BrianG

it sure seems like it is happening more and more frequently. Used to happen abut 25% of the time, now maybe 75% of the time. Do ALL cars make this sound, or only some of them? I want to have the dealer try to fix it, but I need some ammunition. If some cars never make this sound, I might have a shot at getting them to fix it.

Thanks.

JamieO

it happened on my first '04 S4 almost all the time but very rarely on the 2nd one.

S4iowa

I am not going to mess with it.

I really don't want my engine pulled unless it has to be.

So far from what I've read and heard from others it's normal.

The Mystro S4

I would think more harm could be done with your dealer ripping into the motor than living with a slight noise at cold start-ups.

BrianG

It happens even on warm starts sometimes, and that has me worried.

dr.audios[the OG]

have you thrown a cel?

BrianG

Nope. Only makes a rattling sound for about 1 second after the motor starts.

ESFO

No one has done a poll to find a percentage of cars that do this. The only thing I could recommend is leaving the car with the stealer overnight on a night it will be cold or cool and hope that he hears it. The problem with this (I know because I went through this scenario when I first bought my car) is that, even if they can duplicate it, it's only gonna happen once for them and only for that one second. You really can't discern much from such a brief event. If they want to hear it again they'll have to wait till the next day. My dealer heard it, didn't know what it was, tightened up the belly pan and whatever else they could see and gave me my car back. Since learning what it is, the car has done it less and less with mileage. I hear it about once every two months and it's not as pronounced as it used to be when it does happen. To me, it's a nuance... nothing more.

BrianG

I'm concerned that I might not be hearing the same thing everyone else is, and the noise my engine is making is actually something abnormal. haven't heard anyone else's car make the sound, so I can't be sure we're all talking about the same sound.

The sound is quite pronounced on my car and sounds like something is loose and rattling around for a second or two.

I guess I'll see if it keeps getting worse before going after the dealer...

Thanks.

jherm

Mine makes a bit of noise @5% of the time. Usually around oil change time