So I have had this car for almost 3 years now and it has been shaking since I purchased this car. When I say shaking I mean – steering wheel wobbles/shakes, you feel shaking in your seat, the car just seems to shake. What’s even weirder is that it’s not all the time while driving it. Sometimes it doesn’t shake at all and others it does. The dealers have rotated and balanced the wheels, no success, I was told it was my tires as they were worn, got new tires and had them road force balance the tires, no success, checked for bent rims, no issues, it had its 55,XXXX mile check up where they check the front suspension as I was thinking a tie rod or something up front was causing this, no issues found. The whole time I was not told anything about checking the alignment. So I fork out more money to do this because I figure this has to be it. They stated it was out of alignment and I was like yes I will actually finally have this car drive normal. This had to be the issue. They did the alignment and the rotated the tires, the issue is still there!! The dealer stated that the tires may be rough/or shaking for a while since the new tires were road on the out of alignment car. So I thought that must be why it’s still kind of shaking, the tires need to be worn normal. The tires were only two months old. It has been a month since the alignment was done and it’s still shaking off and on. I am willing to give it another month to see but I think it is something else. I am tired of putting so much money into this car and no one can fix it. I don’t know if I am being had or what here. I trust the dealer and they have been really good to me but you mean to tell me that new tires, road force balanced, alignment corrected and the 55 mile check up where they look at the front suspension parts are checked there is no issue but still shakes? I am tempted to take it to either another dealer or independent to see what they can do. Running out of options here and the damn Audi is a high maintenance bitch I tell you. We have a love/hate relationship.
Any advice that can be given would be great! Thanks!

 

Any ideas on this and what can be done?

 

Hi, I just joined the forum.
I read your thread and I have the same issue.
My car is 2001 AWD A6 2.7T at 55K.
I just bought it at 49k,
it didn't have this issue, when I bought it, It started, I guess after I had to add some power steering fluid, which obviously leaked or was minimum already.

I went to the dealership in Cary, NC.
They did alignment and rotate tires.
Indeed fixed the problem on the road shake and brake shake.

But when I am inside the car, when I start it, on park it shakes on idle.
Eventually, when I press the gas a little at 1.2 RPM no shake.

I don't know why this happens, but makes me unhappy; too.

 

Hi, SLINEA6

I read your post and judging by the work you have had done to diagnose the problem...the only thing left that could be causing the shaking may be warped brake rotors.
I'm not sure how mechanically inclined you are, but warped rotors are basically rotors with a surface that is not true and flat. If there is any abnormality in the surface (ie A High Spot), each and every time the wheel rotates, the pads are being moved ever so slighty over the high spot. At speed, this will cause a "wobble" "shake", and even "vibration" in the steering.
The best way to correct this would be to have new rotors installed. Or, even though its not recommended by Audi, you can remove your old rotors and have them turned. This procedure basically shaves material from the face of the rotor to grind them down until the surface is true and even again. Good Luck with it...maybe this bit of input will help.

 

I am having the same issue at the moment. I have checked the bearings, Tie rod ends, had the tiers balanced (twice) and had the car aliened. Mine also happened after I had new tiers put on and I am going to have the tiers replaced under warranty to see if that solves my problem.

My car seems to be worse after I have accelerated hard. that kind of points towards tiers.

 

Maybe your problems are caused by engine mounts if it shakes even when idling.

 

I just replaced my tierods and it fixed my problem

 

It sounds like they are parts replacing on you.
Are you able to sense what corner of the vehicle it is coming from?

This is where I would start. – With Rotating Parts. Unless you are experiencing this shake on idle,when the car is not in motion. Then go to ignition/timing/misfires etc.

If your alignment was off. Did your tires wear unevenly? Are the scalloped?

Broken/separated chords or unbalanced Tires MAY get worse at a certain speed and go away as you power through it or stay vibrating from a certain speed and get worse. If you rotate the tires it should move the vibration around or try putting ONE and switching it around. I had a newer Michelin do this to me last fall.

If it is your rotors it will vibrate through the brake pedal heavy when you stop and the vibration will slow as the car slows. If you drive Highway and slam on the brakes as you slow, i.e. traffic jams you will warp them quickly-If this is the case change to competition rotors, they are cross drilled or grooved to disperse heat. Also check your rear brake pads if they are getting thin they don’t apply as much pressure making the fronts work harder. Have your brake system bled, to remove any trapped air.

Have you cleaned inspected and greased your CV joints lately. Everyones favorite job. Do you hear clicking when you accelerate with the wheel cut? Are the boots cracked or leaking?

Check/Top off or change the fluid in your final drive(s) and transmission. - I don't think they would make your seat shake though.

Unfortunately not many people can actually do a good alignment-YOU MUST ask around, ask mechanics who is the best and go there. If they are good they will make you replace any worn parts or tires that have broken chords before they align it. (most of them do not have the capacity to realize you brought your car to them because the ride is uncomfortable-DUH,)

 

For the great input! I would say that I have not check the rotors but it doesn't happen when I break it just happens when driving between 45-60 miles per hour. I had the alignment done at the Audi Dealer so I would hope they would be the best to go to. When I brought it in before he did the alignment he said that the tires where shaved or rounded a very small amount but says that is due to the alignment off most liking. So I had the alignment done. He stated they would even out eventually or am I to believe the $900 in tires was a waste because they are ruined now because of the out of alignment car? As far as the CV joints I would think they check and did what was needed on the 55XXXX check up. I do not have any clicking sounds either.

 

After reading and digesting your post and the answers, the bad news is that you might have to live with a small vibration at 45-60. If it's severe, that's a different story.

I have 137k on my A6, putting 100k of that on myself. I'm on my second set of Pirellis on the OEM rims, and usually switch to 18" with Contis for the summer (did not do this last summer because I took it off the road). I had a lot of problems when I mounted Coopers on my old 18" rims and ended up buying new Velocity rims and replacing the Coopers with Contis. During the diagnosis stage of the Coopers I had them aligned twice. The problem seemed to be that the Coopers were not compatible with the quattro. It seems these cars are more sensitive than most to tires and tire conditions.

That being said. I drove about 20k this winter and rotated the tires twice. The second time I started picking up a slight steering wheel vibration between 70-75 which was not there before the second rotation. It's not noticeable at lower speeds and goes away above 80. That makes me think that slight wear patterns in the tires can cause vibration as they are moved around. My indie shop checks out the suspension every time it's in for an oil change and finds nothing wrong, leaking with any of the components including OEM shocks!

I know this isn't much help, but my bet is that your suspicion about the tires wearing badly when the car was out of alignment is probably valid. Unless the vibration is horrible, you may just want to live with it until the tires wear out. Then have your alignment verified and have new tires put on. If the problem persist, I'm wrong and there is another problem or combination.

I assume you made sure your rims are clean on the inside. Sometimes tar or mud can adhere and throw off the balance just enough to cause a vibration. Good luck.