2006 RS4 B7 SALOON - DRC PROBLEMS!

[S321BAD]

Hi All,

I am sure this has been covered a million times before but,

went on a journey from Manchester to Birmingham over the weekend, the car behaved perfectly well. As soon as i came off the motorway and onto a 30mph zone, i heard some clunking from the rear drivers side (Almost as if it was coming from under the passenger seats) - it got progressively louder the more i drove it (had no choice but to carry on going to my destination). thought it may have been a bush or something.

Anyway got the car back home to Manchester and took it to a local mechanic - looks like passenger rear side Shocker is leaking (which is strange since most of the noise is coming from the drivers side rear).

Anybody have any advice as to what to do in terms of repair as i have read alot of horror stories regarding DRC online. Obviously i want to avoid breaking the bank.

Do i replace both rear shocks and recharge system? what about the central valves? i guess if they hold pressure once recharged they are fine? or do i have to replace all four shocks and central valve (correct me if i am using the wrong terminolgy?)

Or do i scrap DRC altogether and go for aftermarket coilover kit?

i called Audi today and they told me the rear shocks are around £200 each and the central valve costs £900 and there are 2 of them!

any advice/experiences ?

thanks

Rick

 

[PetrolDave]

As soon as i came off the motorway and onto a 30mph zone, i heard some clunking from the rear drivers side (Almost as if it was coming from under the passenger seats) - it got progressively louder the more i drove it (had no choice but to carry on going to my destination). thought it may have been a bush or something.

I had a similar noise last August - the bad news is that's the DRC valve block, so as well as replacing the leaking shock absorber that caused the problem you'll need to replace the valve block as well - and that's the expensive part.

 

[S321BAD]

Hi Dave,

i spoke to Audi and they said the valve block wont need replacing as long as it holds pressure?

they also sais there are 2 valve blocks at £956 each?!?!

i guess only time will tell!

 

[MartayMcFly]

For a start, the DRC dampers are paired diagonally so if you had to replace one rear, I'd say the opposite front is the other one to check but most of the time a leaking damper can be replaced independently. The pairing is why there's 2 valves to worry about too. It could be that both of the rears are leaking though. If a valve has gone too (usually when the system is running without pressure for a while) then you're better to look into coilovers. A set of KW V3s will set you back about £1500, 2 dampers and a valve will be about the same. If you're ever considering going for coilovers, now could be the time. The other option would be to go for after-market dampers and just get rid of the DRC worry.

Only Audi can recharge the system.

 

[S321BAD]

cheers Marta,

having done some extensive reading on various forums/sites and spoke to some specialists, i am going to swap out the drc for coilovers as you suggest,

been looking at Bilsteins B14 - seem good value at £975 for the kit...is it really worth the extra £500 for the kw's considering i am never going to take the car on a track and its literally a daily driver to work and back?

 

[MartayMcFly]

cheers Marta,

having done some extensive reading on various forums/sites and spoke to some specialists, i am going to swap out the drc for coilovers as you suggest,

been looking at Bilsteins B14 - seem good value at £975 for the kit...is it really worth the extra £500 for the kw's considering i am never going to take the car on a track and its literally a daily driver to work and back?

I think the comparison is B14 vs B16 (which are fully adjustable). If you're happy with the ride on the B14s, then go for that, but if you think you even might want the adjustable dampers then get the fully adjustable ones. Added bonus of coilovers is you can lower the car. I didn't really plan to lower mine, but the SS+ comes with such reverse rake it had to be done when the rear springs went.