Hello, I am new to the forum so hi there! I drive a 98 A4 Avant 5 speed 2.8L Quattro with 120K.

I recently purchased the car and have a few issues I am trying to figure out.

1. Every once in awhile I catch a burnt smell. After I stop the car I can't smell it outside, so I am nearly certain its not from the engine compartment. It seems to smell worse inside the cockpit. My feeling is that the clutch is going out, but I don't notice a slip. I usually smell it when I pull up to a light. (when I suspect the smell has a chance to float upwards)

2. There is noise when driving in 1st gear. It is a combination of a whining sound and a slight rattling. The rattling is almost like when your engine knocks when your trying to accelerate in too high a gear. The sound is completely gone once I shift into 2nd or higher. I have no problems shifting in or out of 1st gear, I just hear the sound.

3. I sometimes hear a faint humming/whining coming from the rear of the car. It sounds almost like a bearing in the rear end. I have never had a quattro before this, so am not sure if it is related to that. It is very faint, so much that accelerating drowns it out.

I couldn't find the search feature for this Forum, so my apologies if these are well discussed issues.

thanks

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1998 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro

answer to your questions as followed

1. maybe an oil leak onto your exhaust which makes funny smell, or if u have bypassed the carbon canistor from the intake system, its just a smell tht a car would make IF it was burning rich

2. water pump, steering rack/pump, some sort of exhaust mount rattling

3. muffler bearing

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thanks 1.8TK3MP

Not sure if those are it.
1. It doesn't really smell like burnt oil and if it was that, I might smell it after stopping the car. After I am stopped I usually walk around the card sniffing for it, but I never smell it or see any dripping. nothing is bypassed from what I can tell its all stock.

2. interesting, the water pump was recently replaced, it does sound like exhaust rattling, but it only happens in first. even if I start out in second gear I don't hear the noise. If it was some rattling of parts, wouldnt I hear it anytime the engine was under stress?

3. can you explain what a muffler bearing is and how it was cause the noise?

thanks for your help

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1998 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro

my first gear sounded exactly like that for a very long time, like 45k miles... and after awhile the transmission blew. its very annoying when your in first gear and it sounds like sh1t. could be a chipped gear or bad synchro... ps. my transmission makes no noise now that i have the new one.

Update on this. I took it to a shop and they told me the clutch was going out and the noise was a combination of shot bearings and a warped flywheel. Does this jive with the sound coming primarily in 1st gear?

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1998 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro