S4MarkS4

I've posted this a long time ago, but perhaps more people have suggestions now.

There is a clunking noise in my front end, which occurs over bumps, most notably small ones at, and can sometimes be heard/felt when braking lightly and the weight shifts onto the front end. It is most noticable at slow speeds, say, driving over cracks and small bumps in a parking lot. It makes a clunking noise that I can feel through the steering wheel, and feels as though there is play in something between the wheels and my steering wheel. It is for sure only coming from the front end.

This sound has been bothering me for a year now, and I have replaced all of my control arms, tie rod ends, and even suspension trying to remedy the situation. The tie rod ends and control arms (all of the front ones) are less than 1 year old. The sound was still there when I had a bilstein/H&R suspension set up and still exists now with my vogtland coilovers. I am 99% sure it has nothing to do with the actual suspension itself. My ride height is ~25.5-26 al the way around incase that was the problem, but it wasn't.

Any ideas? It also is strange in that if I havent driven my car for a while, I won't hear/feel anything but then as things warm up and i've been driving for a while the problem occurs. Also, if I park and then get back into the car while everythings still warm from the previous drive, it is usually at it's worst. It has no noticable effect on handling or steering, other than the noise and the fact I can feel it through the wheel.

I am literally baffeled and have had 3 different mechanics take apart and put my front end back together to try fix/diagnose it. I don't know what to do anymore, any help is greatly appreciated. I'm tired of spending money and buying parts that do not fix the problem.

Thanks,

Mark

SilverS4AVWP

bushings, tie rods, control arms, struts

any 1 2 or all

Snow Trooper *Swiss*

one possibly got stuck in your front fender or bumper and died, now his little skelleton is banging around

S4orceCT:( X Misfire

lol.

S4MarkS4

Tie rod ends and control arms are all less than a year old and are fine. Struts and bushings possiby

krypt0

I would hear a similar clunking noise whenever I drove over bumps, made left/right turns or turned the wheel while sitting still.

Turns out that tightening the Rack-N-Pinon mount bolts in the steering fixed the issue.

The annoying clunking noise was the main reason I took it to the dealership, but I knew of a few other problems I was having, so I had those looked at as well.

-Tighten rack-n-pinon mount bolts ($130)
-Valve cover & cam seals were leaking ($794)
-Exhaust temp sensor was bad ($196)
-Wiring for intake air temp sensor broken ($340)

The bill amounted to about $1800

...Thank you aftermarket warranty.

They stepped right up to the plate, and took care of everything except the bolts for the steering, and my deductible.

Good luck on finding a solution to yours!

Hibiscus Red S4

Do you or anyone have any idea where the rack and pinon bolts are?!

DriveS4spd

Check the sub frame bolts and make sure that they're properly torqued.

S4MarkS4

Thats good advice, thanks!

DriveS4spd

Let us know if it works or doesn't.