I have a squeak that occurs and is more pronounced at low speed while turning the wheel in either direction. My initial thought is the strut bearing that allows the strut to rotate while turning the wheel. Is this a somewhat common problem? Anyone had a similar problem that could give me guidance? Car is a 2001 A6 2.7t quattro with 90k miles. I am not the original owner, so am not sure what if any suspension parts have been serviced in the past. Is there a way to lubricate or grease this bearing? Also, where is the best place to get parts online?

 

Is this a rolling 'chirp-chirp-chirp' type of squeak or a constant 'squeeeeeeeak'?

 

or is it more of a creaking, does it happen during launch and stopping?

 

Sorry for the slow response, wasn't getting email from the forum...

It's more of a creaking noise that happens when you turn the wheel at low speeds and while stopped while turning the wheel. I have seen other posts with some similarities, however most of them said they had the noise occur if they pushed down on the front fender to cycle the suspension, which pointed to control arm bushings. My issue does not make any noise while cycling the suspension, only when I turn the wheel, so I don't think it's control arm bushings. I was asking about the strut bearing because a few years back with a different car (not and Audi) I had to replace the strut bearing for similar problem. On that car, the bearing mounted to the top of the strut as a plate, which bolted to the shock tower on the car. When you turn the wheel, the strut turned with the wheel via the bearing. Are Audi's similar in design? Is there a way to grease the strut bearing?

 

Bump. Anyone got experience with strut bearings and related noise?

 

Does it happen after driving for while? I had this horrible squeeking sound that occured about 20 minutes into my drive. Sound can be produced when I turned my wheel.

It ended up being my tie rod end booth which was torn.
It only happened after driving about 20minutes, im assuming b /c the ball joint became hot due to lack of lubrication.

 

Hi

I have recently brought a 2.7bi-turbo quatrro and it is doing the same and from reading other posts it sounds to be the control arms but I again only get the sounds at low speed and only when I turn the steering wheel. I will keep an eye on this post as well to see what the experts say!

 

Noise when turning could be the rod ends, stabilizer links, strut bearing, control arms..

 

Am i the only one that doesn't know what a strut bearing is??.......
Do you mean the strut mount bushing? That could cause what you're talking about, the other likely cause would be the upper control arm bushings, that squeak you can replicate by pushing down on the fenders, if you hear the squeak then its the upper control arm bushings.
If the noise only happens when turning, then its likely the tie rod ends.

 

Ya.. Same thing.