Is this Normal?
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Is this Normal?
I just recently picked up a 1996 A4 Quattro, and called the dealer for some ballpark prices on service. I asked him about replacing the brake pads, and he said that they can't replace just the pads on the A4, they have to replace the rotors on all brake jobs. It just doesn't sound right to me. Anyway, unfortunately I have a list of things that don't seem to be working right. But it seems like after checking the archives, they are pretty common problems:<p>1. suspension creaking. left front side of car also seems to crash a bit in bumps.<br>2. occasional stalls. just frequent enough to be annoying.<br>3. driver seat movement. livable, but just a little annoying.<p>I hope i didn't make the wrong decision in decided to get this car.
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A few answers...
Brakes: I recently replaced the pads on my '97 A4 (30,000 miles) with Rofren's mainly for less dust. Anyway, I did not bother resurfacing the rotors nor did I install new ones. If they insist, tell them to resurface the rotors...there should be enough thickness on the rotor to cut it at least once. How many miles on your car? Do you know if the brakes were replaced previously?<p>Seat movement: mine rocks just a bit...others have had their dealers repair this. It involves installing some new bushings. Shouldn't be a big deal. Probably more info in the archives if you care to look.<p>Andy Hedin<br>'97 A4 1.8Tqms, Wett 1.0 Bar Chip, ABT Filter, more...<br>Mailto:andy.hedin@reedtech.com
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Re: Is this Normal?
The occasional stalls is not normal for any car. This is probably one you should have looked at. Either have your dealer look at it, or find a reputable independent garage (that services VW/Audi/Porsche) to look at it. <p>As for replacing rotors,... what most places do is simply turning-down the rotors, and replace the pads. Unless your rotors are warped or grinded beyond turning down specs. The dealer will want you to replace everything new, of course. How else are they going to make money, right? <br>If you are a handy person, you can probably do the brake job yourself... just follow the FAQ.<p>Cris<br>
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Re: Is this Normal? Yes and no.
The stalling is bad, as the previous posters mentioned. Have a dealer hook it up asap. They will get an accurate engine diag. and it could save mucho dollars. Not normal.<p>The crash is is a blown shock (most likely), which will add to the squeeking. Easy to replace (in pairs) if you have even a few tools. Normal.<p>The seat is a known problem, there is tons of archive info on this. Unfortunately common.<p>The brakesare a different story. I disagee with the other posters for a couple of reasons. AUDI engineers have taken a deliberate choice (philosophy) with the rotors in these cars. <p>They have med. wear pads with med. wear disks that are matched for friction. YOU can choose to get longer wearing pads and/or disks. But the Audi design is a good one, but it requires changing the disks more commonly than say US made cars.<p>The disks are a breeze to change and there are many kinds available (with some excellent upgrade options). I would NOT resurface the rotors. First, I have found resurfaced rotors to warp really fast. Aftermarket rotors are not much more than a proper resurfacing job anyways, not worth the labor costs alone.<p>Best of luck.
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Rocking front seats!!!!!
my seats rock and ever since my car was lowered with firmir suspension it rocks more. i told the dealer and they said that Audi knows about it and have a Seat frame that replaces the original ones.<p>I have Sport seats on my car 1.8T and they ordered me the updated seat frame. I would ask your local Audi dealer to check it out and see if they can still fix the problem. they can at least take a look at it.<p>JC M.<br>98.5 1.8TQMS (Stage 2 Abt/ams chip, Bil struts, H&R Race, Abt filter, Oettinger/Sebring exhaust set up, ~ 215Hp any one???)
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Sounds like BS to me.
Suggest you buy the pads and do it yourself.(see archieves for how to ) Unless your car is very high milage the rotors should be fine. In fact if you change to a hard metalic pad (ie raybestos, mintex etc), the new pads can actually wear the grooves somewhat over a little time. In a recent passat test the front pads lasted 82K miles and the rear over 100k. Did you check them yourself for wear? There are lots of folks out there who'll love to charge you for a new brake job even if it's not needed.You should also be able to tighten the seat up a bit with sockets. Engine stall is abnormal you'll want to have the dealership scope it out through the computer.
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Re: Is this Normal?
Some help<br>Brake wear minimum ft rotors thickness is 23 mm they usually last 30-40 k depending on abuse.<br>Creaking noise - Lower suspension arms are notorious for this teflon bushing make noise bitch to your dealer he may be able to get you help.<br>Rocking seats seen it quite a bit only 2 fixes replace the lower seat frame or remove seat and spread the tubes 2nd fix is tricky Audi frowns on this incase of weld falure during an accident.
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Re: Is this Normal?
Forgot to comment about the stalling.If It has a VDO Stabilizer "Black not silver". There is a date on it. Earlier than 248-96 The 248th day of 1996, then it should have been swapped out .If later replacement is still the fix but they make you pay although it`s consider an emmission component so 5/50 should apply. Also when replacing Stabilizers ECU has to be disconnected for at least 20 minutes before the engine is restarted. Make sure they coat ECU terminals with S-22a.