A4 tdi 190bhp s tronic gearbox rattle

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stewr

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Hi ALL ......
I'm a fairly new Audi owner and gradually finding my way around the car. So far, so good ... love it to bits but I have an annoying 'rattle' from the gearbox when the car reaches 4th gear in Drive mode ... and 3rd gear in Sport mode. First couple of times I heard it, I dismissed it as small chips being thrown up by the tyres and hitting against the underside of the car . That's exactly what it sounds like but the more I hear it, I realise that its a repetitive 'mechanical' noise rather than the random noise that small chips/stones would make.
It only happens after I've started / re-started the car and driven off. By that I mean ... start car... engage D or S .... drive off..... first time car reaches D4 or S3 .... noise happens! Drives absolutely fine otherwise and as long as I don't stop the car and switch the engine off ... it moves up and down the gears without me ever hearing the noise again. Even if the engine is switched off by the stop/start function, the noise doesn't reappear when the car reaches D4 or S3 .Only happens when I physically switch the engine off / on and drive off. Car is only 7 months old and is booked into my local dealer for inspection although that's not for another two weeks. This is my first experience of Stronic and much as I like it ... I'm still learning it !
Has anybody else had a similar experience ? ... or is this normal for the Stronic gearbox ?
Grateful to anybody that can shed light on this.
 
It's not the ABS self test is it? That happens after every engine start once you've reached about 20mph. There's a rattle / clunk which you can feel through the pedals and hear quite clearly.

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Every day a school day .... wasn't aware the car did that !
I'll check out your suggestion re speed later although I can't say I'm conscious of anything coming through the pedal. The sound only lasts for a second or so which would probably be consistent with the type of 'test' you suggest. I had wondered initially it might be something to do with rpm however theres a bit of a difference between 2-3 in S mode and 3-4 in Drive. Appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
 
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I have owned many cars with abs and hand on heart I can say never once have I ever experienced this form of abs self test. Yes the abs will test the sensors when you first start up the car, hence the warning light being on for a sec, but never any rattling noise...
 
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My B8.5 used to make a fairly audible clunk you could feel through the pedal at about 12mph.


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I've had several cars that do it. The demonstrator 2.0tdi I borrowed also did it. Not saying it is the issue in this case but it's not uncommon. There may be different ABS control units between diesel and petrol engines.

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But the abs sensors are just there to detect the rotation of the hub, they are none mechanical. It calibrates itself when you first start the car up, hence the delay in the light from being extinguished. There is no need for them to do any more.
 
Mjcourtney ...... u might have nailed it mate !
Took the car out for aspin. The noise kicks in at exactly 24mph.... regardless of whether the car was in D4 or S3.
I went as far as taking my trainers off and driving 'barefoot' but to be honest, still couldn't feel anything through the pedal. I'll stick with my garage appointment in a couple of weeks just to be safe ..... but I do feel a tad more reassured having checked out your suggestion. Much obliged.
 
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Yeah mine does that, 25mph - two loud clicks
 
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In a year of ownership I've never heard that noise, next time I go out I'm turning off the radio
 
There is no need for the abs to make any mechanical test, that's why nothing is happening when driving. All the system needs to know is that the sensors are connected and sending back a signal. All the calibration is contained within the car ecu. Mine has never done this and neither have any abs vehicles I have owned and I believe this is just another forum generated myth, like the one about the car's ecu learning your driving technique.
I cannot see any reason for it to place either, as I have stated before, an abs sensor is just a device for sensing the rotational speed of the hub. It is the ecu that does the more clever stuff.
Perhaps we should beg to differ on this one?
 
As far as I know it's not the sensors it's testing, it's the ABS / Brake distribution unit. My previous Volvo used to have a bit in the owners manual about the noise of the test when you hit 10mph. Perhaps some cars are noisier than others...
 
Be interesting to hear what the techies have to say when the car goes in on Tuesday week. Tested and re-tested it many times today ..... noise only /always kicks in first time car reaches 25 mph. Same noise every time ! My thoughts re the gearing in D and S mode appear to have been red herrings. Having listened to the noise umpteen times, I'm leaning towards the likelihood that it does originate from closer to tbe brake assembly than the gearbox. In saying that, i am making the assumption that the gearbox is located pretty much under the central console area !
 
stewr said:
Be interesting to hear what the techies have to say when the car goes in on Tuesday week. Tested and re-tested it many times today ..... noise only /always kicks in first time car reaches 25 mph. Same noise every time ! My thoughts re the gearing in D and S mode appear to have been red herrings. Having listened to the noise umpteen times, I'm leaning towards the likelihood that it does originate from closer to tbe brake assembly than the gearbox. In saying that, i am making the assumption that the gearbox is located pretty much under the central console area !
Click to expand...

I have the manual gearbox and mine's the same. 2 clicks when the car reaches 24/25 mph.
 
Took the little one to school in the car this morning, hit 28mph and there it was. I thought I hadn't heard it before but I had, I always attributed it to debris under the car and never thought any more about it.
 
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Is this yet another of these `Only applies to Diesel` or `Only applies to Petrol` things?
 
I get these two clunks as well on my B9 A5! Like a clunk, then another clunk about 0.5 seconds after you can feel through the pedals!

I'm going to check the speed, I reckon its about 20mph as well!

2.0 TFSI S Tronic for reference - maybe the first petrol to have the issue

@stewr what did the techie say when it went in?
 
audi upgrades
I take it it's not the central locking self locking the anti hijack thing?
 
Spaceman_RS3 said:
I take it it's not the central locking self locking the anti hijack thing?
Click to expand...

Definitely not - that's a different sound that happens more "in the cabin" and at lower speed. This is almost somewhere between a click and a clunk and comes from around the pedal area behind the bulkhead.

Tested it and it does indeed do it at 24mph on the dot. Tried putting it into N with handbrake on at the lights, then setting off back into D... and it doesn't do it again. Also tried into P at the lights, then back into D to set off - also doesn't do it again. Seems to only do it when the engine is off and back on again (not via start stop).

Glad it's not just me!
 
:smiley:I would definitely put that down to the ABS system then, it's repeatable and only occurs once for any given period the engine has been running.
 
It happens in and out of gear, tried at the top of a hill after being parked there for a few hours. Shifted to N from standing and sure enough, happened at 25mph.
 
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Since the cruise control is available from 25mph I had a sneaking suspicion it could be related to that - I tend to leave mine "armed" i.e. stalk forward but not actually set. I tried moving it to disarmed after starting the car but before getting to 25mph but unfortunately it still made the sound. Will try next time starting the car with the stalk disarmed (pushed back) and see if it does it. If it does, that can be ruled out.
 
Mine does this as well. 2.0tdi manual 150... loan car I had yesterday did the same.
 
Seriously, unless anyone's getting any warnings showing I'd just turn the music up a bit more and just enjoy driving....
 
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