I just bought a 1997 A4 and I'm afraid to discover what might be wrong... I didn't expect parts to be SOOOOO expensive. Anyhow, I guess I'll have to become a "do it yourself'er." Can anyone help me out with a few things?

1. The car rattles in first and second gear. More significantly in first. The rattling goes away in higher gears and higher speeds. WhenI turn, the car rattles but I think this is because I'm in lower gears...the cv boots looked okay... I can't say I know, but I don't think it's turning related. Pretty sure it's coming from the front, either in the wheel well or underneath the car.

2. Underneath the car I noticed I'm missing the skid plate. The underside of the engine is a mess, all covered in something greasy. Can anyone show me a picture of the underside of their A4? I'm trying to see what I might be missing, or what's damaged...

3. I don't know what the oil drain plug looks like, but I think I'm missing one... that's pretty ridiculous, huh?

4. Also, underneath the car there is some sort of bracket that seems to be there for nothing. After doing a little reading, I think it was for the belly pan or something? But I don't know what exactly a belly pan is, and I don't know ifI still have one. Does anyone know?

5. There's a crack in the plastic casing on the engine... I think it's plastic... does anyone know if that's a serious problem?

6.Lastly, there are some piece I know I need. Does anyone know of a good junkyard or parts store? I need a radiator fan, lower grille for driver's side, radio head unit, skid plate, plastic engine cover, winshield washer lid, rear license plate light fixtures, audi covers for the center of the rims... and probably more to come. I've looked online and some of the parts are available, but some are impossible to find. Any ideas? I'm hopingthese things aren't hard to install via DIY...

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that drain plug is for the tranny but i can't tell if it's missing becuse the pic is not close enough. as for the crack, your fine, it's just an egnine cover and you can take it off if you want. if your missing the tranny drain plug you shouldnt' be driving the car so that's could by why your car is rattling. that bracket doesn't look like it belongs there. you don't really need a skid plate but if your really want one do a search on here and you'll find the sight for it. license plate light fixture is probably going to be a dealer part. everything else should be easy to find. also there's a link with a bunch of part sites on here, again search for it

 

Those brackets are mounting points for the factory skid plate/belly pan - I've got the same ones under my car as well. I've also got the factory Delta stereo head unit sitting around collecting dust - PM sent!