# Knocking noise from front end?



## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

Anyone have this problem? It's a suspension/steering noise I mean. I've had it for a while really but before it only happened on occasion, now it's happening a lot more.

When the wheel is turned heavily (say when backing out of a driveway or parking) at times I get this knocking noise, along with a kind of slight "kink" felt through the steering column. As mentioned, it's happening a lot more now than it used to. The noise can also be present when cornering, particularly when the corner is bumpy.

The noise seems to be coming from the right hand side but I'm not entirely sure. I looked under the car, the endlinks/sway bar is tight, the tie rods look right, control arm bushings are where they are supposed to be--pretty much everything looks in order. So, I'm thinking it's either one of the ball joints or a strut bearing that's worn out?

Just wondering if anyone else had a similar problem and what it was... Out of curiosity what does changing the ball joint entail? Is it riveted to the control arm? (I didn't lift up the car to see yet, just turned the wheel to see what I could of the components.)


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

If its a clicking noise its your CV joint.


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## dman4486 (Jun 22, 2011)

Yea... check the CV's on that side.


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## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

haha stupid me...the _CV_. I dunno why I never thought of that, I just figured CV should last like 10 years or so, lol.

Is CV failure common on these cars? Car is only 3yrs old and about 43k miles (68k kms).

Edit: Any chance they will warranty this or is it gonna be considered wear and tear. I mean it is a wear & tear part but 3 years???


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

Whether it would be fixed under warranty would depend on if the CV joint boot had been damaged or not. If you've lost the grease because of a rip I don't think the fix would be a freebie.


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## x SMURF x (Sep 12, 2010)

Audi'sRevenge said:


> Anyone have this problem?  It's a suspension/steering noise I mean. I've had it for a while really but before it only happened on occasion, now it's happening a lot more.
> 
> When the wheel is turned heavily (say when backing out of a driveway or parking) at times I get this knocking noise, along with a kind of slight "kink" felt through the steering column. As mentioned, it's happening a lot more now than it used to. The noise can also be present when cornering, particularly when the corner is bumpy.
> 
> ...



yes ive started hearing this as well, it kinda went away though, now its coming back again. happens just like you describe it, during hard turning


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## mkim (Jun 17, 2008)

x SMURF x said:


> yes ive started hearing this as well, it kinda went away though, now its coming back again. happens just like you describe it, during hard turning


I heard it's the subframe bolt. Tighten it

Also if you are on CO



> Did you replace the upper strut mounts when you replaced the coils? If not then it could be the bearings which are built into the upper mounts. They tend to die pretty quick on these cars. They should always be replaced when doing any kind of suspension install. That's where I would check next.


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## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

Well I looked again quite carefully yesterday, but I found nothing. CV boots are intact, everything seems connected, tight, and in the proper position. I just don't get it  

Anyway I took the car to a dealer today, they said it wouldn't cost anything to look at. Funy enough it was also time for my 70,000km service as I'm already over 71k kms, so good thing I went in to ask because I probably wouldn't have even realised otherwise! 

I guess I'll see what they come up with on the knocking noise. I am hoping that somehow it is covered under warranty though :|


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## x SMURF x (Sep 12, 2010)

Audi'sRevenge said:


> Well I looked again quite carefully yesterday, but I found nothing. CV boots are intact, everything seems connected, tight, and in the proper position. I just don't get it
> 
> Anyway I took the car to a dealer today, they said it wouldn't cost anything to look at. Funy enough it was also time for my 70,000km service as I'm already over 71k kms, so good thing I went in to ask because I probably wouldn't have even realised otherwise!
> 
> I guess I'll see what they come up with on the knocking noise. I am hoping that somehow it is covered under warranty though :|


 please let me know if they say anything, i brought my car in telling them about the same thing, im not sure what they checked, they said the suspension and all that looked fine, but said my rear rotors NEEDED replacing (did that warranty covered) and also said my front ones would need it by the time the brakes are low. very curious as to what this noise it, it comes and goes though, i havent heard it in a week or so...


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## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

x SMURF x said:


> please let me know if they say anything, i brought my car in telling them about the same thing, im not sure what they checked, they said the suspension and all that looked fine, but said my rear rotors NEEDED replacing (did that warranty covered) and also said my front ones would need it by the time the brakes are low. very curious as to what this noise it, it comes and goes though, i havent heard it in a week or so...


 Hmm interesting they just called me... Same thing--suspension is all fine. They mentioned there's a rear brake pad that looks loose (huh?) and could be causing a noise. Tech noted that it "should be replaced with an OEM brake pad". The funny thing is those _are_ the OEM brake pads, LOL. They're the brake pads that came with the car. I told that to the SA and he was surprised, so he said he's gonna give that info back to the mechanic. I dunno what they're going to do from there. 

I guess they figured I replaced my brakes because I painted the calipers?  I dunno, weird. What I do know is my brake pads have tons left on them from visual inspection. DSG auto-downshifting certainly seems to save wear on those. 

Anyway I'm quite certain this is not a rear brake noise I'm hearing, I think they just didn't duplicate it; and, as the suspension looks fine they don't think anything is wrong. 

I'm back to thinking either a strut bearing or ball joint :|


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

First off Im glade Im not the only one that is having this problem. 

My car is at the dealer right now for this same issue. I have a 2010 with 16,000 miles on it and I have noticed this problem for about the last 3,000 miles. On my 15,000 mile service I took it in and asked them to check the suspention and they said it was OK but I know they never duplicated the problem. I did some tests on my own and found that I can duplicated the sound every time under the following conditions. In an open parking lot I drive in a tight circle in one direction. You need to go fast enough to put a good amount of torshen on the suspension and frame but not fast enough to activate the traction control. Once you hear the click (usually half a circle to a full circle) you can then drive the car in a circle in the other direction to hear the click again. If you keep changing directions after the click you can reproduce the sound as many times as you want. If you drive in a circle in the same direction it will only click one time and then will not occure again until you switch directions. 

I will let you know what the dealer does to fix the problem. My car is in warranty so they will have to fix whatever is wrong.


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

First off Im glade Im not the only one that is having this problem. 

My car is at the dealer right now for this same issue. I have a 2010 with 16,000 miles on it and I have noticed this problem for about the last 3,000 miles. On my 15,000 mile service I took it in and asked them to check the suspention and they said it was OK but I know they never duplicated the problem. I did some tests on my own and found that I can duplicated the sound every time under the following conditions. In an open parking lot I drive in a tight circle in one direction. You need to go fast enough to put a good amount of torshen on the suspension and frame but not fast enough to activate the traction control. Once you hear the click (usually half a circle to a full circle) you can then drive the car in a circle in the other direction to hear the click again. If you keep changing directions after the click you can reproduce the sound as many times as you want. If you drive in a circle in the same direction it will only click one time and then will not occure again until you switch directions. 

I will let you know what the dealer does to fix the problem. My car is in warranty so they will have to fix whatever is wrong.


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## pjunk1 (May 13, 2010)

i'm not sure if this is the same issue the vw gti mark v has but read this: http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90037&highlight=SUBFRAME+NOISE&page=6 

go to the ecstuning link on top of page 6 and watch ecstuning's video. it shows under car cam with sound. 

i recently been getting popping from doing a tight turn up my drive way at real low speeds. not really sure what it's from. i'm lowered on koni co's. i'm sure something is coming loose.


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## MisterJJ (Jul 28, 2005)

Audi'sRevenge said:


> Is CV failure common on these cars? Car is only 3yrs old and about 43k miles (68k kms).


 The simple test to know that CV joint failure is common is to look for a VW or Audi emblem on the car.


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

The Tech at the dealer tightened up some bolts on the sub frame and thinks that might have been the problem. He is doing some more testing today to make sure it corrected the problem. I’m now worried that it will just start happening again in another 15,000 miles. Maybe Audi should address this with a simple mod like the one ECS is using. 

I will let you know what the final prognosis is once I get the car back. It should hopefully be today.


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## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

pjunk1 said:


> i'm not sure if this is the same issue the vw gti mark v has but read this: http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90037&highlight=SUBFRAME+NOISE&page=6
> 
> go to the ecstuning link on top of page 6 and watch ecstuning's video. it shows under car cam with sound.


 Aha! So that's what it is? I'm willing to give that a try, given the A3 is a Mk5 GTI underneath. 

What's with that peculiar music in the ECS video though? :screwy: lol Why didn't they just make the video without the music? 

Is that TSB from the first post in that thread the equivalent of the ECS kit? I.e. if I show them that they can apply the same fix under warranty? Is that what I'm seeing? 



MisterJJ said:


> The simple test to know that CV joint failure is common is to look for a VW or Audi emblem on the car.


 LOL and of course when I said to the SA "I heard driveaxles might common failure areas on A3s" he looked at me like I was smoking something  I just don't get their desire to deny pretty much everything and then also make up weird stories about other things


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## pjunk1 (May 13, 2010)

Audi'sRevenge said:


> Aha! So that's what it is? I'm willing to give that a try, given the A3 is a Mk5 GTI underneath.
> 
> What's with that peculiar music in the ECS video though? :screwy: lol Why didn't they just make the video without the music?
> 
> Is that TSB from the first post in that thread the equivalent of the ECS kit? I.e. if I show them that they can apply the same fix under warranty? Is that what I'm seeing?


 i read most of that long 6 page thread. the gti mkv guys were taking in a passat TSB. some had luck some didn't. 

but, here's the plan...take in all docs like passat TSB & anything else that is related, ask them to lift the car and re-torque the sub frame bolts to see if they have come loose. if they have come loose, then i'm pretty sure the ecs kit would be helpful. i think if you just leave it up to them they will just re-torque existing bolts. you'll be back if they come loose again. with the ecs kit, if you still get the noise...then it has to be something else like cv or fsb/fsb end links, etc. 

i'm not sure where the noise on my car is coming from. it can be sub frame or maybe just that my coils are binding a bit on crawling speed; fully rotated steering wheel angles. who knows??? i'll have to test it like the way they did in the esc video with the rad music.


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

well I dont have any updates from the dealer yet. Hopefully no news is good news


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

So I picked up my car tonight. The dealer said it was done and did not call me in to test drive it with them so I assumed they resolved the issue but unfortunately you know what they say about making assumptions. I drove the car around the lot and the surrounding streets and the noise is still very much there. I snagged one of the service writers and had him ride in the car to listen to the noise to prove that Im not crazy. He could hear it but of course the Shop forman is out for training until next tuesday and he is apparently the only one that can work on the car. I offered to leave the car but they wanted me to just bring it back in when the shop forman was back in. Well hopefully third time is the charm.


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## pjunk1 (May 13, 2010)

Jubal said:


> So I picked up my car tonight. The dealer said it was done and did not call me in to test drive it with them so I assumed they resolved the issue but unfortunately you know what they say about making assumptions. I drove the car around the lot and the surrounding streets and the noise is still very much there. I snagged one of the service writers and had him ride in the car to listen to the noise to prove that Im not crazy. He could hear it but of course the Shop forman is out for training until next tuesday and he is apparently the only one that can work on the car. I offered to leave the car but they wanted me to just bring it back in when the shop forman was back in. Well hopefully third time is the charm.


i would really like to know what they did to your car and what they will do. did the paper work mention re-torque sub frame bolts or ???


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

I was told by the shop forman and twice by the service writer that they had tightened some bolts under the car. The paperwork that I received did not have any mention of that however and when I asked the service writer about it he said that was what he was handed from the shop forman and that he would have to check with him on tuesday when he gets in the shop. Seemed a little strange at the time but I will be patient and wait until after my visit back to the dealer next week before I voice any of my concerns to AOA.


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## x SMURF x (Sep 12, 2010)

Jubal said:


> I was told by the shop forman and twice by the service writer that they had tightened some bolts under the car. The paperwork that I received did not have any mention of that however and when I asked the service writer about it he said that was what he was handed from the shop forman and that he would have to check with him on tuesday when he gets in the shop. Seemed a little strange at the time but I will be patient and wait until after my visit back to the dealer next week before I voice any of my concerns to AOA.


any news on this? did you get it fixed? im still getting the noise every now and then, i wanna bring it to the dealer but im not sure what i should tell them is wrong, or what to check


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## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

pjunk1 said:


> i read most of that long 6 page thread. the gti mkv guys were taking in a passat TSB. some had luck some didn't.
> 
> but, here's the plan...take in all docs like passat TSB & anything else that is related, ask them to lift the car and re-torque the sub frame bolts to see if they have come loose. if they have come loose, then i'm pretty sure the ecs kit would be helpful.


That's what I was thinking too. Only for me, the TSBs are apparently different for Canada and they won't use them here (according to that one guy at least). 



pjunk1 said:


> i think if you just leave it up to them they will just re-torque existing bolts. you'll be back if they come loose again. with the ecs kit, if you still get the noise...then it has to be something else like cv or fsb/fsb end links, etc.


Yep also what I was thinking 



pjunk1 said:


> i'm not sure where the noise on my car is coming from. it can be sub frame or maybe just that my coils are binding a bit on crawling speed;


Coils "binding" or whatever you'd call it, that should be prevented by the strut bearing though right? Of course there is that notion that it could be a bad strut bearing  



pjunk1 said:


> i'll have to test it like the way they did in the esc video with the rad music.


LOL that music is _really_ messed eh? :laugh:

I'm gonna drive up on my ramps this weekend and tighten those bolts though, see if they
a. are loose
b. if tightening them solves the noise

If those are true then I guess it's time to order the ECS kit


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## Col. Sandurz (Aug 23, 2009)

I have the same thing.

Guess I'm not crazy


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## Grey D (Mar 3, 2009)

same thing... are we sure this isn't related to the differential? mine is driver's side front, only happens when I turn right. Almost like a wobble or something the way it vibrates. Dealer couldn't replicate it, so I did with a tech in the car, to which they said it probably wasn't a big deal? (wtf?)

i'm sick of all these mystery problems. This and i'm pretty sure my car is suffering from the chain-lengthening problem with the 3.2 motor. I'm so tired of that **** squeaky noise every time I turn it over. I mean this is the kinda crap most of us bought Audi's for over VW's. So much for quality.


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## cldub (Jul 2, 2010)

Mine is a straight knocking noise driver side front at slow speeds whenever I go over a bump. What the FFFF


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## dmorrow (Jun 9, 2000)

Same thing here. I have replaced both axles (CV joints were bad, not because of the knock), then replaced the end links, and rear control arm bushings (rear of front control arms, not rear of car) because I thought they were the source of the knock. The control arm bushings seemed to have helped some but I still have some knock. I also replaced the subframe bolts with the bigger ones.

Next step for me is front control arm bushings and possibly the bushings above the struts. My shocks are shot so may do everything at once.


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## tiptronic (Apr 18, 1999)

oops..sorry for this post (it was a dupe video link).. removed


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## Audi'sRevenge (Mar 24, 2008)

Noooooo not that music again!!! :what:


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## tiptronic (Apr 18, 1999)

Audi'sRevenge said:


> Noooooo not that music again!!! :what:


oops Sorry AR... did not notice early this am that video was already posted..

:banghead:


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

The car is back at the dealer. I had made an appointment to meet the shop foreman last Saturday and when I showed up he was not there.  I got one of the techs to ride in the car with me and showed him the problem and left them the car. I got a call Monday from the Foreman saying he was working on it. Then on Tuesday I called to get an update and he said he could not duplicate it. There are now two people at the dealer that have heard the noise but for some reason the shop foreman can't duplicate it. He said he would try some more things and get back to me tomorrow. :banghead:

The test to duplicate the noise is to drive in a tight corner at a high rate of speed over and over again. I know this is putting lots of ware on my tires. Even the Shop foreman agrees that its not great on the tires. Hopefully they will give me a deal on some new rubber in a few thousand miles when I need it.


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## Jubal (Apr 29, 2010)

Well it took this long and a threat to Audi of America to get a lawyer involved but they finally figured out what the problem was. The second dealer to look at the car replaced the steering rack and now the noise is gone. I am very relieved because it was driving me nutes. I hope this helps others with this same problem.


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## acf911t (Feb 27, 2009)

Thanks Jubal.


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