it on a balancing machine which spins the wheel to locate the heavier part. He will then compensate for the heavy part by attaching a lead weight on the opposite side. Many people are pleasantly surprised at how smooth their car is after balancing all four wheels.
Most high quality tires will hold their balance fairly well and go out of balance very gradually. If you notice a vibration that wasn't there the day before, it is possible that one of the lead balancing weights fell off. If you feel the vibration mostly in the steering wheel, the problem is most likely in a front wheel. If the vibration is mostly in the seat, the problem is probably in the rear.
For those of you who are very sensitive about vibrations and your shop can't seem to get that last bit of vibration out, check to see if you have locking wheel lugs. Some locking lugs are as much as 1.5 ounces heavier than the other lug nuts which translates to about 1/2 ounce at the wheel rim. Try putting a 1/2 ounce weight opposite the locking lug and see if it helps.

[daveyboyd]

That is interesting about the wheel locking nuts as when my car went in last time they took three days to get the wheels off due to the locking wheel nuts, when I got the wheels independantly balanced after Audi had done them the tech said that there was extra weight were is shouldn't have been, in other words, counter balanced weight. I wonder if this was to counter the locking wheel nut? Anyhows, I only bought the car 4 weeks ago, ther is no way I am swapping wheels and the like as this should be Audi's job, if this next fix fails then the car is getting returned to sender and I will pick another one . . .

[Hakydan]

Hi, I have owned my 2007 170 sline for 6 months and noticed this vibration over christmas, just passed 80mph.

From experience, it is normally down to the rear tyres being out of balance as the front tyres would cause a vibration through the steering wheel. Im going to have them looked at sometime this week so hopefully that will sort it out.

[PMJ1]

Sorted mine... I had the wheel arch packed with ice... plus a big blob of ice on the iside of the NSR wheel... hot water and all was well on the motorway today

[daveyboyd]

It has been in to Audi again and they have changed the 4th tyre for me, so now it has 4 brand new tyre on and all the wheels have been balanced twice! The problem hasn't gone away. It must be something else. I happens at around 61 mph now I am thinking it may be something to do with engine vibrations through chassis? The revs are around 2000 rpm at 61 mph, does anyone have any other suggestions? Its driving me nuts!

[shahid8850]

I have a similar problem apart from mine vibrates when its on idle havent really noticed it do it when i am driving at high speeds. Took it to audi and they couldnt identify the problem.

Does anyone know what it could be?

[daveyboyd]

Ok, I am really confused now. I took a mate out in my car so I can convince myself I aint making it up and he reckons that it might be down to stiff s-line suspension and low profile tyres and said he doesn't think there is that much wrong!

I still beg to differ though, I drive an 80 mile round trip to work and back and not one of them miles is what I would describe to be smooth or crusing miles even with cruise control on. Could it be that I am too critical and the S-Lins suspension is too hard? My last car was a BMW with M-Sport suspension and I never had any problems with that.

I have also noticed that the tyre pressures for three people are 36psi and for 5 people its supposed to be 39psi. Thats 2 psi per person. As I travel most of the time on my own do I then need to deflate my tyres to 33psi? And will this make any difference?

Please help, its driving me mad (excuse the pun)

[daveyboyd]

An update on my problem. I took my brother out for a test drive, he's a mechanic, he agreed with me that there is excessive vibration through the rear wheels. We jacked the car up and using a coat hanger to gauge the vertical run-out of the rim noticed that there is a vertical wobble and the wheel isn’t running true on the hub, something is buckled or bent. Why Audi couldn't suss this out after 3 attempts and we could do it on 5 minutes with a jack and a coat hanger is beyond belief. I think it’s something to do with the fact that I am not paying for the work. The car is getting booked in on Monday with the instructions to fix it or keep it.:zx11::zx11::zx11:

[daveyboyd]

Audi have had the car back but only swapped the front wheels with the back ones and re-balanced them (for the third time).

It is still happening, I can feel it through the seat, it's doing my head in. The wheel run out seems to have been dismissed as 'within tolerance' so nothing was done.

Any ideas as to whats going on?????