Steering wheel judder - S3 (2007)

S

shinsplint

Registered User
Joined
Oct 10, 2012
Messages
147
Reaction score
17
Points
18
Location
NULL
Looking for some opinions if possible.

Car is booked in to be checked out next week, but just curious as to what the problem is...

Recently had new front discs and pads (OEM) fitted. Bedded in carefully.

I am now getting wheel judder at a steady 80-100 mph, becoming more noticable when braking.

First thoughts were a warped disc, but its not only happening when braking, so then turned to wheel balancing. Had the four wheels balanced, and it remains the same. I also had the fronts swapped to back, and the car is behaving exactly the same.

Now thinking it could be a suspension problem. Are there any common faults with the S3?
 
Had the same on mine - turned out to be warped discs (and I bedded them in correctly too!)
 
Wheel balancing needs doing or buckled wheels.
 
As said above, just had the wheels balanced. Given the fact its is behaving identically after switching fronts to back, I don't think its down to a buckled wheel(s), although its a possible.
 
shinsplint said:
As said above, just had the wheels balanced. Given the fact its is behaving identically after switching fronts to back, I don't think its down to a buckled wheel(s), although its a possible.
Click to expand...

Sorry, missed that. Defo have a look into them being buckled, it may be that more than one is damaged.
 
I had exactly the same on my 2012 S3...............after a year I had pads and discs replaced due to being warped....now 3 months after that I started to get a really bad wobble under braking so I thought the discs had gone again...........very strange seeing as I use the engine and gearbox to do alot of the braking when at speed. Now I contacted one of my associates at Brembo and he suggested that I take it out and give it a good old thrash on the brakes - heavybraking, keeping my foot slightly on the brake pedal for a few hundred yards at a time etc etc as he suspected glazed pads n discs. This is exactly what I did for a about a week and now my brakes are amazing again. No wobble whatsoever under braking anymore so whatever was wrong was cured whilst doing what he said. Hope this helps.

Have you got aftermarket wheels fitted??? If so are there spigot rings fitted???
 
Any place that does balancing mate. You'd think that it's not possible to balance a buckled wheel but apparently it is! If they specifically look they should be able to see it.

You can get a wheels refurbed to repair minor buckles, which includes a full repray and everything. You're looking at over £300 for the 4.
 
Cheers lads,

Brodster, i'll give that a go. Well I have already gave it a bit of stick but not as hard as you described, so worth a try I guess.

They're standard wheels, and I suppose at 7 yrs old they could have minor buckles. Now back to my previous question... do I change the wheels lol !
 
Update:

My regular mechanic is also baffled by this.

You can brake quite hard and sometimes there is no judder at all, but when feathering the brakes it is much worse. At 80mph + there is judder even when driving steady and not braking. This would suggest it is nothing to do with the brakes. Mechanic checked the suspension bushes which are all fine. Some minor play in one of the bushes but apparently not enough to cause problems.

Tomorrow he's replacing the discs under warranty, although neither of us are convinced it will sort the problem.

I previously had the four wheels balanced which made no difference, apart from my wallet.

I'm thinking a wheel buckle of any kind would cause continuous vibration though the steering column, not intermittent.

Any ideas / possibilities appreciated !
 
audi upgrades
My wheels were buckled and the vibration only occured at certain speeds.
 
ok, going to get the wheels looked at once i've had the brakes changed. Cheers.
 
Staz said:
My wheels were buckled and the vibration only occured at certain speeds.
Click to expand...

What he said, I had the same issue at 70mph plus, even when driving straight and stay. Turned out both front alloys were buckled, fortunately replaced under warranty
 
In the OP the wheels were balanced. What bugs me about anybody who claims to be tyrefitter is despite you going to them with an issue they will just blindly balance them and not inspect the wheel tyre as they balance them. A buckled wheel could have been diagnosed then and not on the 2nd or 3rd attempt at balancing them! I only take my wheels to Wheelbase now who have a very expensive (and new) balancing machine and it is always spot on.

It sounds to me like you might have two issues, one is a balance issue (even good wheels/tyres sometimes it takes a couple of times to get balancing right depending who you use) and the other is slight brake judder. The wheel wobble is then exacerbated by braking at high speed. If the brakes were smooth it would not add further to the wheel wobble you feel when off the brakes.

The brake judder is likely pad desposits and like in that post further up from Brodster it might be a case of re-bedding them in.

There is a small chance it could be a lightly binding brake caliper.

Wheel wobble is always balancing (or wheel/tyre issue) or brakes (when braking). It's never suspension parts IME, so don't go throwing a load of money at it with new parts because someone ran out of ideas.
 
Try checking the front hubs for runout. Had a vw garage replace dics and pads a few years ago and i had loads of vibration and judder on braking. Turned out they had damaged the hub when getting then bearings out. They replaced the discs and pads three times to try and sort the problem but when i replaced the hub all was ok.
 
I get a judder around 80mph but not when breaking. Recently had tyres fitted and balanced but no change. I'm thinking it could be the spacers I have fitted. Taking them off this weekend to check.
 
Update:

The saga continues...

Last week I had the four wheels refurbed and checked for buckles - all perfect. So back to the garage today...

Mechanic has checked over it all once again. Says there are slight cracks in the lower bushes, and suggested to change these. As I reminded him though, my concern was that the problem only came about after he changed the discs and pads last year. He is therefore ordering replacement brakes under warranty which will be fitted next week.

I couldnt see the point of throwing money at new bushes, if it doesnt solve the problem...

What are your thoughts?

So far then:

All wheel balanced more than once.
Tyres all good (matching Michelin PS3).
Still getting the wheel wobble after 80mph, (braking or not), which gets worse when braking down.
Another ride in to work today in brutal headwinds for no reason lol :(
 
Same tyres fitted to the front? Could be some tyre runout. Also depends who's balancing the wheels, I've given up with most places now and will pay extra to use a local tyre place near me that uses top notch modern equipment.
 
c_w said:
Same tyres fitted to the front? Could be some tyre runout. Also depends who's balancing the wheels, I've given up with most places now and will pay extra to use a local tyre place near me that uses top notch modern equipment.
Click to expand...

The four tyres are michelin PS3. I've tried swapping them round, and the car behaves exactly the same. I'm 99.9% sure its not a wheel problem.
 
Still think you should check the hub run out. Its dead easy with the wheel off and using a dial gauge. Its a 5 minute job for a mechanic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
rs6 steering wheel on 2007 s3
Replies
11
Views
1K
smudge_don
smudge_don
S
s3 8p 2007 steering wheel polished centre band
Replies
2
Views
1K
NHN
NHN
R
A3 2007 - Steering Wheel Warning Light
Replies
3
Views
863
Oswald
Oswald
H
S3 2007 Steering Rack
Replies
3
Views
497
kash_v
K
6
S3 Steering wheel
Replies
6
Views
1K
drsilviuro
D
Top
Back