Bumpy at idle + new buttons

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Chris128

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Hi Guys,

Just joined this forum as I bought a 53 plate A3 2.0 TDI Sport a couple of days ago :)

As with almost any used car, there are a couple of things that are not perfect on it and I was just wanting to get your opinion on what to do about them. Any suggestions/comments much appreciated!

1. Sometimes (not every time, but most) when I am just sitting at traffic lights in neutral, the car starts to shake a little bit. Its not a violent shake, more like a gentle bumping up and down. Its hard to describe but basically it is just a bit more noticeable than the normal rumble you would get from a car when it is idling. Someone said to me that it is "the engine timing" ... whatever that means. Anyone got any ideas what this could be and whether or not I need to do something about it?

2. One of the buttons on the dash, the minus button for the fan speed, is very worn (I only know its a minus button because its next to a plus) and to me it makes the whole thing look a bit knackered. How easy would it be to replace this and does anyone know where a good place to get a replacement button would be?

Thanks
Chris
 
The shaking bit could mean that the flywheel could be on it way out. Im not to sure but thats what iv read about a similar story on here
 
audi upgrades
Cant get new buttons tbh, just get a replacement climate of ebay, fairly easy to fit with some advice from us.
 
Next time it shakes try turning your air con off and see if you can hear the engine fan as well. IF its DSG then put it in neutral. My 3.2 is very susceptible to alternator load when its ticking over.
 
NHN said:
Cant get new buttons tbh, just get a replacement climate of ebay, fairly easy to fit with some advice from us.
Click to expand...

Oh right, I thought I would just be able to pinch one from a broken Audi that was being sold for parts or something... What exactly is the 'climate' then, is that the entire set of dash controls? Doesnt sound very easy to fit to me (bearing in mind I have never fitted anything to a car other than a replacement headlight)

As for the shaking, I will try turning the air con off (I assume you mean just press the ECON button?) and see if that stops it. Oh and its not a DSG by the way. Thanks for the replies, will let you know how it goes :)
 
audi upgrades
No he means turn of the fan completely with minus symbol so no air flowing at all.

Also yeah could find a broken unit & swap, but that requires taking old unit apart, swapping bits over then reassemble, refit & test, its not a hard job, just time consuming & you already said you're not to keen on idea.

Its the that part with buttons & dials controlling aircon/vents, its not the whole center console, it comes out seperately
 
I don't say its the answer but if its not always doing it then it could be something switching in like the air con or radiator fan. Certainly worth a check before thinking flywheels.
 
Well it did it again yesterday so I turned all of the fans off completely and it didnt make any difference. If I rev it then it stops for a couple of seconds (or it might just be that the vibration from revving it kind of hides it).

The only other way I can describe it is its as if the car is shivering... lol I know that sounds daft but thats what it feels like, its like a constant shake that is very noticeable. I'm guessing its not a common thing with A3s then...
Anything else I can check or test before I resort to taking it to a garage?

Thanks
Chris
 
Sounds to me like a flywheel issue, which is common with the A3. Mine had the exact same symptoms you describe and I had the clutch and flywheel changed under warranty. Mine is an 07 though. You might notice it makes an odd sort of slap noise when turning it off too which is related.
 
Oh right ok - is that a big job to fix (in terms of cost and time) if it is the flywheel? Is there any way I can try and find out if that is the problem or will I just need to take it to a garage? Oh and I dont suppose you know if that is the kind of thing that would be covered by an AA warranty or is it more of a "wear n tear" thing?

Cheers
Chris
 
I wouldn't have thought it would be covered under a 3rd party warranty as technically it's a wear and tear item. I had a fight with Audi to get them to cover mine. I'm not sure what it would cost to replace, the dealer had my car three days so it's either quite a bit of labour or they were messing about with it. I think I've heard talk of £500-800 around these parts but I'm not sure. I think the only way to 100% diagnose it is to take the flywheel off and inspect it.
 
Damn that is a lot more than I was expecting... well I guess as I only bought it a few days ago then if it does turn out to be the flywheel I might be able to get the dealer that I bought the car from to pay at least some of it. I'll have to check the AA warranty that they gave me tonight and see if it mentions the flywheel at all.
 
Well I had a look in my AA warranty booklet thingy ma bob and it says under the Engine section that lists what is covered: flywheel or flex plate - so I assume that means I'm not going to pay a penny if it is that? :) I only got this warranty because the dealer gave me it for free (12 months, 5 star) because they messed me around a bit with the date that I was supposed to be picking my car up, turns out it might come in handy eh..
 
Thanks for the link - they are sending someone to fit a new CD player at the weekend (as the one in it didnt work but I needed the car to get to work before they could fit the replacement) so I will ask them about it then.
 
Probably remote, but I would also have a look a the engine/gearbox mounts aswell, could be a worn bush or cracked mount, this is alot cheaper than a flywheel so worth a look at least, I dont say it is this but if this is an issue it would cause more vibration etc.
 
As above (or below).
Recently had my engine/gearbox mounts changed and could definitely feel the difference in terms of idle vibration.

Do you know if your car has had it's cambelt changed? If so this could further point towards damaged mounts. Apparently quite common that they can be damaged during a cambelt change. It was the reason for having to change mine.

Tell tale signs of worn or damage mounts.... vibration felt in cabin from engine and/or clicking or knocking when accerelating or changing gears. (usually in lower gears... neutral to 1st... 1st to 2nd)

Pull off from stand still quite quickly a few times and listen out for a single click or knock. Could be quite quiet so close your windows.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll try what you mentioned Aythreee and see if I can hear any clicking sound. I dont know if this helps to narrow it down but I noticed today that it seems to stop doing it as much when I put the clutch in (even if I dont actually put it in gear). It still does it, but nowhere near as often or as noticeable as if I take my foot off the clutch..
 
A new development today that I'm not sure is related - when I get to 70 mph in 5th or 6th gear the steering wheel starts to shake a little. I say shake, I think tremble is probably a better word but its very noticeable. I am sure this only started today as I would have noticed it over the last week as I have done mostly motorway driving all week. The strange thing is, in 4th gear at 70 mph it does not do it... but 5th and 6th both do. Oh and it carries on doing it past 70 mph as well. I was thinking it could be something wrong with a tyre but then it would do the same thing in 4th gear surely? Do you think this could be related to the original issue of it shaking a bit at idle? When it shakes at idle it is more than just the steering wheel but this high speed shaking seems to only be felt through the steering wheel
 
Hmmm, steering wheel shake related to speed would suggest wheel balance to me, and that would be the first thing to get checked. It's only £12 at my local place to have two tyres balanced and that could sort it for you.
 
Alignment, balancing, steering rack, suspension/mounts, flywheel, number of things that could cause these, best thing is to take her in as almost sounds dangerous to drive.
 
pdv40 said:
Hmmm, steering wheel shake related to speed would suggest wheel balance to me, and that would be the first thing to get checked. It's only £12 at my local place to have two tyres balanced and that could sort it for you.
Click to expand...

But if it was the wheel balancing then wouldnt it do the same thing no matter which gear you are in?

@NHN - It doesnt feel dangerous at all, just an annoyance really...but I guess I should get it sorted out before it does become dangerous. You dont think this could be related to overfilling my coolant a little do you? If it was though, I would have thought that I would have noticed it on the 2 hour drive home last night (refilled the coolant just before that) and not just this morning
 
My A3 had a terrible wobble at idle pretty much since soon after i bought it. One thing let to another and i had to replace the gearbox in it about 3 weeks ago. Now there is no wobble at all. so i would suggest it is either the flywheel or a gearbox related problem.
 
Well there's a max line for a reason, but I wouldnt like to speculate if this is affecting your car.
 
mcconnot said:
My A3 had a terrible wobble at idle pretty much since soon after i bought it. One thing let to another and i had to replace the gearbox in it about 3 weeks ago. Now there is no wobble at all. so i would suggest it is either the flywheel or a gearbox related problem.
Click to expand...

Hmm, that's the third time the flywheel has been mentioned in this thread... I mentioned this problem to two petrol heads at work and asked if they thought it could be the flywheel and they both instantly said no way. However, they probably dont have as much experience with such things as you guys. I'm going to be speaking to the dealer that I bought the car from this weekend so I will mention it to them and see if they will at least take a look at it. Cheers
 
hi im not sure about your tick over problem i have it to but its not all
the time and if i take it just over 1000 revs then let it go back to tick over
it gose but mine has started to smoke just a little bit to on tick over.
as for your button my cd ones did it and i just used a black permant marker
on it a few times witch if you have a good hand look fine ;-)
 
My dad swore blind that it was a knackered engine mount, and it makes logical sense, but a new clutch & flywheel sorted the problem.
 
was yours doing it all the time with your foot on the clutch or just off
 
Intermittently when the car had just come to rest in traffic, in neutral and off the clutch.
 
ok then mine is not that as it is both clutch in or out but if i plep the revs it gose so no idea
 
how ofen dose yours do it chris mine dont do it every day and audi say a flywheel
if it gose would do it all the time as its worped not some times so im not sure what to think
 
Def sounds like fly wheel or clutch. When you press the clutch down you ar putting pressure on the fly wheel and therefore it does wobble or jump. But when in neutral it is just spinning freely.
 
im told you can get to kinds of fly.w for them the normal one that can worp again
or a solid one from £200 to £309 depending where you get it and that will stop it from doing it again
 
Well I'm taking mine back to the dealer where I bought it from at the weekend so I'll see what they do about it.

Oh and no it doesnt happen every single time, just most of the time.
 
hmmm ok can you let me no the out come so i can see if im looking at same prob please
 
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