I have an 03 2.7T Quattro Auto/Tip and I need some help with some problems:

1. About 6mos ago my local mech said that at some point I will want to change my control arm bushings. He showed me where the bushings were beginning to crack. Last week, when driving at about 25mph, I could feel a "bump" every second or so. Its faint, but its definitely there. As I get up to hwy speed, I dont feel it anymore. I do not feel it at idle. Do you think its the control arm / tre?

2. CEL came on a week or so ago and threw P0491. I read a few posts and found this info: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?q...8180801AADPKSb

I am not quite sure where to look to see if there is a busted vacuum hose. Can someone provide a picture or diagram of what I am looking for. I did listen under the hood tonight and I do hear what sounds like a vacuum leak but when I took off the passenger side plastic engine cover, I saw a ton of small hoses and didn't wanna mess with anything until I got some guidance.

3. Does anyone else have a noisy auxiliary fan? Its really noisy when I shut the car off..sounds like the bearings are going bad. Anyone replaced this?

Thanks for all the help. I have been trying to get more educated on this car. Its my first turbo car. I had to replace the torque converter about 6mos ago because I was getting the P0741 code and the car wasn't pulling very well. My hope is to get it running smoothly so that I can get some mods done. I guess if #1 is control arms/tre I'll get all of them replaced and get some new shocks on. I did the pads/rotors last month.

 

If the mechanic showed you that the bushings begin to crack and 6 months later you actually hear a noise, you should replace them.

I know that the information is for a different car, but this should give you something to think about what can happen if you don't change them.

 

The sound you hear may also be caused by an ailing CV shaft. A tell-tale would be a lot of grease on the inside of the front wheel where the sound is coming from. This would indicate a torn boot, The grease ran out and the CV joint is taking a beating. This one is easy to figure out without taking anything apart. if this is your issue you can get a replacement shaft for about $130.00 and about 3 hours of work and a couple of beers...

 

You were dead on. I talked with my mechanic today and he said it was a torn cv boot. Quoted me 330 parts + labor to replace left and right.

 

Here are the quotes I got. Would love some advice:

1. Quote to replace upper left and right control arms was 357.00 for labor. He also quoted 801 for parts + labor. My thought is that I could buy a full kit for < 500 bux and just keep the rest of the kit on standby. I talked to my friend who is an insurance adjuster and said it would be about 17hrs labor to do a full overhaul of upper and lower control arms and replace the tres. What would you guys do on this one? I asked the mechanic and he said the rear upper and lowers looked find and the front lower looked fine. I looked at a diy to do this all myself, but it looks a bit outta my league.

2. CV was quoted at 330 parts + labor. Anybody got a diy on this to replace the entire shafts? I saw one just for the boots on diyaudi.

3. Struts/Shocks 390 labor for front and rear or 1030 for parts + labor. I know I can save some money here by getting my own struts/shocks. Can someone make a suggestion. My car currently is the sport suspension setup and I'm not looking to track. Just want to good streetable car.

Here are my thoughts...I'd like to know what you guys think:

1. Just pay the 330 for the CV replacement or diy if I can find a good diy article.
2. CA - Get the kit and see if I can get the guy to cut me some slack on the labor and just get a full overhaul on all 4.
3. Buy my own shocks/struts and pay the 390 for labor.

 

Any help with #2 or #3 from my first post?

 

If you are going to buy the control arm kit AND buy struts AND pay a mechanic to a) replace the struts, b) replace one control arm per side and c) to replace the CV boots, you might as well pay for the extra time (clock time not book time) to install all the control arms. The uppers come out with the strut assembly. The lowers come out with the CV boot job. You are within 10 bolts (4 for sway bar links, 2 for the other upper control arm to strut assembly, 4 lower control arm to frame bolts) and two TREs of the entire job. When you do the struts, put in new strut upper mounts. Also, if you have gone this far, might as well put in new wheel bearings or they will go bad just out of spite!

Good luck,

Bob

 

For #2, check the vacuum hose going into the bank 1 kombi valve. It is located behind the passenger side head and has a shiny head on it with single vacuum line going into it. Make sure to tract the vacuum line back to the actuator and see all is well. If your are lucky, it may just be a vacuum line. Otherwise it could be the kombi valve(also known as EGR valve) or the vacuum actuator.

#3 is normal. My car sounds like jet taking off when the secondary fan comes on. Unless it is a rattling noise, it should be normal.