Been through 5 garages and one specialist... can't solve
Discussion
abreeka43 said:
Should i cancel my appt with the dealer then?
Probably. Going by the video, its a super vague noise that might not even be suspension related. They are unlikely to find the cause in an hour, much less solve it in that sort of time.Pick the most interested/trustworthy/best mechanic you've taken it to and make it very clear to them that you are willing to pay for a reasonable amount for diagnostic time to solve this fault. The reason most garages will fob this sort of stuff off is because most customers expect only to pay for the part and labour that solves the issue, leaving the garage to lose out on man hours in finding the source of the noise and possibly trying to return parts that weren't a successful repair. Remove the worry that you're expecting to only pay an hour or two of labour and the cost of an arm, and they'll probably be a lot more interested.
Why not you try a dedicated forum? http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/forums/a5-s5-rs5-foru...
Great search function. Good luck.
Had a similar issue a few years back, vw dealer replaced front struts and control arms etc... noise always came back. Was a split anti roll bar bush that couldn't been seen until it was dismantled (I assumed they must have dismantled to change all the other bits they did but seemingly not)
I've never been able to get any garage to hear or recreate any 'funny noises' I've ever told them about.
But the Main Dealer (usually a crazy move in these cases) may be worth investigating if this is a new model with which the independent types will have had little experience yet.
But as mentioned, it'll cost you a few bob and they might not be any use either.
But the Main Dealer (usually a crazy move in these cases) may be worth investigating if this is a new model with which the independent types will have had little experience yet.
But as mentioned, it'll cost you a few bob and they might not be any use either.
iSore said:
Does the noise go away when the weather is very wet? If it does, it's rubber bush somewhere.
Seen this before myself on a few cars, anti roll bar bushes on my Saab, I sympathise it can drive you mad and nobody can find anything wrong, that is because there is no play, no failed components, it is just possibly the noise you get when you twist a metal bar in a block of rubber, I have had some improvements from injecting silicone grease from a grease gun. Have changed balljoints, drop links, arms and allsorts trying to sort these kind of noises, sometimes you jus thave to, as mentioned, turn the stereo up but it is so agravating having your nice posh car sounding like an old pram !BOBTEE said:
I'd say anti roll bar bush, as said try spraying it with WD40 or similar 
As this has already been mentioned twice, a +3 from me.Spraying the bushes with WD40 won't solve the problem, but if the bushes are the cause, the noise will go away temporarily (until the WD40 washes off/wears off).
Used to work for main dealer as a tech (Mercedes) and spent my entire life there fixing creaks and rattles. I'm not going to try and diagnose of the internet because it's a truly pointless exercise, however you maybe lucky enough that someone has had the noise on their car before (same year, make, model etc) and knows precisely what it is. Still a gamble on your part to trust them to pinpoint and associate that noise and spend money having it replaced on that particular recommendation.
With intermittent noises, you will very often find there is nothing that's worn per-say, as in it's not going to have visible play or be noticeably worn. You will find most specialists garages just aren't interested. It's thankless work and nobody appreciates how many man hours can go into finding it. More so average Joe will think you're taking the piss when you've already spent 3 hours on it and have gotten nowhere. We did a lot at the dealer because it's warranty work and it's covered but if Joe's landed with a 4 hour labour bill and no fix, he's not happy.
Standard procedure for us would be to take a minimum of a couple of hours. Get a decent tech (someone that's doing more than banging out services all day) to go out with you for 10-30 minutes, until you can nail down exactly how/when/why the noise occurs. Both customer and tech/dealer need to know EXACTLY what they need to be fixing otherwise it will keep coming back as fixed, when potentially it's not.
Initially you would check technical documents from manufacturer, then check over. Albeit appreciate it's probably been checked but you gotta start from scratch.
Then you would take it to the MOT bay, ours used to have automatic wheel rollers for checking play in suspension joints (saved using the old crow bar) and was good for giving it a side to side shake under various speeds to see if the noise could be replicated under those conditions. Some garages won't have this.
If nothing up to this point, your into a tool called 'Chassis Ears' every half about garage should have this tool. It is essentially 1-10 wired crocodile clips connected to a 10 channel switch, that connects to a pair of headphones. You connect each clip up to an area of interest (where you think the noise is coming from) then your mate drives around (after you showed him how to replicate the noise), whilst you keep flicking through the channels to try and identify which channel/clip is making the most noise/noise associated to the one you're trying to find. This is obviously where the time is literally eaten up as it's not exactly cut and dry most the time, the noise sounds different through headphones and you spend a lot of time removing the clips around hoping it will get louder, or more similar until you get to point its no more - from there you expect it to be that component, so replace and see how it goes.
Best case it's something simple and easy to replace (imagine it will be in your case, it's flexing over bumps and you can reproduce it on demand). Worst case I've ever had was half a car stripped to a steering wheel and bare chassis to find a inaccessible/un-visible spot weld on an interior section of an inner wing that creaked at random twice a day when it felt like it. Took literally weeks to find!
With intermittent noises, you will very often find there is nothing that's worn per-say, as in it's not going to have visible play or be noticeably worn. You will find most specialists garages just aren't interested. It's thankless work and nobody appreciates how many man hours can go into finding it. More so average Joe will think you're taking the piss when you've already spent 3 hours on it and have gotten nowhere. We did a lot at the dealer because it's warranty work and it's covered but if Joe's landed with a 4 hour labour bill and no fix, he's not happy.
Standard procedure for us would be to take a minimum of a couple of hours. Get a decent tech (someone that's doing more than banging out services all day) to go out with you for 10-30 minutes, until you can nail down exactly how/when/why the noise occurs. Both customer and tech/dealer need to know EXACTLY what they need to be fixing otherwise it will keep coming back as fixed, when potentially it's not.
Initially you would check technical documents from manufacturer, then check over. Albeit appreciate it's probably been checked but you gotta start from scratch.
Then you would take it to the MOT bay, ours used to have automatic wheel rollers for checking play in suspension joints (saved using the old crow bar) and was good for giving it a side to side shake under various speeds to see if the noise could be replicated under those conditions. Some garages won't have this.
If nothing up to this point, your into a tool called 'Chassis Ears' every half about garage should have this tool. It is essentially 1-10 wired crocodile clips connected to a 10 channel switch, that connects to a pair of headphones. You connect each clip up to an area of interest (where you think the noise is coming from) then your mate drives around (after you showed him how to replicate the noise), whilst you keep flicking through the channels to try and identify which channel/clip is making the most noise/noise associated to the one you're trying to find. This is obviously where the time is literally eaten up as it's not exactly cut and dry most the time, the noise sounds different through headphones and you spend a lot of time removing the clips around hoping it will get louder, or more similar until you get to point its no more - from there you expect it to be that component, so replace and see how it goes.
Best case it's something simple and easy to replace (imagine it will be in your case, it's flexing over bumps and you can reproduce it on demand). Worst case I've ever had was half a car stripped to a steering wheel and bare chassis to find a inaccessible/un-visible spot weld on an interior section of an inner wing that creaked at random twice a day when it felt like it. Took literally weeks to find!
Classy6 said:
Worst case I've ever had was half a car stripped to a steering wheel and bare chassis to find a inaccessible/un-visible spot weld on an interior section of an inner wing that creaked at random twice a day when it felt like it. Took literally weeks to find!
Oh my that's horrible! I'd just give the owner a replacement and shove it through BCA...Very interesting reading from the point of almost infinite funds to tackle a problem though, any good hints and tips on a W211?
OP: Just bite the bullet and replace everything... It'll save time later on, and it avoids the runaround trying to chase crappy noises out.
MorganP104 said:
BOBTEE said:
I'd say anti roll bar bush, as said try spraying it with WD40 or similar
As this has already been mentioned twice, a +3 from me.Spraying the bushes with WD40 won't solve the problem, but if the bushes are the cause, the noise will go away temporarily (until the WD40 washes off/wears off).
If it were me I'd just live with it , sounds to me like you're going out of your way to find it
justinio said:
Turn your radio up.
Problem solved.
You're welcome.
Best advice, most expensive sounding noises can be solved this way , if 4 garages can't find anything you're going to be spending lots of money on random guesses, might get lucky for £200 , could be £2000 in and still creakingProblem solved.
You're welcome.
Totally sympathise with you and Classy6; been there many times too.
Chassis-ear is indeed invaluable - we have the latest wireless type (BT communication) they can be placed anywhere on car as long as it can be attached without fouling anything. The biggest issue presently is the extensive use of alloy/aluminium - it has acoustic properties that mean a monitored point (eg: RF damper top mount) will ring like a bell regardless of point of impact - leading to assumptions and incorrect/expensive replacements or elimination processes.......
Has it come on 'suddenly' or built up over time?
From my experience if I heard a noise like that in the cars I am familiar with I would look for a mobile suspension component with minimal clearance from the body/subframe. Then check for stones/pebbles/rocks (seriously!). I have seen large road chippings wedge themselves in between control arms and subframes that sound 'exactly' like that.
Other weirdies:
- Spring top coil worn through top mount rubber buffer
- Loose dashboard support brackets (bolted from outside in - under bonnet)
- Carbon canister rubber mounts in inner wing to body
- Washer bottle rubber mounts in inner wing to body
- Pipes and lines loose in inner wings (headlight wash/wiring looms etc)
- Worn roll bars - literally 1-2mm of wear within the seemingly granite hard bushes........
Can you recreate the noise by bouncing the car? Open the bonnet and, using the solid points of the car, bounce the suspension (a few powerfully-built director types may come in handy to effect the full range of motion) - you may get lucky and hear it?
Balljoints and links can and will creak; the noises result in vibrations and resonances that can be physically felt 'by-hand' - get the noise to occur in the above description and feel for the noise by touching the individual parts.
Good luck !!!
Chassis-ear is indeed invaluable - we have the latest wireless type (BT communication) they can be placed anywhere on car as long as it can be attached without fouling anything. The biggest issue presently is the extensive use of alloy/aluminium - it has acoustic properties that mean a monitored point (eg: RF damper top mount) will ring like a bell regardless of point of impact - leading to assumptions and incorrect/expensive replacements or elimination processes.......
Has it come on 'suddenly' or built up over time?
From my experience if I heard a noise like that in the cars I am familiar with I would look for a mobile suspension component with minimal clearance from the body/subframe. Then check for stones/pebbles/rocks (seriously!). I have seen large road chippings wedge themselves in between control arms and subframes that sound 'exactly' like that.
Other weirdies:
- Spring top coil worn through top mount rubber buffer
- Loose dashboard support brackets (bolted from outside in - under bonnet)
- Carbon canister rubber mounts in inner wing to body
- Washer bottle rubber mounts in inner wing to body
- Pipes and lines loose in inner wings (headlight wash/wiring looms etc)
- Worn roll bars - literally 1-2mm of wear within the seemingly granite hard bushes........
Can you recreate the noise by bouncing the car? Open the bonnet and, using the solid points of the car, bounce the suspension (a few powerfully-built director types may come in handy to effect the full range of motion) - you may get lucky and hear it?
Balljoints and links can and will creak; the noises result in vibrations and resonances that can be physically felt 'by-hand' - get the noise to occur in the above description and feel for the noise by touching the individual parts.
Good luck !!!
Had this on my b8 a4 (2008-2015 model same as yours)
It is lower ball joints gone dry- changed both sides and the problem was fixed.
Be very careful when the garage spreads the joint between the hub and the ball joint, if they t
t it with a hammer it will break the hub (and if they spread it too far it will break) a hub is very expensive too. Yes they broke one of mine-despite me telling them the dangers.
There was a tsb on this way back when the cars were in warranty...
It is lower ball joints gone dry- changed both sides and the problem was fixed.
Be very careful when the garage spreads the joint between the hub and the ball joint, if they t
t it with a hammer it will break the hub (and if they spread it too far it will break) a hub is very expensive too. Yes they broke one of mine-despite me telling them the dangers.There was a tsb on this way back when the cars were in warranty...
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