Noisy Front Suspension

[driver_tim]

My car has started to make a slight graunching noise when going over speed bumps; it appears to be coming from the front suspension. It seems worse when the car is cold which initially seemed a bit strange, but on reflection I guess the front suspension picks up heat from the engine and brakes.

I am going to ask my dealer to have a look, but given the fault is intermittent I can see them having trouble tracing it. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[veeeight]

Yes

@steverobertsbbc Top Strut Bearings

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/weird-intermittent-creaking.217958/

 

[GrumpyEngineer]

I booked mine in for the same problem expecting them to replace the strut bearings but all they did was lubricate some bushes. Suspension is still silent 6 months later so I guess there may be two types of suspension creak..quite how you work out which creak you have is another matter....


Rich

 

[driver_tim]

OK thanks, I will give the dealer a call today and see what they have to say. I note the OP in the thread referred to above has magnetic ride, which I don't. Have others without it also had the problem?

 

[GrumpyEngineer]

mine is just regular suspension

 

[steverobertsbbc]

I found that by having someone in the car turning the wheel whilst stationary, it was really obvious that there were noises coming from the driver's side top mount, which is what they replaced and cured the problem.

 

[mjc]

So pleased I found this tread (and the one linked to by veeeight) above.

I've had this problem for ages, graunching describes the sound perfectly, intermittent, but there is one particular speed table on a slight gradient on our street where the noise is most noticeable. I reported it at the last service but the Audi garage couldn't find anything wrong yet the problem still persists. Time to book the car back in!

 

[joshatton]

I am a long time lurker on this board, saw this and just had to post. I have had my A3 since June last year and am having this exact issue as described by the OP. I had the car back at the dealers initially on Thursday and they said they could not find anything. I recorded some audio of driving over speed bumps around around my area and went back to them yesterday and they kept the car however today have come back to me saying they still cant find a problem. I will post up my recording when I get a chance.

EDIT: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzzSt96IVjgOQV9kQXhIVmJKbEE/view?usp=sharing

Posted a short clip, should be clear what the problem is.

 

[GarethJB]

Mines been in today - front bushes is the cause.

Audi insisted I took a tech out to hear the noise, luckily there was a whole road of speedbumps by the dealer - nothing on the first leg of our drive but coming back it made the noise repeatedly.

They also said lubricating them is only a short-term fix.

 

[joshatton]

I think I will insist on organising a longer test drive with a tech as the dealership has no speed bumps anywhere near it for about a 15 minute drive. They had a tech drive it home last night but reported back that there was no noise. Very frustrating as I then drive back home over a number of speed bumps!

 

[steverobertsbbc]

As mentioned above, mine was a suspension strut top bearing. With the bonnet up, it was very easy to hear the noises coming from the driver's side strut top bearing when a volunteer was sat in the car turning the wheel lock to lock. Worth a check.