Odd Sound from front of car.
 

I have a 1989 100E, 2.3l 5 cyl, automatic transmission, 160k miles. Lately, there's been a rather odd, and loud buzzing sound coming from the front of the car when it is in motion. The faster we go, the higher pitched it gets. At idle, the car is as quiet as the day it came off the line. We've recently replaced the c.v. boots/joints, front axle. A friend of mine suggested that it might be the bushings, which wouldn't surprise me, as I know the suspension needs work (loosely translated: "it's nearly shot"). But, would bad bushings really cause this problem/noise? It only seems audible inside the car, as we've tested with one of us standing on the corner, and the other driving by, and the one standing outside, didn't hear it.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

RE: Odd Sound from front of car.
 

Well I dont think its the bushings since there is nothing rotating on them. If the bushings were making noise, you would hear it when the suspension moves. Its a little strange that the person outside the car didnt hear the sound but, I wouldnt read into that too much. My 5000 had a wheel bearing that was so bad, I thought there were rocks in the transmission, and it didnt sound nearly as bad from outside the car. It sounds like it could have something to do with the anti-lock brakes. If this problem occured right after you doing work on the axles, I would look at that first. You said you replaced the axles. Did the anti-lock splines match the old ones?

RE: Odd Sound from front of car.
 

mj,

Does the sound increase when you turn hard to either direction, you know, when you are loading either the right or left wheel bearing?

Starts off as a kind of "buzz", increrases to a louder grinding type of noise over time?

That would indicate one or the other wheel bearing. If you make a hard right, and it increases, it would seem to be the pass side bearing. You are kind of tipping that wheel, if you know what I mean, and no longer driving on perfect spheres, flats or spalls from balls going bad. Vice versa if it goes loud on hard lefts, should indicate left bearing bad.

They're not terribly Audi wise, my local foreign parts dealer quoted me 50 bucks per. I have been quoted as high as 135 bucks per. What your mech charges is the determining factor. Unless you do it yourself, but it seems that way too many posters here do none of their own work.

If you get them both replaced, and you buy the parts, expect at least a 300 buck bill. If you can do it yourself, 100 for the bearings, and your time.

Cheers,

George

did u ever figure out what was wrong with your car? Over half a year ago, my car made grinding noises when i step on the pedal as I was driving on the freeway. It only happened that one day. and today, it happened again. This time actually sounded louder. Every time i step on the gas pedal, the noise starts. If i accelerate some more, the noise becomes louder and sharper. It came from the front... almost like its from the dash. It sounded like its grinding against something. Does anything spin following acceleration? I don't know car parts too well. but it sounded like something was spinning and grinding against sometime else. I took an exit and parked the car for 5 minutes and popped the hood to make sure there wasnt any smoke or smell. None was found. When i was leaving, the noise was softer and once it was going at freeway speed again, the noise was gone! Drove home with no problem. should I be worried about it? What should I look for?
Thanks for you help in advance