ergoracmatt

recently i ventured into the mountains and had to cross many very large deep puddles,

now there is pronounced loud clicking noise from the front left side of the engine bay, the noise is most prominent accelerating from a stop, and around 1100-2000 rpms also when accelerating, the noise increases in speed while accelerating....

when coasting, cruising, or at idle the noise is not noticeable,

the other thing i've noticed is the smell of poorly burnt combustion products...(basically smells like a lawn mower)

does this sound like a cracked or loose manifold?
i'm still taking things apart and other than a loose heat shield (which is fixed and not the problem) i have found nothing....

any ideas? or similar experiences?

1999.5 A4 2.8Q manual

95,67o miles

Schumiusedtowin

Sounds like you might be low on oil

ergoracmatt

i put her all back together and the sound is still there...

after crawling under the car whilst it was running
i really think the sound is a tiny hole (pre-catalytic) in the exhaust system, which would completely explain the sound being acceleration/back pressure related....ugggh

Inside you can't hear a thing, I guess this is just like my old B5 A4, "if it's making weird noises, your music isn't loud enough"

ergoracmatt

look, sounds, and smells like a small hole at the accordian joint just before the left side catalytic converter, luckily its not a huge deal,

it's very annoying, sounds like an old civic

my 10 year old A4 is finally showing its age...