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Audi A3: Suspension Noises Diagnostic Guide

The A3 has been known to be a little noisy, especially going over bumps. If it's driving you nuts, learn just what it might be so you can take care of it head on.

By Jeffrey Smith - March 23, 2016

This article applies to the Audi A3 (all years applicable).

If you read just about any Audi website with a forum, you'll undoubtedly come across post after post in regards to suspension noises. Some are fairly innocuous, others could be indicative of impending doom. Use this guide to help you uncover what the source of your noise is and what to do about it, if anything. You could take your car in to a pro to have it looked over, but why not save a bundle of cash and at least have a go at it yourself? You may be able to at least lead your pro in the right direction, saving a lot of time looking. It may even be something that is completely and easily fixable in your own garage. You don't even need any special tools; just a little time as well as patience and you might be able to solve that pesky noise yourself.

Audi A3: Suspension Noises Diagnostic Guide

Materials Needed

  • Hydraulic floor jack (if needed)
  • Jack stands (if needed)
  • Ratchet and socket set
  • Box wrenches

Step 1 – Check your springs

On new vehicles, dealer prep may have been inadequate; older vehicles, they may just need replacement.

On brand new cars, an often overlooked part of the dealer prep process is to remove the shipping blocks from the springs. These are placed in the springs to keep the car stable during the trans-Atlantic journey during shipping from the manufacturer. These are brightly colored blocks, and if you see them in your springs, either jack up your car and remove them yourself, or take it back to the dealer and have them do it. As oddly as this sounds, it really is not all that uncommon on these vehicles.

For older vehicles, you will want to take a closer look at your springs. Inspect them for breaks or cracks. This should not be too hard to see, as all the tension will have been released after the break and it should be very noticeable. A little more difficult to see is whether or not they are properly bedded at the top or bottom. They may need re-seated. This is not too difficult, but for the front struts, you will need to use a spring compressor.

AUDI A3 SUSPENSION NOISE PROBLEM ISSUE SPRING FIX
Figure 1. Like a sore thumb, shipping blocks in the springs should be very apparent when you take a gander under your car.

If your springs appear fine and there are no shipping blocks still installed, check your mounts.

Step 2 – Re-torque or over-tighten your shock towers

The shock and strut tower mounting bolts may need to be tightened down.

The three mounting bolts on the top of each strut and shock tower could have come loose. It may be an ever-so slight loosening of these bolts, but just a tiny bit can cause some annoying noises. These are usually creaks or crunches rather than thumps. Put a large ratchet or torque wrench on the three bolts and make sure they are snug. They should be firmly snugged, but not super tight, as you can easily snap a stud by over-tightening those fasteners. Torque spec is usually around 25 ft/lb.

AUDI A3 SUSPENSION NOISE PROBLEM ISSUE SHOCK STRUT TOWER FIX
Figure 2. For the front strut tower, you'll need to get under the plastic guard to access the bolts.

Step 3 – Check your spare and slow down

Thumping over bumps may indicate that you are just taking them too fast, or it could be a loose spare tire even.

A couple of common and innocuous causes of noises have a cheap and easy fix. In particular with the mag suspension, you could simply be driving too fast over speed bumps, or any bump for that matter, and the magnetic dampers are over-compensating. Try taking them a little slower and see if that stops the thumping noise you are hearing. Another simple issue and fix is to check your spare tire and jack. They are secured to the vehicle, but they might be loose in there and when you go over a bump, and particularly fast, they will lift and slam against the car and make a loud thumping noise. Check them out. Hopefully this is all it is, and wouldn't you be mad you paid a professional a hundred bucks to tell you that?

AUDI A3 SUSPENSION NOISE PROBLEM ISSUE SPARE TIRE FIX
Figure 3. Check to make sure your spare tire is tightly secured as well as your emergency jack.

If only everything was this easy. If you are having creaking or squeaking noises, continue reading.

Step 4 – Check your anti roll bar and bushings

Worn bushings or drop links are very common noise issues on these cars.

The anti roll bar on early models of the A3 was very susceptible to rust and corrosion. Just replacing these bushings will not do it for you. The entire roll bar and drop links will need to be replaced. This is not too expensive and it is something that you'll be able to do on your own, saving you big bucks from taking it to a pro. Just for giggles, you can try to use some silicone spray on the bushings and hopefully that is all that is needed.

AUDI A3 SUSPENSION NOISE PROBLEM ISSUE SWAY BAR FIX
Figure 4. Lube your sway bar bushing with a good quality silicone spray. If that doesn't work, consider replacing it, especially the end links.

If you still have a noisy rear end, a common issue was the shock absorbers.

Step 5 – Replace your rear shocks

Audi had a very common problem with their rear shocks and replaced tons of them.

The good news is that the rear shocks are relatively inexpensive and they are very easy to replace. Noisy rear shocks was a very common problem on these cars, particularly early on. If everything else fails, replace them and that ought to take care of your problem. If that still didn't help, it's time to call in the pros, but at least you have done a majority of the leg work already.

AUDI A3 SUSPENSION NOISE PROBLEM ISSUE SHOCK FIX
Figure 5. A couple of upper mounting bolts and a lower one is all that you need to worry about when replacing the rear shocks.

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