my 1996 audi a4 2.8 quattro 5 speed manual...timing belt waterpump misc pulleys were replaced...not sure if all were...the car drives the same, smooth no loss of power...heres a video link of my car i cant figure out where the sound is coming from...one mechanic said the alternator? and another said inside the engine.....

heres the link to my car:
96 Audi a4 b5 engine noise - YouTube

 

that sounds like its hurting the car. Maybe something caught on the electric fan blade and scraping something?

 

hey vgo,

The pic in your sig,is that your interior? if so,tell me how you got your shift selector bezel and shift selector base to look new? Did you buy it from somewhere? if so,where? I want mine to look brand new again,like yours.

 

i dont know...i asked a audi specialist he said it might be some rubbing going on...sigh

 

it looks like the sound's going in sync with the serp belt, so i would look at anything driven on it.. if anything, remove the belt and turn things by hand and see what's not spinning freely.. that's probably the easiest way to tell, either that or get under it. when my alt went, it was making a similar sound, the bearings were completely shot. that's highly possible considering the design. its constantly getting wet from rain and whatnot. its a terrible place to put it. anyways, yeah.. i would start there. check the fan blades too.

 

Great, let us know what you find.

 

You know what it might just be the alternator...one of my mechanics said he was hearing the sound coming from it...I'll check it out and I'll keep you guys posted...btw I drove in the highway earlier today and the noise calmed down a bit.

 

I'm going to have to agree that something's bearings is shot. You can undo the belt easily with a 17mm socket on a longer wrench. Then like stated, spin the pulleys

 

Yea we took the serp belt off before and the sound was still there...I'm hoping it's the alternator pulley.

 

if the sound was still there when you took the belt off, its something to do with the timing belt then, maybe a tensioner, or the water pump or something. either way, BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD don't drive it BAd BAD BAD fix it fix it fix