1.8TFSI and 2.0TFSI S3 : Metallic Rustle/Rattle between 1500-3000 rpm
- Thread starter Dakar
- Start date
So i test drove another 2 cars, both 2.0T, from different Audi dealerships and both had the same type of noise.
That's 3 cars so far I've driven which have this type of noise...
That's 3 cars so far I've driven which have this type of noise...
I purchased the new S3 Sportback and have had the rattle since the day I picked up the vehicle on Jan 31st 2014. It's a 2.0 TFSI TURBO. Notified the dealer immediately I noticed the rattle. Low revs, not when stationery. Sounds like two light-weight coins rattling. Not at hi revs. The dealer had the vehicle for most of the first two weeks of ownership. After six weeks, they replaced the turbo. This didn't stop the rattle. They have no idea as to the cause. I honestly don't know if they know about this thread: I sent it to them without a reply. Very frustrating. Not enthusiastic about buying another Audi ever again. Service at Audi Doncaster in Melbourne has been useless. It makes a quality vehicle sound like a clapped-out '87 Commodore... Please help?
Sorry to hear you're experiencing it too.. but I suggest contact Audi Australia and bypass your dealership entirely, they can't fix your problem. Forward this thread to them, or ask if they received the bulletin sent out (pasted previously in this thread) and to add your car to the list so you'll be notified when a fix becomes available.
STERLING VOID
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Phoned Audi SA now, the operator mentioned that they are unaware of any bulletins from their side. I need to book my vehicle for its 1st service as well so she mentioned that the dealer would have a look on the diagnostics if they can find an issue. I did however supply her with the bulletin number and she will forward it to the dealer.
I've been in constant contact with Audi Australia as well as Audi Doncaster since day one. Originally, I was told that Audi Germany knew of the problem and was working on a solution, but it could take anywhere from six weeks to six months. Basically, they didn't know. I've sent this thread link to my contact person at Audi Australia. She has called back to say they're reviewing it and passing it up the chain. One step better than sending the email to trash, I guess... Stay tuned. I'm still bitter about the experience. Especially when I hear that b$&@)y rattle!!!!!
Tell me about it.. I've since turned off several of my friends looking at Audi cars with my experience, and I doubt I'll be buying an Audi again. I think the most frustrating thing about all of this is the lack of information flow between all parties and their nonchalant attitude at resolving it.
Almost everyone in this thread has had this experience:
- Get your new car, notice the problem and report it to your dealership.
- Dealership says its a normal and expected noise and nothing to worry about.
- You go back again telling them it's definitely not 'normal' and they need to check it out.
- They take your car in and say they're not sure and it could be a problem with 'X' or 'Y' and they'll look into it
- Dealership contacts you to say Audi is not aware of any issues and the dealership recommends drive it for a few more hundred km's to see if the problem resolves itself (yeah sure...)
- You go online and find this thread and realise no-one knows anything, and all their internal communication processes are likely Fax based.
- You call your countries Audi HQ and report your problem saying its quite common, they're completely unaware of it and say they'll contact Germany... and now you'll get bounced around multiple times until finally after call 8 they say the issue is identified and to please be patient as a fix is in development for some point in the future and no they can't tell you when but maybe 6 months..
- Welcome to the club.
If they were aware of your problem as soon as you reported it and told you to hang tight it would be such a different experience, but the fact that we have to hound everyone involved and book our cars to get fault checked multiple times just to get an answer is incredibly frustrating.
Who at Audi Australia has this been escalated to ? AA are at the hand of Audi Germany unfortunately.....
Is it Jess ?
Is it Jess ?
STERLING VOID
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I met with the service manager of my dealership today. He sat with me and took control of the vehicle. He could not hear anything I than suggested we go to an open road where I would drive it and as soon as I picked up the noise, he said he could not hear it. He suggested I pull over and he drive again. He apparently could not hear it on the way back to the dealership. He suggested i bring my car in two weeks time for its oil change and a diagnostic test.. I hope something comes out of that.
Got this same problem on my new S3. Was like it from day one when I collected the car. Doesn't really bother me too much to be honest, as it's barely audible. But if it gets any worse... it's a sort of metallic rattling or shimmy sound between 1500 and 3500 on moderate or slow acceleration. I'll certainly be asking Audi to sort it out come my first service!!
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I too have had this problem since I first picked the car up.
Took it to the dealer who said they could not hear it, so went back and took them for a drive to point it out. He could hear it then and mentioned that "all cars have this noise" which seemed a bit odd as I didn't hear it on the test drive?
Seems to be getting louder though which is not great, has anyone had any luck?
Took it to the dealer who said they could not hear it, so went back and took them for a drive to point it out. He could hear it then and mentioned that "all cars have this noise" which seemed a bit odd as I didn't hear it on the test drive?
Seems to be getting louder though which is not great, has anyone had any luck?
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Got my car back from the dealership yesterday after the first service aka oil change. They were to investigate this sound issue as well. According to the service manager it is most probably the fuel lines which are not secured down enough, apparently they noticed this on the A1 as well and their fix to this was to just tighten and secure it with a foam between the fuel line and the body of the car to stop it from rattling against the body. Anyway that is what they had done to my vehicle but on driving to work this morning I noticed the sound is still there, is it definitely the waste gate?
I have it also on a My14 S3 ... sounds crap and typical of Audi with head in the sand about problems. Took them about 3 years to acknowledge the problems with TTRS brakes and then had to issue a full caliper/disk and pads replacement.! Not holding breath on this one 
Be interesting to hear if any MY15 cars are suffering the same ? With the rumour of a different turbo.
Be interesting to hear if any MY15 cars are suffering the same ? With the rumour of a different turbo.
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Hey all,
New guy here in the US with a 2015 A3 1.8t. I had a similar rattle when cold that went away. On the way to work today, my car's engine completely died and I had to roll to a stop (luckily on a small street). Couldn't get car restarted. After tow to dealer, looks like it was internal timing chain and will have to replace the motor (car only has ~900 miles). Hope it isn't causing the rattle for everyone...
New guy here in the US with a 2015 A3 1.8t. I had a similar rattle when cold that went away. On the way to work today, my car's engine completely died and I had to roll to a stop (luckily on a small street). Couldn't get car restarted. After tow to dealer, looks like it was internal timing chain and will have to replace the motor (car only has ~900 miles). Hope it isn't causing the rattle for everyone...
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This noise has just appeared on my 2014 S3 DSG Sportback - same symptoms as everyone else describes.
Am I imagining it, or does it only happen when in gear?
I can't seem to make it happen when I am coasting in Neutral
Am I imagining it, or does it only happen when in gear?
I can't seem to make it happen when I am coasting in Neutral
Yeah its definitely related to the turbo/wastegate, so will only happen in gear within a certain rev range.
I called Audi HQ again this week asking for any update, and they have no word. I asked if they could at least tell me if a fix was in development or not, but they couldn't tell me that either..
I called Audi HQ again this week asking for any update, and they have no word. I asked if they could at least tell me if a fix was in development or not, but they couldn't tell me that either..
This might be difficult. It sounds like resonance to me, where a component will only vibrate at a certain sound frequency.
Par for the course. You're going to get nothing but deflection here. The only option will be to find a good independent VW garage who are actually motivated to troubleshoot problems.
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I have the same noise on my MY15 S3, only 900 miles on the clock. Booked into dealers, but reading this thread I'm not holding my breath...
almost 500miles here, haven't heard what's been said here on my car (yet!) but I'm not putting in any effort to try and hear it tbh.
If it becomes noisy enough for me to hear and it then irritates me, then I'll bother following up with a dealership
If it becomes noisy enough for me to hear and it then irritates me, then I'll bother following up with a dealership
Anybody with this issue have an update?
Mine was at the dealers today, and they said they could hear it, but weren't able to identify it. They say they compared it to 2 other s3's they had in (another sb and a saloon) and both made the same noise. They said it is a 'characteristic' of the car...
But obviously this is not the case, as there are plenty on here, who are not experiencing this issue, so that got me wondering - what do those who have the issue have in common:
S-tronic?
Sportback?
Right-hand drive?
Paranoia?
Stereo not loud enough?
Expect too much from a £35k+ car?
This will drive me insane...
Mine was at the dealers today, and they said they could hear it, but weren't able to identify it. They say they compared it to 2 other s3's they had in (another sb and a saloon) and both made the same noise. They said it is a 'characteristic' of the car...
But obviously this is not the case, as there are plenty on here, who are not experiencing this issue, so that got me wondering - what do those who have the issue have in common:
S-tronic?
Sportback?
Right-hand drive?
Paranoia?
Stereo not loud enough?
Expect too much from a £35k+ car?
This will drive me insane...
S-tronic - not sure about this, but I doubt it
Sportback - no happens with 3door too
Right-hand drive - a canadian is experiencing it so must be left-hand drive too
Paranoia - no its such an obvious noise..
Stereo not loud enough - the best solution to it so far..
Expect too much from a £35k+ car - No, I wouldn't expect this from a 10k car..
This will drive me insane... - yeah, I've basically resigned myself to it. Looking at selling mine off next year and going with some other brand.
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I've 3500 miles on my S3 stronic sportback and getting the noise.
I'm no expert but suspect that after a couple of thousand miles, something underneath loosens up and resonance kicks in
i don't think that the distance covered is relevant. I've had this noise from new, also on 3500 miles just tonight in fact and it doesn't worry me in the slightest. i also notice a whine from the engine similar to supercharger type noise (which i love) and I'm happy with my car. My turbo and engine fall under the possibly will break category and will be contacting Audi Newcastle this week to see if they know about the turbo issues and also the car actually did hesitate a couple of times (SportBack S-Tronic) so will be booking it in with them if that seems turbo related.
I came across this site via seat cupra net, I have a 2014 1.2 TSI seat leon (UK car) which has had this noise since 1000 miles, now upto 4500 miles & getting worse, been to dealer who advised its the turbo waste gate, a known issue/characteristic & no fix.
After about 3 months of ownership (A3 SB S-Tronic) - i am getting a metallic rattle, it seems to be quite random when it occurs. sounds like a lightweight metallic rattle, I can re-produce it if I roll over a speed hump in my local supermarket but it does not do it over all bumps. Booked the car in, test drove it with a technician who heard it. They had the car all day, checked the engine bay and everything underneath and said all was fine.
They provided me with a statement from an Audi tech note regarding (as Audi put it) a 'clacking' noise.
"An external impact such as driving over a manhole cover, cobbled street, 2 rail tracks or similar can cause the parts of the pre selected gear to vibrate. The customer perceives this as a clacking noise.
The complaint is only a comfort problem. The noises are construction related and normal"
I can understand some small noises from the gearbox are the norm as this is a mechanical unit and gears are moving around, but if the noise I am getting is related to the gear box then Audi have made the gears out of baked bean tins !!
It does not sound deep enough to be like a solid metallic bump, clacking sound but not 'tinny' enough to be a heat shield rattle, it is somewhere in between.
I cannot fault the dealership in their efforts to help, friendly, polite in fact a pleasure to deal with, but it looks like I will have to wait until it becomes worse before taking the car back again ...
They provided me with a statement from an Audi tech note regarding (as Audi put it) a 'clacking' noise.
"An external impact such as driving over a manhole cover, cobbled street, 2 rail tracks or similar can cause the parts of the pre selected gear to vibrate. The customer perceives this as a clacking noise.
The complaint is only a comfort problem. The noises are construction related and normal"
I can understand some small noises from the gearbox are the norm as this is a mechanical unit and gears are moving around, but if the noise I am getting is related to the gear box then Audi have made the gears out of baked bean tins !!
It does not sound deep enough to be like a solid metallic bump, clacking sound but not 'tinny' enough to be a heat shield rattle, it is somewhere in between.
I cannot fault the dealership in their efforts to help, friendly, polite in fact a pleasure to deal with, but it looks like I will have to wait until it becomes worse before taking the car back again ...
If it sounds anything like this - http://www.purpleville.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/temp/A3Rattle.m4a - it could be a suspension strut top mount bearing failure, as it was with mine. Varies with temperature and humidity - the above was recorded on a hot, dry day just driving down the road, this was the worst it ever got before it was replaced. Going over speed bumps it was horrendous. If you're able to get somebody to listen to the top of the struts with the bonnet open as you slowly drive over a speedbump, it will be very obvious if that's the problem.
Thanks - I will see what i can do - might look an idiot driving through Asda's with my bonnet open LOL .. but if I can confirm/rule anything out then it's all good.
Just tried the file and cannot find the page... ? any other way of getting the file ?
Just tried the file and cannot find the page... ? any other way of getting the file ?
Works when I click on it!
I found with my problem that I could park up and turn the wheel from lock to lock and it would creak.
I found with my problem that I could park up and turn the wheel from lock to lock and it would creak.
Got it - works on the iPhone but not on my iPad.
Mine is a different noise, seems slightly more metallic sounding and seems to do it more when both front wheels come down from a bump in the road at the same time. Rough roads where each wheel hits a bump independently from the other does not seem to cause the noise.
If I can convince the other half to hang out of the window with her phone next time we go to asda I will get her to record the sound
