2002 A4 clunking noise

>> I really do hope that your clunking doesn't turn out to be serious.
>>
>> Peter.
>
> thanks for the wishes. i bought this car with 28,000 miles on it and,
> granted, i have driven it hard. a lot of city driving on the barely
> paved streets of baltimore. but i have had a bad thermometer, two bad
> vacuum lines, and now this issue all in about a year. add that to
> regular service and my bill is really rising.
>
> i drove home today from the shore, probably about 150 miles. the
> clunking was there at low speeds, when driving out of a toll booth for
> instance, but there was nothing noticeable at highway speeds.
>
> also, as a slight adjustment to my original post: i now do not
> believe that the noise is in any way connected to vibrations that i
> can feel through the steering wheel. i studied that as much as i
> could, and there was no correlation between the sound, a bump in the
> road, or vibrations through the steering wheel.
>
> if the problem truly were related to the bushings, wouldn't the thunks
> come during moments of turning, accelerating, or hitting road bumps?
> as far as i can tell, the noise is MORE likely to happen when
> traveling slowly on smooth roads in first or second gear at a steady
> pace.
>
> it's very strange.
>
> i also noticed that my door has recently gotten a little creaky when i
> open and close it. the sound is a very similar pitch to the thunk i'm
> describing. is it possible that the door swing mechanism is creating
> the noise, even when closed? i'm going to spray some WD-40 on it to
> see if that helps.
>
> also, is there anything that a ley-person could see regarding bad
> control arms from an unsprung inspection? cracks? leaks? is there
> any portion of the assembly i should particularly look at?
>
> any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
If it is due to control arm bushings you could reach in to the joints
while the car is sitting on the ground and feel for any play.

Again while siting on the ground get a good hold of each front tire with
both hands and try to shake it in / out at the top and back and forth
when holding it at 9 / 3 O'clock as if it is steering. If you feel any
clunks or other mechanical sounds this may be your problem.

Another thing that can happen is that the rubber sway bar mounts can
deteriorate and cause sounds. You might be able to detect this by trying
to bounce each front corner of the car by pushing on the bumper. Don't
try thi when pushing on and plastic trim or sheet metal as it cound be
damaged.

Another thing to look for is leaks in the fluid filled engine mounts. If
the leak the engine drops down a bit and can cause components to hit
things they are near.

On Jul 23, 6:36 am, Madesio > wrote:
> On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:26:59 +0000, wrote:
> >Thanks for the truly worst case scenario!
>
> >I have had the car in the shop at least once every two months over the
> >past year. It just seems to me like audi didn't take much time in
> >building this car right. how can a supposed "luxury car" have more
> >reliability problems than a hyundai?
>
> While most may consider a them a reliable automobile, Hyundais do not even
> come close to the driving experience your A4 should provide you with.
> That's not even a fair comparison. Audi's engineering on everything from
> the suspension to it's electronics is a lot more sophisticated than your
> average Hyundai grocery getter. The cars are geared to different
> audiences; which one do you enjoy driving more?
>
> >anyway, i am going to drive the car home and take it to my mechanic
> >tomorrow morning. i'll report back on what i find out.

I'm not going to argue that point! As I was driving this morning, i
took one nice sweeping turn in third gear, pushed the throttle down,
and felt the thing just hug to the road. I almost welled up because I
knew I just can't afford to keep a car that is costing me several
thousands of dollars more per year in maintenance. The thought of
getting a japanese or korean grocery getter breaks my heart. But I am
very near that point.

I decided not to take it into the shop this morning when they said
they couldn't look at it until tomorrow. I have to get to the airport
for a trip tomorrow morning, so this issue will have to wait.
However, while driving this morning the "coolant low" light went on.
I have started a new thread to discuss this issue.

On Jul 22, 11:11 pm, Tony > wrote:
> >> I really do hope that your clunking doesn't turn out to be serious.
>
> >> Peter.
>
> > thanks for the wishes. i bought this car with 28,000 miles on it and,
> > granted, i have driven it hard. a lot of city driving on the barely
> > paved streets of baltimore. but i have had a bad thermometer, two bad
> > vacuum lines, and now this issue all in about a year. add that to
> > regular service and my bill is really rising.
>
> > i drove home today from the shore, probably about 150 miles. the
> > clunking was there at low speeds, when driving out of a toll booth for
> > instance, but there was nothing noticeable at highway speeds.
>
> > also, as a slight adjustment to my original post: i now do not
> > believe that the noise is in any way connected to vibrations that i
> > can feel through the steering wheel. i studied that as much as i
> > could, and there was no correlation between the sound, a bump in the
> > road, or vibrations through the steering wheel.
>
> > if the problem truly were related to the bushings, wouldn't the thunks
> > come during moments of turning, accelerating, or hitting road bumps?
> > as far as i can tell, the noise is MORE likely to happen when
> > traveling slowly on smooth roads in first or second gear at a steady
> > pace.
>
> > it's very strange.
>
> > i also noticed that my door has recently gotten a little creaky when i
> > open and close it. the sound is a very similar pitch to the thunk i'm
> > describing. is it possible that the door swing mechanism is creating
> > the noise, even when closed? i'm going to spray some WD-40 on it to
> > see if that helps.
>
> > also, is there anything that a ley-person could see regarding bad
> > control arms from an unsprung inspection? cracks? leaks? is there
> > any portion of the assembly i should particularly look at?
>
> > any help would be greatly appreciated.
>
> If it is due to control arm bushings you could reach in to the joints
> while the car is sitting on the ground and feel for any play.
>
> Again while siting on the ground get a good hold of each front tire with
> both hands and try to shake it in / out at the top and back and forth
> when holding it at 9 / 3 O'clock as if it is steering. If you feel any
> clunks or other mechanical sounds this may be your problem.
>
> Another thing that can happen is that the rubber sway bar mounts can
> deteriorate and cause sounds. You might be able to detect this by trying
> to bounce each front corner of the car by pushing on the bumper. Don't
> try thi when pushing on and plastic trim or sheet metal as it cound be
> damaged.
>
> Another thing to look for is leaks in the fluid filled engine mounts. If
> the leak the engine drops down a bit and can cause components to hit
> things they are near.

I did these tests just now, and there was no fluid, I could not
replicate any sound while "sitting" on the car to make it move up and
down. But when I pulled outward on the tire, as you said, there was a
"ting" noise of metal hitting metal on some of my harder pulls. This
sound did not sound like the clunk that I hear when I am driving and
there wasn't any real perceptible "play" in the wheel. The noise I
hear while driving is much more muted than this noise was, and, I
believe, louder.

wrote:
> On Jul 22, 11:11 pm, Tony > wrote:
>>>> I really do hope that your clunking doesn't turn out to be serious.
>>>> Peter.
>>> thanks for the wishes. i bought this car with 28,000 miles on it and,
>>> granted, i have driven it hard. a lot of city driving on the barely
>>> paved streets of baltimore. but i have had a bad thermometer, two bad
>>> vacuum lines, and now this issue all in about a year. add that to
>>> regular service and my bill is really rising.
>>> i drove home today from the shore, probably about 150 miles. the
>>> clunking was there at low speeds, when driving out of a toll booth for
>>> instance, but there was nothing noticeable at highway speeds.
>>> also, as a slight adjustment to my original post: i now do not
>>> believe that the noise is in any way connected to vibrations that i
>>> can feel through the steering wheel. i studied that as much as i
>>> could, and there was no correlation between the sound, a bump in the
>>> road, or vibrations through the steering wheel.
>>> if the problem truly were related to the bushings, wouldn't the thunks
>>> come during moments of turning, accelerating, or hitting road bumps?
>>> as far as i can tell, the noise is MORE likely to happen when
>>> traveling slowly on smooth roads in first or second gear at a steady
>>> pace.
>>> it's very strange.
>>> i also noticed that my door has recently gotten a little creaky when i
>>> open and close it. the sound is a very similar pitch to the thunk i'm
>>> describing. is it possible that the door swing mechanism is creating
>>> the noise, even when closed? i'm going to spray some WD-40 on it to
>>> see if that helps.
>>> also, is there anything that a ley-person could see regarding bad
>>> control arms from an unsprung inspection? cracks? leaks? is there
>>> any portion of the assembly i should particularly look at?
>>> any help would be greatly appreciated.
>> If it is due to control arm bushings you could reach in to the joints
>> while the car is sitting on the ground and feel for any play.
>>
>> Again while siting on the ground get a good hold of each front tire with
>> both hands and try to shake it in / out at the top and back and forth
>> when holding it at 9 / 3 O'clock as if it is steering. If you feel any
>> clunks or other mechanical sounds this may be your problem.
>>
>> Another thing that can happen is that the rubber sway bar mounts can
>> deteriorate and cause sounds. You might be able to detect this by trying
>> to bounce each front corner of the car by pushing on the bumper. Don't
>> try thi when pushing on and plastic trim or sheet metal as it cound be
>> damaged.
>>
>> Another thing to look for is leaks in the fluid filled engine mounts. If
>> the leak the engine drops down a bit and can cause components to hit
>> things they are near.
>
> I did these tests just now, and there was no fluid, I could not
> replicate any sound while "sitting" on the car to make it move up and
> down. But when I pulled outward on the tire, as you said, there was a
> "ting" noise of metal hitting metal on some of my harder pulls. This
> sound did not sound like the clunk that I hear when I am driving and
> there wasn't any real perceptible "play" in the wheel. The noise I
> hear while driving is much more muted than this noise was, and, I
> believe, louder.
>
A noise like you describe would likely be a bit different than when
driving because driving the forces are much greater. It does sound like
control arms or tie rod ends are a problem. At least that is my guess.