2010A4AvantAudi

About a month ago I lift the front end of my A4 off the ground (with a jack and jack stands), dropped the plastic belly pan, and put a wrench on every nut and bolt I could find. Some were rock solid and didn't budge; these were mostly on the suspension. However, the engine mount bolts (which were not easy to get too) were not ultra tight. I was able to get a 1/2 to a full turn on some of those bolts. The looses bolts were on the cross-member bracket that goes from one side of the chassis to the other side. These bolts were not tight. I was able to get 1 to 3 full turns on the bolts.

Since doing this, the noise has mostly gone away. The car no longer make the noise from the left front the car. Which is great! I believe there might still be something else lose, because there still seems to be some clunking coming from under the car when stopping fast or stopping when backing up. Seems to be caused by the shift in weight.

vincenz0

Before shelling out a hundred bucks for a bearing and potentially another hundred for the hub, how can I tell if my bearing is bad? I've got this funky noise coming from the passenger side front wheel. At first I thought it was a clunk from the suspension (but checked everything and it's all tight/OK), then I thought it might be rattling brake pads (went away when I installed new pads, but came back after they worn slightly) but now I'm thinking it might be a wheel bearing.

It's a clunk or rattle type of noise. Mostly over bumps or when accelerating from a stop. Not noticeable at steady-state (e.g. wheel bearing not changing speed significantly) Most prevalent when I first start driving in the morning when the car is cold (usually goes away after about 1-2 miles of driving) and also when it's very hot out 90F+. So I'm thinking that maybe the cold and hot temperatures are bring out the noise in the bearing as the bearing expands/contracts?

How do I know for sure without just replacing the bearing?

IvanS4

Update: turns out this was a missing anti-rattle brake clip that I moronically forgot to put back on. All better now.

felek_pl

I have knocking noise in the front on my A6 C7. I was told by the dealer that on A6 C7 endlinks go out pretty often... so I replaced them, but the knocking continues.

Here is a video how to replace them.

theclutch

This is exactly the issue that I have. I can replicate it with ease. Here are the specifics:

1. Wife says it happens when it's cold.
2. Clunk happens from the front passenger side and it can be LOUD or subtle. LOUD enough for you to think you ran over something.
3. Replicate as if you are leaving a parking spot: turning the steering wheel all the way to the right, backing up, stopping, turning the steering wheel all the way to the left and driving forward. You will hear the clunk 9 times out of 10 for me.
4. 2014 S5 with the dynamic suspension (adjustable suspension with Auto, Comfort, Dynamic and Individual modes)
5. 35k miles on the car (95% highway)

I am going into the dealership Wed for them to check it out. From reading many threads, it appears that it can be:
1) Bad sports struts on the A4. Replacing them with standard removes the problem. Could these "sports struts" be the same struts that they put on the S5's?
2) Loose and un-torqued engine mounts
3) Loose brake pad spring/clips (doubt it for my case)
4) Replace all suspension arms, bushings and sway bars.

I hope it's #2 above as it's nice and simple, yet disconcerting that they didn't torque this OR it loosened over time.

vincenz0

I don't think I ever posted a follow up on this but I ended up having a bunch of the front suspension bushing replaced and the noise is completely gone. If anyone is interested, I can dig up the part numbers of what they did.

Cost me about $1700 (including alignment) but the steering feels like a brand new car now and the sound is gone. It had about 85,000 miles on it at the time.