MOT Advisory - Rear Coil Springs Corroded

[BradV6]

Hi all,

Tried to use search but it's not working at the moment.

Had my MOT today which passed, however advisory was the rear coil springs are corroded.

The tester advised he could feel they were corroded but could not detect any breaks in the coils.

He said about them knocking and I have posted ages ago about hearing a twang when going over a speed bump once but nothing has happened since, even the last MOT didn't pick this up and it was long before that.

Anyway I have been quoted £170 for repairs if required, has anyone else had theirs done/what did you pay? Is it an easy DIY job?

Thanks

 

[A19quattro]

Most cars the age of yours, (no offence intended) would have corroded spings, a bit harsh that he felt the need to note it as an advisory, if you ask me. If they are not broken, they are NOT broken and therefore MOT pass
Sometimes even nice shiney painted ones break, for no apparent reason, have a look in the skip at any garage, you will see what I mean. I changed my own, fronts are the most difficult as you need to remove the strut, compress the spring, strip it off, compress the new one, re-fit, then re-fit the strut plus it's best to get wheel allignment done at the end. Rears are not so bad, slightly more awkward on a quattro, access wise but basically just compress and remove (re-fitting is the opposite procedure or whatever Haynes usually say), should be plently how-tos on You tube etc all the usual suspects apply, Golfs Leons etc being the same (apart from 4WD).
One thing to watch is your car is an S-Line so 25mm lowered from standard, no-one (almost) sells 25mm loweing springs unless in a set e.g. Eibachs or something like that or you need to buy from Audi and they take about £70 each for them. So I would suggest the garage is not intending using genuine parts at that price and you may find the car ends up sitting a different height. This drives me mad when past owners/Graages have put e.g. 2 on the back and it sits like a drag car, one of my many pet hates.
Hope this helps.

 

[XFi]

I'd imagine it will be the same setup as an S3 being a quattro. The rears are as simple as remove the wheel and remove one bolt and the rear arm where the spring sits drops. If you have xenons then the passenger side will have the level sensor connected so you will need to remove three torx screws for that.

Literally 10 minute job max per side for the rears.

 

[leeds2592]

I'd imagine it will be the same setup as an S3 being a quattro. The rears are as simple as remove the wheel and remove one bolt and the rear arm where the spring sits drops. If you have xenons then the passenger side will have the level sensor connected so you will need to remove three torx screws for that.Literally 10 minute job max per side for the rears.

Simple, easy job as long as you can get that one bolt off. When I was trying to adjust my rear coilies, I couldn't undo mine for love nor money, it wouldn't shift.

 

[A19quattro]

Yep the set up will be the same as the S3, access just slightly more difficult due to the 4wd bits and bobs in the way. It might be worth considering aftermarket springs if you are buying a full set, as it will more than likely be cheaper than a full set from Audi and they are pretty good quality so long as you go for a reputable manufacturer e.g. Eibach. If you want the best quality then I would go for genuine, in my opinion but deffinitely avoid cheaper aftermarket. My money is on genuine S3, which are 35mm lower than standard and so 10mm lower than my original S-Line springs, don't want it too low being a quattro but if you look at S3s and like the ride height/want to retain the practicality, it could be for you.

 

[BradV6]

Some good advice here guys thanks. Personally I don't think this is an urgent problem so will consider options as above.

 

[mike170]

Drove mine for 6 months with broken coils on rear, never picked up in mot either, changed them on my drive way in 45 mins.