Ahh, love trips to the mechanic...here's what they had to say:

The Bad news
Issue 1. That squeaking sound in my front driver-side suspension when I go over bumps? Yeah, they don't know what it is either. They saythecontrol arms, TRE,andswaybar links checked out fine.They hear the noise, but can't figure it out.

Issue 2. They told me my rear differential gasket has a slow leak...this was news to me.

Issue 3.I thought I had an exhaust leak...and I do. The flex-pipe connection to one of the lower cat is shot.They quoted me $1,100 for parts and labor. [sm=insomnia.gif]

The Good news:
Issues 1: Apparently not a safety issue at the moment, and not clear if it's affecting performace...so I'm going to leave it alone for now

Issue 2: They cracked open the differential look at the fluid (had to use a torch to loosen the plug) and there's still a good amount of liquid in there. The leak appears to be slow. I'm going to start looking around for DIY's, but I have NO idea how complicated it is and if it's something I could handle. Anyone have words of wisdom forreplacing rear differential seals?

Issue 3: I THINK (and pray) this is covered under Audi warrenty. It's an '00, and I had the stealership run my VIN. Turns out my car wenti into service in November of '99, so in theory, I'm still covered under the 8 year/80,000 emissions warrenty.

Picture of where it's leaking below...from what you guys know about the emissions warrenty, is there any way I wouldn't be covered? I really can't afford to fix this right now...dealership is going to inspect on Monday, so I want to be ready for whatever line of bull they feed me. It's my understanding that since it's all one pipe running from the upper cat to the mid-pipe connection, it should be covered. (I don't know all that much about our exhaust systems though)





Thanks guys!

 

well the for first one it my be you brake pad hopping around, this may just be me talking but i now in earlier A4s there was an issues were when the rear bad wore down it would hop around in the caliper making a squeaking nois, mines doing it right now. all i can suggest is take a look at the brakes. for problem 2 sorry your on your with that. with three good luck with audi if they refuse and you just cant gt through to them just take it to a private shop and have them weld it up.

 

Yeah, suppose it could be the pads hopping around. Butthe noise soundsa bit more substantial than that...but I'll check, thx for the lead.

And the guy seemed to think that they couldn't weld it because it was a "flex" joint and needed to be somewhat mobile and not stiff. Any truth to that?

 

It should still stay loss but for 1100 what is he smoking? Get the parts your self they will tell you they wont warrenty the part but it you wont have the markup that people charge for the parts.

You might be be covered under the warrenty but its8 years old and built in 99 that might make them question the warrenty but hell its worth it to try. If your good with the words you can get them to do it easy. At least where I'm at you can.

 

An exhaust shop would weld that for really cheap probably...

 

Exhaust shop replaced my flex pipe for 100 dollars.

Squeeking is likely control arms.

My rear differential gasket has had a slow leak for the last 110K miles. I just check the fluid every year and top it up, if it needs it.

 

everything is fixed for $100 bucks... accept that random squeak lol..

 

Yeah, when the guy told me they couldn't weld the flex pipe, I sorta smelled BS. There are a number of muffler shops around here that could probably take care of it. They told me the whole "well, it's one pipe, so the whole thing has to come off" routine.

And good to know about the rear differential....I'll start tracking how much fluid I'm loosing (piece of cardboard on the floor or something) and adjust accordingly. My only concern was that there doesn't seem to be much fluid in there when it's full...but I'll read up on it.

 

that BS. at worse if you need a new flex pipe get a universal flex pipe for like $30 and weld that on.

 

Well good news...I'm still covered by the Audi warrenty (by about 3 months!) and the stealership will replace it for free. He tried to talk isway around it, but I madehim look at it and he acknowledged that it was covered under warrenty. Booya for stickin' it to the man!