2015 Audi A3 engine noise dealer falsely diagnosed
03-30-2018, 01:04 PM
#1
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2015 Audi A3 engine noise dealer falsely diagnosed
Hello,
I purchased a 2015 Audi A3 a couple of months ago and upon driving with the windows down, especially in a drive thru, I can hear a noise coming from the engine and cannot wrap my head around what it may be. I brought it in to the dealer because it is still under warranty and they said they stethoscoped it and found that my turbo impeller was scraping against the housing and needed to be replaced. So under warranty they replaced it and the car still was making the noise.
So they called me and told me that it is normal that my car makes this sound and that they had misdiagnosed my Audi because they had compared it to one that had all wheel drive. Apparently upon rediagnosing it, they compared it to the correct “exact same” Audi and found that it too was making this noise.
So basically they chopped it up as a normal sound and I believe they’re incorrect. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’ve attached a video so you can hear what I’m hearing.
Thanks!!
I purchased a 2015 Audi A3 a couple of months ago and upon driving with the windows down, especially in a drive thru, I can hear a noise coming from the engine and cannot wrap my head around what it may be. I brought it in to the dealer because it is still under warranty and they said they stethoscoped it and found that my turbo impeller was scraping against the housing and needed to be replaced. So under warranty they replaced it and the car still was making the noise.
So they called me and told me that it is normal that my car makes this sound and that they had misdiagnosed my Audi because they had compared it to one that had all wheel drive. Apparently upon rediagnosing it, they compared it to the correct “exact same” Audi and found that it too was making this noise.
So basically they chopped it up as a normal sound and I believe they’re incorrect. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’ve attached a video so you can hear what I’m hearing.
Thanks!!
08-20-2018, 08:47 PM
#2
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Still seem to be having this problem, and the noise seems to be getting a bit more loud. I'm 4k or so miles from bringing the car back in for its 35k mile service. Any advice or suggestions for me to tell the dealer would be greatly appreciated.
08-21-2018, 02:00 PM
#3
Why not find another 2015 A3 and test drive it yourself for comparison?
I listened to your file, if you're talking about the swoosh swoosh sound that oscillates about 2 - 3 per second, it could be the serpentine belt.
Which engine do you have?
I listened to your file, if you're talking about the swoosh swoosh sound that oscillates about 2 - 3 per second, it could be the serpentine belt.
Which engine do you have?
08-21-2018, 10:21 PM
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Also thought maybe a belt issue given that it occurs when the car is in Park and Neutral.
I have the 1.8L engline.
Any suggestions that I can try to test if it actually is the belt?
Thanks!
08-21-2018, 11:55 PM
#5
If you can locate the alternator, you will see the rubber serpentine belt. I have the 2.0TFSI and it's in the front, right behind the radiator.
Take a look to see if the belt's worn (e.g. grooves or cracks), if the belt moves weird (it spins but it also moves front/back) indicating a bad pulley or bounces around indicating a bad tensioner.
Do some searching, I'm sure you'll find tons of tips on inspecting serpentine belts.
Take a look to see if the belt's worn (e.g. grooves or cracks), if the belt moves weird (it spins but it also moves front/back) indicating a bad pulley or bounces around indicating a bad tensioner.
Do some searching, I'm sure you'll find tons of tips on inspecting serpentine belts.
08-22-2018, 09:44 PM
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If you can locate the alternator, you will see the rubber serpentine belt. I have the 2.0TFSI and it's in the front, right behind the radiator.
Take a look to see if the belt's worn (e.g. grooves or cracks), if the belt moves weird (it spins but it also moves front/back) indicating a bad pulley or bounces around indicating a bad tensioner.
Do some searching, I'm sure you'll find tons of tips on inspecting serpentine belts.
Take a look to see if the belt's worn (e.g. grooves or cracks), if the belt moves weird (it spins but it also moves front/back) indicating a bad pulley or bounces around indicating a bad tensioner.
Do some searching, I'm sure you'll find tons of tips on inspecting serpentine belts.
Thanks for the tips, I'll take a look at it and see what I can find tomorrow.
08-24-2018, 09:51 AM
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So I did what you had suggested, everything seems normal. The noise is coming from the drivers side and the pulleys are on the passenger side. I took a longer video but I can't upload it here so I uploaded it to YouTube. Here is the link.
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08-24-2018, 02:18 PM
#8
First off, great video.
Second, the Audi dealership is nuts if they think the sound is normal. I've never heard any car making that noise.
Third, it's definitely not the belt. The sound is more metallic to me than rubber belt rubbing.
Is the sound louder on top? (take off the engine cover)
That top side of the engine has vacuum pump and fuel pump.
How does the car drive? shift? acceleration?
The bottom is just the transmission.
Second, the Audi dealership is nuts if they think the sound is normal. I've never heard any car making that noise.
Third, it's definitely not the belt. The sound is more metallic to me than rubber belt rubbing.
Is the sound louder on top? (take off the engine cover)
That top side of the engine has vacuum pump and fuel pump.
How does the car drive? shift? acceleration?
The bottom is just the transmission.
Last edited by findalex; 08-24-2018 at 02:39 PM.
08-24-2018, 09:49 PM
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First off, great video.
Second, the Audi dealership is nuts if they think the sound is normal. I've never heard any car making that noise.
Third, it's definitely not the belt. The sound is more metallic to me than rubber belt rubbing.
Is the sound louder on top? (take off the engine cover)
That top side of the engine has vacuum pump and fuel pump.
How does the car drive? shift? acceleration?
The bottom is just the transmission.
Second, the Audi dealership is nuts if they think the sound is normal. I've never heard any car making that noise.
Third, it's definitely not the belt. The sound is more metallic to me than rubber belt rubbing.
Is the sound louder on top? (take off the engine cover)
That top side of the engine has vacuum pump and fuel pump.
How does the car drive? shift? acceleration?
The bottom is just the transmission.
I thought the same thing about the Audi dealership. Fortunately I have an appointment with a DIFFERENT Audi dealership in a couple of weeks to have this looked at. When I spoke to them on the phone today, they were disappointed that the other dealership was so heavily concerned and then when they couldn't find a solution, they sent me on my way with a **** poor excuse that it was a normal sound for these cars to make...
Although, I am hoping to find some sort of solution by that time because a second, third, or fourth opinion never hurts.
To answer your questions:
The sound seems to be coming a lot more from the bottom of the car, like right in the driver side front wheel well. When we popped the hood, I couldn't hear it much. The sound is still there but not as distinctively heard. It is much more heard when within eat shot of the tire.
The car drives interestingly to be frank... It seems like it bogs down a bit and I do feel the need to bury my foot a bit more to get going, but I simply assume that may be due to transitioning from a 6 cylinder BMW to a 4 cylinder Audi... never thought that maybe it had to do with this noise... so potentially could be.. As far as shifting goes, it seems normal when leaving from a stop light. I do notice though that upon acceleration somewhere between 0-20mph or so, if I accelerate, and coast, it gets a tad bit jerky... Accelerating seems okay.
08-24-2018, 10:51 PM
#10
Looking at your video again, I noticed the noise got louder when you were directly under the transmission (the white metal part).
It's possibly the Dual Mass Flywheel
@ 1:27 (ignore the diesel clatter)
)
@ 2:26 (ignore the diesel clatter, the pitch is almost exactly like yours)
It's possibly the Dual Mass Flywheel
@ 1:27 (ignore the diesel clatter)
@ 2:26 (ignore the diesel clatter, the pitch is almost exactly like yours)