Knocking sound from front, mainly n/s

Ok, I have had my car for 3 years, its an Audi A4 2.0 Tdi B7 and its done 120,000 miles (mostly motorway). I have noticed an increasingly noisy knock coming from the front end but mainly on the n/s.

It sounds like a noise I had on a Vauxhall Cavalier I once owned, it turned out to be a damaged top strut bearing (it was disintegrated!)

When I go over bumps/undulating road surface it like something is rattling or loose.

It passed the MOT with no faults, I have had the suspension checked by two mechanics and they said it was all in good condition. I have also just had it serviced by and Audi Indep. and they said the suspension was ok too.

They did however tell me that a fault code which relates to the engine mounts would not clear. They said that the engine mounts are hydraulic on this model but they didn't mention what would happen if they failed (would they knock??)

They did elude to it maybe coming from the steering gear but said there wasn't any free play in the system at all and I don't get any feedback through the wheel.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what is causing this? Am I right to get the mounts swapped out and will these cause a knocking sound over bumps if they have failed??

I am still convinced it has something to do with the suspension but three different mechanics cant be wrong can they??

Where do I go from here? Take it to a fourth garage to check suspension or get the mounts swapped out? Its driving me insane!!

Thanks for all you help in advance

Dave

Bump

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Originally Posted by daveyboyd

Ok, I have had my car for 3 years, its an Audi A4 2.0 Tdi B7 and its done 120,000 miles (mostly motorway). I have noticed an increasingly noisy knock coming from the front end but mainly on the n/s.

It sounds like a noise I had on a Vauxhall Cavalier I once owned, it turned out to be a damaged top strut bearing (it was disintegrated!)

When I go over bumps/undulating road surface it like something is rattling or loose.

It passed the MOT with no faults, I have had the suspension checked by two mechanics and they said it was all in good condition. I have also just had it serviced by and Audi Indep. and they said the suspension was ok too.

They did however tell me that a fault code which relates to the engine mounts would not clear. They said that the engine mounts are hydraulic on this model but they didn't mention what would happen if they failed (would they knock??)

They did elude to it maybe coming from the steering gear but said there wasn't any free play in the system at all and I don't get any feedback through the wheel.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what is causing this? Am I right to get the mounts swapped out and will these cause a knocking sound over bumps if they have failed??

I am still convinced it has something to do with the suspension but three different mechanics cant be wrong can they??

Where do I go from here? Take it to a fourth garage to check suspension or get the mounts swapped out? Its driving me insane!!

Thanks for all you help in advance

Dave

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I had a similar problem with my Volvo and it turned out to be the track rod ends, not sure if it could be that on your car but worth a shot...

Thanks but I've decided to take it to another mechanic and tell them to be ruthless with the suspension as the knocking can only be as a result of worn parts, I am convinced, plus I have read up on arb and drop links being difficult to diagnose and can be easily missed

Just spoken to mechanic in leu of my diagnostic visit tomorrow, he said of its the steering rack it'll cost £1000+, if its the mounts it'll cost £300+, what's the likelihood that it will be the rack? Not keen on that tbh

Bought some drop links and ARB bushes, fitting this weekend, only cost £50 so cheapest option IMO, having searched the Internet I can't find anything about a steering rack rattle so going down suspension route as I can do that myself. Thanks for all the replies btw, it's a great help!

Oh, if someone can point me in the direction of a how to that would be good, I've done it before on other cars but not this one (bought a Haynes manual but the reviews say they've been dumbed down somewhat since I last got one)

What year / engine ?

It's a 2006 2.0 tdi sline

would definately have to say suspension arms, sometimes difficult to check movement in the ball joints

Cheers boustie, I'll post my findings