Engine Noise and Clutch (S3)

JamS3

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Is it normal for the engine noise to go slightly quieter heard from inside the car whist pressing the clutch pedal down?

Iv'e noticed mine get slightly quieter when on tickover when I press the clutch pedal down then slightly louder when the pedal is brought back up, its like a slight rattle is taken away. Is this normal?

You have to listen to it as its not that obvious, might just be me getting paranoid over nothing!
 
Jose how did you come to notice the noise on yours or did you test it after reading my post?

Any ideas what it could be?
 
My guess what you are hearing is the thrust bearing, perfectly normal, have had it on almost all my cars.

When it starts to really whine though you should let the workshop have a look...
 
I always keep my ears open for new noises, and when starting the car in the garage and pressing the clutch for 1st gear noticed it a few weeks ago.
Haldex has lot's of moving parts, it has that click when you acellerate and decellerate and when you change some gears and drop the clutch make some clack, think it's the system coupling, so it's normal to have some noises... Let's see what others say.
 
a3kjorer said:
My guess what you are hearing is the thrust bearing, perfectly normal, have had it on almost all my cars.

When it starts to really whine though you should let the workshop have a look...

When you say this do you mean it does whine naturally and on your other cars you have been able to hear this too?

Take it naturally whines when its not broken, well more of a rattle to me
 
José said:
I always keep my ears open for new noises, and when starting the car in the garage and pressing the clutch for 1st gear noticed it a few weeks ago.
Haldex has lot's of moving parts, it has that click when you acellerate and decellerate and when you change some gears and drop the clutch make some clack, think it's the system coupling, so it's normal to have some noises... Let's see what others say.

Take it its the quieter engine note you can hear when pressing the clutch down and not just a click?
 
newbiecrg said:
haven't noticed but now that you said will give it a listen next time i drive it...

Pedro

Cheers Pedro would appreciate this as would if a few other S3 owners could try, just hope nothing is wrong with mine!
 
JamS3:
When in stationary and with the engine running the thrust bearing is spinning around freely without any pressure.
When you press the clutch pedal you put pressure on the thrust bearing and it usually gets more quiet.
If the clutch thrust bearing is worn or running dry it starts making a bad noise, and you will really know - it sounds really bad.
 
I haven't noticed it on mine, but could it be that your just disconecting the engaine from the rest of the trannsmissin/drivetrain that makes it quieter?

p
 
Every car I have been in and/or owned has been the same so I always thought it was normal
 
this is normal, what you can hear is the idler gears rattling in the gearbox
this is more noticable when the gearbox is cold, if the noise gets worse get it checked out at thte dealers
 
I have tried on mine and there isn't any change at all in the engine noise or RPM.

I started the car, let it warm up a bit and then at idle in neutral and just pressed the clutch, I did not engage any gear, just pressed the clutch and no change at all. My S3 has 15500Km now and so far I did not had a single problem with it, apart from enjoying petrol stations... lolol Tires seem to be wearing nicely as well I think they are good for at least another 10000Km

I heard a little click noise first time I pressed clutch but that is normal.

Sometimes I can really feel the Haldex engafing/disengaging, especially on fast sweep corners if you lift the throtle and press down again... I assume it is a normal.

Pedro
 
RobinA3 said:
mine does the same.

Like mine Robin in that it makes a noise or like Pedros in that is does not?

Pedro you have to really listen, you might not notice it!

The other car in the household also does it too, Vw polo!
 
Brookie-S3 said:
this is normal, what you can hear is the idler gears rattling in the gearbox
this is more noticable when the gearbox is cold, if the noise gets worse get it checked out at thte dealers

Brookie, the noise is louder when the car is cold and gets less noticable when its ran for a while.
 
I would suspect it to be from the clutch release bearing, All cars do it to some extent. My A4 does it first thing in a morning. You have to listen very hard for it but it almost goes away when the engine/gearbox is warmed up.

I dont believe its anything to worry about but if you want piece of mind/reassurance then pop it into Audi.
 
Hi guys do you engage any gear? I left my gearbox in neutral for the test... will do it again this afternoon...

I have done the test in my garage so it was quite good to check noise changes and I left the drivers door open to notice even more any changes...

I will try engage a gear and see..

Pedro
 
newbiecrg said:
Hi guys do you engage any gear? I left my gearbox in neutral for the test... will do it again this afternoon...

I have done the test in my garage so it was quite good to check noise changes and I left the drivers door open to notice even more any changes...

I will try engage a gear and see..

Pedro

Pedro, don't engage any gear and best to keep all doors closed as can only really hear it from inside the car.
 
Wow! JamS3's got anxious S3 owners the length and breadth of the country sitting in their car pressing their clutches up and down and straining their ears.......:ermm:
 
Mate, mine does not do anything, absolutly no change in pitch, noise or rpm doors closed or open. Gears engaged or not.

Pressing the clutch doesn't have any affect in engine noise. There is a little click which is clutch engaging but no change in engine noise or rpm, nothing... now I am starting to be paranoid... should it do any noise?

I did this in a cold car but when I go out for a drive and come home will do the same to see if I notice anything.

As said before only notice clutch engaging and sometimes you can feel the haldex engaging/disengaging is fast sweep corners if you play with the throttle...

Pedro
 
newbiecrg said:
Mate, mine does not do anything, absolutly no change in pitch, noise or rpm doors closed or open. Gears engaged or not.

Pressing the clutch doesn't have any affect in engine noise. There is a little click which is clutch engaging but no change in engine noise or rpm, nothing... now I am starting to be paranoid... should it do any noise?

I did this in a cold car but when I go out for a drive and come home will do the same to see if I notice anything.

As said before only notice clutch engaging and sometimes you can feel the haldex engaging/disengaging is fast sweep corners if you play with the throttle...

Pedro

Your hearing might not be as good as other peoples!

You have to really listen, its a noise that is taken away as opposed toa change in pitch. I'm happy that other peoples cars do it and they knew what I was talking about!
 
Never mind... it is probably normal!

My car might do it I just haven't noticed yet... and my hearing is fine! lololol

Pedro
 
mine too makes a different noise when the clutch is in than when it is out. i think it,s normal it did this on my old car.
 
After driving manual cars for 15 years I would say - as long as you don't hear a horrible grinding noise when engaging the clutch pedal don't worry about it. As a matter of fact the car is still drivable even though the mentioned bearing is making noise, but only for a careful trip to the nearest service garage.
If you don't hear any noise from the outside of the car but only from the inside, I'm willing to put money on that you don't have a problem at all :arco:

Whenever the clutch itself needs to be replaced the clutch bearing is normally changed as well. Do you realize how much abuse this thing is taking? Think about it - every time you press the clutch pedal this bearing is under pressure - thats why it actually wears out in the end, normal mechanical behavior.

A very very simple clutch explaining picture:
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/3/30/305px-Clutch_explosion.jpg
 
its definately a normal noise, but I'd always thought it was the layshaft not the thrust bearing.

Has done it on every car I've owned to a greater or lesser extent.
 
Jam,

A LITTLE noise can be expected as normal. I dont mean to worry you, but on a spanish S/RS forum 2 guys had problems with this issue (high noise at idle with the clutch depressed). One of them was given a complete new gearbox :(

Mine is barely noticeable if you press or not, but only has 2000 kms....

What I really do feel is the other noise while running at low speeds, or pressing/depressing the clutch while moving....it is kind like a gear noise enganging.....think it is normal with the S3 though, my friends S3 does the same...
 
DemianM said:
Jam,

A LITTLE noise can be expected as normal. I dont mean to worry you, but on a spanish S/RS forum 2 guys had problems with this issue (high noise at idle with the clutch depressed). One of them was given a complete new gearbox :(

Mine is barely noticeable if you press or not, but only has 2000 kms....

What I really do feel is the other noise while running at low speeds, or pressing/depressing the clutch while moving....it is kind like a gear noise enganging.....think it is normal with the S3 though, my friends S3 does the same...

Mine only has the louder noise when the clutch is not depressed so I escape the possible problems above!

My noise really would be barely noticeable to most just I tend to reply notice slight noises and bangs....

Suppose its the norm though as a quite a few other cars do it on this forum and the meaning behind the noise changes has been explained by people above, plus the other car in my household does it too.
 
Jam,
I am sorry I did not made myself clear. The noise they mention is with the clutch NOT pressed and the car in neutral. When they press the clutch, the noise would go away.

They spoke about a very noticeable noise, which at first was only noticeable while cold, but later became also apparent when hot.

How many KMS do you have by now? One of them got a new gearbox by 10000 kms.
 
Ive got just about 12k miles on the car now but I thought some noise was normal as other people have reported the same noise as me, its not really loud.
 
I tried this out myself earlier today whilst checking the oil.

I honestly can say that whilst the car was in idle and neutral, then pressing and depressing the clutch on and off, I couldn't hear anything different going on.

What i do hear whilst changing in the lower gears whilst at a low speed (so from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd) is a sound that must be the gears engaging. It is not loud, but it is a faint clunking type of sound. Is this normal?? When I press the clutch when it neutral it sometimes makes a faint clicking sound too? :think:
 
Hope nobody lost their sleep last night because of this.
Yes, after starting the car, if I press the clutch in neutral, there is no click whatsoever but, that slight rattle disappear.
That click in low gear, and noise between gear changes is normal, the haldex is engaging.
Like you said, if the rattle becomes louder, it's time for a visit to the dealer...
 
i think i know what you mean, i drive a new vw T5, and when the engine is idling its nice and quiet, but if you press the clutch the engine changes note, also noticable when driving.
i havnt really noticed it on my car tho, hope this helps
 
Well think we can rest safe knowing (for us that can hear it) the rattle dissapearing when the pedal is pressed is normal!

Glad a few others have noticed it!
 
Yeah, there is any strange noise, just the engine gets a tiny little thing quieter when pressing the clutch. After your description JamS3 I was able to pinpoint it...

I am sleeping like a baby...lololol. The car is fine!

Pedro
 
I know its bit late to contribute... but same noise on my one too :sorry:
 
UPDATE!!!!

Checked with Audi today just to settle our minds, this IS normal and is the noise of clutch engaging/disengaging the gearbox. It is louder when the car is cold simply due to the gearbox oil viscosity.

Glad lots of other peoples cars do it too now as that good for putting my mind at rest further!

Cheers.