3.0 TDI Water Sloshing Sound

Hope you are enjoying your car preOats.
Yes, my car is sorted but I did speak with the dealer last week, and he has said that he has been in to Audi Germany. They have admitted that that have been getting reports of same problem as ours. Therefore they are sending a technician from Audi to train their Garage guys on how to replace the seals in the sills. When they have replaced the ones in their existing stock cars successfully,they will recall my car and replace my seals. This should be in the next couple of weeks.
There is no sound at all from it now, but apparently the water will lodge again over time and the noise will return.
Advice to you, is to show this thread to your Dealer. I think it will avoid any in unnecessary work.
Good luck!
 
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Quick update - car in dealership today. Clearly a new one for them as after the initial reaction “its must be your fuel tank” to that noise should not be coming from there!

Car being kept in - update to say after speaking to Audi technical car needs a chases mod and they have order some new parts.

Will post outcome once I get the car back
 
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Hi. I wish I'd seen this forum before now. I too have had water sloshing sound on driver side. Audi UK are stating in my case not covered by warranty. Audi dealership has informed me it took 9.1 hours to diagnose dirt in a drain hole. I've advised them of this forum and made no difference in my case. Next steps are to complain to Audi, Ombudsman and Trading Standards, I think. I'm not convinced reading others posts in this thread that this has actually fixed any fault in my case and it will just re-occur. I've asked Audi dealership for a formal letter stating what was done and why its not covered by warranty. Car S5 Sportback. Hugely disappointed by the service from Audi.
 
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AK987 said:
Hi. I wish I'd seen this forum before now. I too have had water sloshing sound on driver side. Audi UK are stating in my case not covered by warranty. Audi dealership has informed me it took 9.1 hours to diagnose dirt in a drain hole. I've advised them of this forum and made no difference in my case. Next steps are to complain to Audi, Ombudsman and Trading Standards, I think. I'm not convinced reading others posts in this thread that this has actually fixed any fault in my case and it will just re-occur. I've asked Audi dealership for a formal letter stating what was done and why its not covered by warranty. Car S5 Sportback. Hugely disappointed by the service from Audi.
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AK987 said:
Hi. I wish I'd seen this forum before now. I too have had water sloshing sound on driver side. Audi UK are stating in my case not covered by warranty. Audi dealership has informed me it took 9.1 hours to diagnose dirt in a drain hole. I've advised them of this forum and made no difference in my case. Next steps are to complain to Audi, Ombudsman and Trading Standards, I think. I'm not convinced reading others posts in this thread that this has actually fixed any fault in my case and it will just re-occur. I've asked Audi dealership for a formal letter stating what was done and why its not covered by warranty. Car S5 Sportback. Hugely disappointed by the service from Audi.[/QUOTE
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I am disappointed to hear this AK987. Since I had the sills drained, I have heard absolutely no sound whatsoever.
I have however, heard of another person in my town who has also had the same noise as me and was getting no satisfaction whatsoever from their Audi Dealer. ( Not the same Dealer as me).They proceeded to another garage who was about to begin the process of removing the diesel tank, as was done with mine. They gave the garage the info regarding this forum and the Garage are now investigating the sills also..... and were delighted with information as it may mean they do not need to go down the road of replacing the tank. I have not heard the outcome of that case yet.
I do have to say that in my case, my Dealer never at any stage said that any of the work was not under warranty, and remember... they removed a deisel tank un-necessarily! They were always anxious to get to the bottom of the problem. Don’t know why AUDI is refusing to accept that this is a common problem and deal with it.
Please keep us posted on your progress... or lack of. Good luck to you.
 
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Frizzley said:
Quick update - car in dealership today. Clearly a new one for them as after the initial reaction “its must be your fuel tank” to that noise should not be coming from there!

Car being kept in - update to say after speaking to Audi technical car needs a chases mod and they have order some new parts.

Will post outcome once I get the car back
Click to expand...

So car back today - report from dealer as follows:

1 litre of water drained from cill drivers side
Source identified as faulty bung in chassis with water coming in from underneath of the car!!! - don’t quite get this but will keep under review
bung replaced + passenger side done too just in case

Hope this helps if you have a similar experience - it’s definitely not the fuel or ad blu tanks
 
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Frizzley said:
So car back today - report from dealer as follows:

1 litre of water drained from cill drivers side
Source identified as faulty bung in chassis with water coming in from underneath of the car!!! - don’t quite get this but will keep under review
bung replaced + passenger side done too just in case

Hope this helps if you
Frizzley said:
So car back today - report from dealer as follows:

1 litre of water drained from cill drivers side
Source identified as faulty bung in chassis with water coming in from underneath of the car!!! - don’t quite get this but will keep under review
bung replaced + passenger side done too just in case

Hope this helps if you have a similar experience - it’s definitely not the fuel or ad blu tanks
Click to expand...


Good to hear this Frizzley. Seems we have had similar results. Let’s hope problem is sorted permanently.
Appreciate all updates from everyone.
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I too got my car back today. The short version of the Audi centre report states bungs removed from sills and found to be "stuck shut". "Modified bungs, replaced and tested, and fault found not to return".

So what this actually means is 9.1 hours of labour and dirt removed from bungs. To add insult to injury advised fault not covered by warranty due to a build up of sediment on the bungs as has been classified as an outside influence. Therefore landed with a bill for 9 hours labour! I am going to challenge this as its not exactly something you can clean through domestic maintenance or ask local car wash to start stripping your car back to wash them. Suffice to say on top of invoice, I additionally requested a headed letter from the dealer stating what was done and why it wasn't covered by warranty. The latter was barely adequate in terms of explanation, however is something I now have in my possession whilst I consider my next steps in terms of challenging this decision. Once more hugely disappointed by Audi customer service. (dealers and Audi UK).
 
I very much doubt if the design of these 'bungs' is any different to other Audi's that run the same MLB, including mine, and non serviceable. The design of the sill drains should be the same for all models that share this chassis.

I would therefore point out where does Audi state the bungs should periodically be cleaned because I know of no other vehicle where you would need to do this.
If it was needed then all Audi's using that chassis would have water sloshing about in the sills, because nobody performs this maintenance, and clearly we haven't....
 
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Had my A5 Sportback in at Audi Manchester for the initial assessment today - although the service guy said he'd never heard of the problem, he had a word with the garage while I was there and they confirmed that they were aware of the issue and had done the same thing to another A5 a week or so ago. As such, they didn't bother with the initial assessment and booked the car back in for repair in a couple of weeks.

He said it was the chassis that was filling with water and they would need the car for a few days to strip of various bits of bodywork/trim, drain the water and make the repair to ensure it didn't fill up again.

Hoping for a decent courtesy car while it is in for repair!
 
The dealership confirmed water was within the sills on both sides of my A5 sportback. This was drained and the bungs replaced. The cause of the problem is the rubber bungs on the draining holes.

The sills bungs contain a ball bearing that normally allows any collecting water out of the sill whilst stopping water entering (there is also a cover facing the front of the car to prevent ingress of dirt etc.). The bearing had rusted and did not move freely effectively sealing the bung and preventing water escaping.

The new parts appeared to be the same so the delaership removed the ball bearing to prevent recurrence. They have raised the issue with Audi DE and will advise me if a modified bung becomes available.
 
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pre0ats said:
Hoping for a decent courtesy car while it is in for repair!
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Don't hold out much hope unless you make this clear to them so they can organise such I had a basic spec Q2 when my S5 went in for a weeks worth of work, nothing wrong with a Q2 but was a mile away from an S5.
Had various other complaints not just the courtesy car and next time round got a brand new A5 Coupe black edition which was much more suitable :racer:
 
Alnicopro said:
The dealership confirmed water was within the sills on both sides of my A5 sportback. This was drained and the bungs replaced. The cause of the problem is the rubber bungs on the draining holes.

The sills bungs contain a ball bearing that normally allows any collecting water out of the sill whilst stopping water entering (there is also a cover facing the front of the car to prevent ingress of dirt etc.). The bearing had rusted and did not move freely effectively sealing the bung and preventing water escaping.

The new parts appeared to be the same so the delaership removed the ball bearing to prevent recurrence. They have raised the issue with Audi DE and will advise me if a modified bung becomes available.
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That's interesting, I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a manufacturing quality issue with the bungs and possibly a certain batch or supplier. I bet my A4, and all other Audi models have something the same, but we don't all suffer from water sloshing...
 
I picked up my new A5 40 TFSI SB end July after 2 days reported the sloshing noise on drivers side to Blackburn Audi. They had the car in for a day then had to order new parts so car back in following week. 4 weeks noise back and more calls to dealer. Now they want it back in for a whole week bookd in 29 Oct. I received text yesterday saying I have to pay £10/day insurance charge for courtesy car....!!!not a happy bunny so more calls required to Audi Blackburn. Will post response
 
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Will Duncan said:
I picked up my new A5 40 TFSI SB end July after 2 days reported the sloshing noise on drivers side to Blackburn Audi. They had the car in for a day then had to order new parts so car back in following week. 4 weeks noise back and more calls to dealer. Now they want it back in for a whole week bookd in 29 Oct. I received text yesterday saying I have to pay £10/day insurance charge for courtesy car....!!!not a happy bunny so more calls required to Audi Blackburn. Will post response
Click to expand...
 
AK987 said:
I too got my car back today. The short version of the Audi centre report states bungs removed from sills and found to be "stuck shut". "Modified bungs, replaced and tested, and fault found not to return".

So what this actually means is 9.1 hours of labour and dirt removed from bungs. To add insult to injury advised fault not covered by warranty due to a build up of sediment on the bungs as has been classified as an outside influence. Therefore landed with a bill for 9 hours labour! I am going to challenge this as its not exactly something you can clean through domestic maintenance or ask local car wash to start stripping your car back to wash them. Suffice to say on top of invoice, I additionally requested a headed letter from the dealer stating what was done and why it wasn't covered by warranty. The latter was barely adequate in terms of explanation, however is something I now have in my possession whilst I consider my next steps in terms of challenging this decision. Once more hugely disappointed by Audi customer service. (dealers and Audi UK).
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My final update is was landed with a £900 bill to clean out dirty bungs (car stripped back over 9.1 hours to find this out). Audi dealer told me this was a discounted price. Not at all happy considering the car was barely 12 months old when I took it in. I wrote to MD Audi UK and got a call from the "Executive Office" to say this is not covered by warranty to clean out dirty bungs, and implied they did me a favour by discounting the price (also other issues I took into to be looked at not covered by warranty). I countered with if they had taken my input (i.e. these forums) this could have saved a lot of hassle. They tell me they don't read forums. I additionally wrote to the ombudsman - who didn't even grace me with a reply. The customer service I experienced was dreadful in my opinion, and as much as I loved (past tense) the car, I will return to BMW life when I'm done with this S5. Tip - get your dealer to print and explain the warranty when you buy as mine didn't include a written paper one (and is updated on their website so doesn't align with the date of purchase) and despite being told that Audi customer service is world class, my experience of them is anything but.
 
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AK987 said:
My final update is was landed with a £900 bill to clean out dirty bungs (car stripped back over 9.1 hours to find this out). Audi dealer told me this was a discounted price. Not at all happy considering the car was barely 12 months old when I took it in. I wrote to MD Audi UK and got a call from the "Executive Office" to say this is not covered by warranty to clean out dirty bungs, and implied they did me a favour by discounting the price (also other issues I took into to be looked at not covered by warranty). I countered with if they had taken my input (i.e. these forums) this could have saved a lot of hassle. They tell me they don't read forums. I additionally wrote to the ombudsman - who didn't even grace me with a reply. The customer service I experienced was dreadful in my opinion, and as much as I loved (past tense) the car, I will return to BMW life when I'm done with this S5. Tip - get your dealer to print and explain the warranty when you buy as mine didn't include a written paper one (and is updated on their website so doesn't align with the date of purchase) and despite being told that Audi customer service is world class, my experience of them is anything but.
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Absolutely disgusted by this AK987.
Was sure that you would be sorted satisfactorily by now. I too was told by AUDI Customer Service that they do not read these forums! I advised them at the time that maybe they should, as if it wasn’t for the information on this thread, my Dealer would not have even thought of looking into the bungs being the source of the problem. It also saved them a lot of hassle by repairing the existing stock cars before they were even sold!
Looks like all Dealers are very different, dispite them all being under the umbrella of the AUDI brand. I can understand the sour taste all this has left in your mouth and I wish you better luck with the time you have left with the car.
While I got sorted, I will certainly be giving my next purchase some serious thought... not automatically going with another Audi. This opened my eyes also.
Good luck!
 
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Hi I bought the older model A5 last week and it has a sloshing sound. I have created a thread on the relevant forum but wondered if anyone has ever heard of water ingress in the older a5s? I had a convertible prior to this and never once heard sloshing. This newer car has the adblue, which is what the dealer is telling me it is. I’m not convinced. The noise is very irritating and worrying. It occurs when stopping, selecting reverse, going over speed bumps and a bumpy surface. It also has a bad squeak from the rear. I bought from a main dealer for peace of mind but all I’ve done since is worry and try to find out what’s wrong with the car. . I have been checking the boot space and found water under the spare tyre which is constant apparently. I also checked under the car in the rain yesterday and found one part to be very wet and dripping whilst the rear of the underneath was dry.
Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated.
 

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Topes said:
Hi I bought the older model A5 last week and it has a sloshing sound. I have created a thread on the relevant forum but wondered if anyone has ever heard of water ingress in the older a5s? I had a convertible prior to this and never once heard sloshing. This newer car has the adblue, which is what the dealer is telling me it is. I’m not convinced. The noise is very irritating and worrying. It occurs when stopping, selecting reverse, going over speed bumps and a bumpy surface. It also has a bad squeak from the rear. I bought from a main dealer for peace of mind but all I’ve done since is worry and try to find out what’s wrong with the car. . I have been checking the boot space and found water under the spare tyre which is constant apparently. I also checked under the car in the rain yesterday and found one part to be very wet and dripping whilst the rear of the underneath was dry.
Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated.
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Hi sorry to hear your having problems with your A5. Barring the squeak, you appear to have similar symptons to what people have found on this forum post. Mine is currently back at the dealers as the issue has returned despite the sills being previously drained and plugs replaced. The deelarship seems at a loss for the moment to find the source of problem. At least they sorted a courtesy car for me!

In your case perhaps fill up the Adblue tank to the brim to eleviate this as a potential cause. I would insist the delaership solve the issue espically whilst any second hand warranty etc. is present/remains.
 
Hi Alnicopro
The noise has got worse since heavy rainfall on Saturday, it is now clear on both sides of the car and very audible when driving normally. I want a refund, I picked the car up on Thursday and spotted it straight away, took it back twice that day to be told there couldn't be any water in it, the technician said there couldn't be any water or when he bounced the car up and down you'd hear it, so he bounced the car up and down to prove it and, surprise surprise there was the noise. He then said it must be the Adblue tank. I don't accept that Audi would expect customers to accept that level of noise in their cars.
they flat out refuse to accept it could be water in the car. I am not impressed
 
audi upgrades
Update...I have arranged, with a lot of fuss, a refund on the car and am returning it tomorrow. After reading your stories on here and the brick wall I was hitting with the dealership over this I felt the only thing was to give the car back. Shame but better that than have a car that's like a fish tank and potentially rusting away merrily.
 
Not exactly a positive result all round, Audi have failed completely with their customer service and probably now has left you going to another manufacturer...
 
Sadly yes, cuke2u, I loved the car and thought I had finished with the pain that searching for a new car entails but am now back to it. I’m going for a 4 series, so as you say, Audi have lost a customer and although the dealership were very attentive at the end, it wasn’t enough to convince me that the ignorance toward my original complaint and email was ok. Reading the posts on this thread didn’t fill me with any confidence for the future. I wish you guys luck with your cars, it’s not funny hearing water rushing around a car.
 
Just checked autotrader and the dealer have the car back for sale at 1600 more than I paid for it. Somehow doubt they have sorted the issues in such a short time. That does nothing to reassert my faith in that dealership
 
Hi guys I've got the same problem with water noise on my driver side of my 2018 a5 20 petrol . What up set me was I've been constantly complaining about how my front driver windows miss up etc and water noise car went back to main dealership twice they said cant find out what's wrong etc car is now back again for same thing . I'm glad I've come on here and seen this as now i can complain to Audi about the sills. Not good at all will up date when I've spoken to Audi.
 
Hi guys lol, I got the same problem. I have audi a5 2018 tfsi. I got this car nearly 6 months now. i had this noise like 3-4 months but i always thought it was my petrol thank. I booked audi to look after it last week. I told them that there is a water sound coming from driver side. Guess what they checked the speakers and on the paper work they written no sound found on speakers. :S anyway I made the guy have a tour with me in the car and he heard it all. He said water is in the sill we had this issue once in this Amersham Branch we have to contact to Audi German because we need to send car to bodywork. So i have been waiting for them to call me. Thanks for all the informations.
 
dogruufuk said:
Hi guys lol, I got the same problem. I have audi a5 2018 tfsi. I got this car nearly 6 months now. i had this noise like 3-4 months but i always thought it was my petrol thank. I booked audi to look after it last week. I told them that there is a water sound coming from driver side. Guess what they checked the speakers and on the paper work they written no sound found on speakers. :S anyway I made the guy have a tour with me in the car and he heard it all. He said water is in the sill we had this issue once in this Amersham Branch we have to contact to Audi German because we need to send car to bodywork. So i have been waiting for them to call me. Thanks for all the informations.
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it has been booked in for January 20th. They will keep the car for 1 week. They have to remove the doors and sills. They need to melt a few holes on the body to get the water out. This is what I have been told. I wanted to update who ever is having the same problem.
 
Any news from all of you with the problem?
Im from Denmark and also have water in my A5 2.0 TFSI Ultra from Dec17.
Dealer wont promise they will cover costs to get water out and they estimate it to take minimum 1 full day of work. This mean i could end up with a bill of 12.000 DKK (approx 1.400 £) to get water out (warrenty expired Dec19 :-( ).
So it’s an pretty expensive repair - and they say it could easily take longer with additional price Per day :blink:.
So - did any of you in this thread have cars out of warrenty get repairs without costs?
Thanks in advance.
Mike
 
My issues where fixed under warranty. To solve the problem Audi replaced all the drainage bungs on the underneath of each bottom sill (modified by removing ball bearing on bungs). Additionaly some internal bungs had to replaced with modified ones (the internal of the sills have divider plates with bungs between), apparently Audi had a techincal bulitin regarding this. My car is a April 19
 
Ok, thx - your car would also be under warrenty here (less than 2 years).
Did you get a zero invoice? It might have the bulitin nummer on it - i could really use this as it could put my car under warrenty then. Oh and thanks a lot for getting back to me that fast.
 
Cant remember getting any paperwork but i will double check and let you know if they listed any particular bulitin
 
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Hi all...my 2019 a5 sportsback (petrol) has same sound of water moving about ..im thinking for me it could be water trapped in the tailgate..as when opened (after raining) water streams out from each side of tailgate and runs down the sides (often splashing out)..if you dontbopen tailgate for ages water is heavier...any one with same issue.?
 
Hi Bobster68 - i think everybody here has water under the door in the panels. On the other side, i also think we all know the windowline at the tailgate holds water untill it’s opened (if it has been raining). And if it’s windy you get water iside the back of the car. My dealer confim that this is a kind of design error. But - i haven’t heard or seen any water inside the tailgate.
 
On a side note of water sloshing noise - my 2019 S5 has similar noise from the drivers side (Right Hand Drive) and I traced the noise to the windscreen washer bottle! When its depleting, the water has more room to slosh and the noise intrudes into the cabin as the bottle is housed at the rear of the front right wing against the bulkhead. Topped the bottle up and no more noise.
In my opinion it is a bit naff that you can hear it in the first place!
Will check the bungs just in case though as its currently Noah's Ark weather here in Australia now
 
Strange, the A4 has the same design of washer bottle to the A5 but I have never heard any sloshing from the washer bottle. I would have thought that as it has a triangular shape to fit over the arch this wouldn't occur..
 
Got water removed from ny A5 today :icon thumright:.
Around 0,5-1 liter.
It was easy - toke 15-20 minutes, but it can return as reason was not found. But also a lot faster than Audi’s approach.
They simply removed a plug - and put it back om afterwords.

sorry dont know how to turn picture - notice thin water running from front of right back wheel.
 

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Mike Højmark 1976 said:
Got water removed from ny A5 today :icon thumright:.
Around 0,5-1 liter.
It was easy - toke 15-20 minutes, but it can return as reason was not found. But also a lot faster than Audi’s approach.
They simply removed a plug - and put it back om afterwords.

sorry dont know how to turn picture - notice thin water running from front of right back wheel.
Click to expand...

Hi..did you use the dealer for this job.??...is yoirs a b9 f5?
 
Hi Bobster68, yes my A5 is from Dec17.
I did try the dealer first, but they wanted me to pay for minimum 1 Day of work to take parts of the car. That would cost me 15.000 DKK (around 2.000 euro). No warrenty after 2 years ... even if it was only 2 months. So i toke the car to a Company that normally makes additional anti-corrotion work. They tried taking out some dark gray plugs under the side pannels and water came running out. There are 3 plugs from back wheel to front wheel. There were water behind the last 2. If you are a little handy around a car I think you can remove them yourself. I have left out the plugs for now to test were water is comming from (but it’s raining heavy here in Denmark so no testing right now).
 
I have just purchased a six month old A5 Vorsprung Edition and thought I was going mad when I heard the water sloshing around the car. I origianlly thought it was the fuel tank, so thankfully I came accross this post. I have got my car booked in to be looked at in a couple of weeks. The dealship however did not believe me. The comments were 'don't believe everything you see on forums'...so I am not holding out much hope.
 
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