My car needs alot of work done... I'm hoping that your guys expertise will help me out on what parts i need to purchase in order to fix it...

The car's current millage is 125k and i had the timing belt and water pump replaced around 72k.

1) loud clacking noise coming from left and right front tires when turning in very slow speeds. ( bad cv boots? control arms?)
2) Noise coming from engine bay/cat when the accelerator is fairly pressed in... it gets louder when im around 5-10psi and starts going away one i pass 10-17pi... it sounds like when your blow into a fan... ( im thinking maybe i got an exhaust leak or the cat has a leak?)
3) Squeaky noise coming from front and left tires when driving on an uneven road at about 40 mph... ( im thinking both front wheel bearing are almost shot.)
4) Winding Noise coming from engine bay while accelerating... I have heard a similar sound before but it was louder then it is now and it was the alternator. ( Alternator?)
5) While driving at highway speeds (65mph+) and i slowly let go of the gas it jerks and when i gently press the gas again it jerks... This usually happens after driving on the highway for about 30 min. and once it starts its hard to avoid unless u keep the gas steady. ( i have no clue what this could be? maybe the worn snub mounts? tranny?)
6) When driving for about 45 min. at highway speeds my coolant light comes on even tho my temp gauge is where its suppose to b and the oil gauge is also where its suppose to b. ( bad coolant sensor?)
7) cruise control stopped workin... ( any easy fix for that?)

For now i think this is the list of my audi's problems... I would greatly appreciate any help and input to try to solve my a4's problems... It would definitely save me time and money in trying to buy the right parts...

Thanks guys and gals...

 

1) bad cv and boots
2) if it's an exhaust leak, you can pretty much hear it at idle. it could be your turbo starting to go.
3) control arms, wheels bearings howl, not squeak.
4) again could be turbo but you should go somebody else to listen to that winding sound. the alternator won't give you much notice when it dies and it won't make any funny noises.
5) tranny mounts. changing all your mounts will help too. although it can get a little expensive lol. you can actually fill your tranny mounts with polyurethane so they dont' have the crevice in the middle. that's of course if they rubber is still intact with the metal.
6) is your coolant low? maybe dirty contacts?

 

thanks for the quick reply hiwords...

1) I taught that cv and boots where part of the same component?
2) Do you think it could be my flex pipe that has a tear in it? That noise only comes on when i hit the gas pretty hard and it fades away as the turbo pushes more psi... I was thinkin that it could be something wrong with my cat because my check engine light is on because of the cat... the way i was lookin at it was that when my turbo is pushin low psi some of that pressurized air would leak out somewhere thru a small hole and when the psi gets to 10psi-17psi it would just go unnoticed because of so much pressure that is coming out of the exhaust.
3) So its fair to say that my front control arms are starting to give? last time when i found out that i had to get my front left control arm replaced it would just make a clunk noise when i would go over rough roads.
4) Im kinda sure that it could be the alternator... awhile back it made alot of noise and i had the mechanic rebuild it... so im thinkin that what ever he did to rebuild it isnt doing its job that great.
5) Do u think i should just wait till i get my next timing belt done to change the mounts?
6) coolant is always kept between min. and max. i actually think it might act be the sensor.


one more thing i forgot to mention... my cruise control stopped working... is there any easy fix for that?


looks like im going to be dumping all my income tax money in april to fix my car...

like i said before any input is better then no input... so please help a fellow audi owner solve his car problems before i go spendin money on parts that arent necessary

thanks everyone

 

The clacking is because your cv boots ripped, the grease is gone, and the joints are worn. Get cv rebuilds from Blauparts and reuse your existing axles. Replacement axles can be had for less but they've become notorious for being manufactured too short in the past year. As for the cruise, it's most likely the combi switch that includes cruise, directionals, and headlights - it could be the brain but it's usually the switch. $158 new and pretty easy to change but you have to pull the airbag and steering wheel which can be a bit unnerving. PM me when you get ready to do it and I'll reply with my phone number. Gimme a call and I'll discuss it with you so you know what to do and what not to do.

Hiwords is on the ball with his other advice. The squeaking is likely ball joints, which means control arm replacement. Wheel bearings rumble. Replace your coolant temp sensor - it's only $20 and causes all kinds of weird issues. Also, get electrical contact cleaner and clean the sensor on the bottom of the coolant reservoir. Burp your cooling system. Do that stuff and you should be in pretty good shape. Then you can address the noises more clearly.

 

Oh and I don't think waiting for the t-belt service will buy you any advantage ehen changing any of the mounts except the snub - the bumper has to be off for that. For the rest, you can do them about as easily now as with the car in service position.

 

thanks for the help imthedevil... im completely lost in this audi parts world lol... all it makes me think is money that i wont have...

do you think u could give me a link to the cv rebuilt from that website? im havin a hard time finding it... and about the control arms... what would i exactly need to fix that squeaking noise? ( btw the squeakin noise isnt loud at all.. at least not yet lol...
do you know what that whining noise could be? i was thinkin it could be the alternator which is already rebuilt... what do you think about the noise that i said it sounded like when u blow into a fan? i would hate to think it is my turbo goin out... that turbo still holds 17psi like a champ...

btw i still havent put my coilovers on the car yet... im kinda waiting to do everything at once so it would cost less in labor costs...

these are the things that i was going to buy:
1) control arm kit for all 4 wheels
2) new cat and the pipe that connects the cat to the flex pipe... maybe the labree hfc
3) new tranny mounts ( any idea how long it would take the mechanic to install those in?)
4) new coolant sensor
5) now i know that i need cv's... at least for the 2 front wheels ( not even sure if the rear wheels have that lol)

there's probably something that i forgot...


but my plan was to get all the control arms replaced, put the coilovers on, and then get an alligment... i think if i did that my suspension would be great untill the engine dies lol


but anyways sorry for rambling and i appreciate all ur help... to bad u live in NY... buffalo is what i remember u sayin... thats prob like 6 hour drive from where i am... ( new bedford, ma)...

 

The whining noise could be a lot of things and it'd be hard to diagnose over the Internet. For the control arms, maybe order the front kit - do you know yet whether you need the rears? I'd pull each wheel and inspect the ball joints for rips, tears, or leaks, and decide based on that. Coilover install is pretty straightforward, just takes some time to swap them in and set the ride height even at all four corners. At CV joint time, I am pretty sure the joints came with new end axle bolts but I'd ask when you order and get a pair if they aren't included. I'll look up the kit and post the link for you. Flexpipe can suck to install - talk to Hiwords about working on that as he has repaired his.

And actually we are closer than you thought - I'm in Binghamton, a good 3 hours east of Buffalo. If you want to talk over getting a hand with some of this work, PM me and we can discuss it. Depending on if I can arrange a couple of the guys to be here, or all three (Hiwords, and our friends Keith and Bill), we could do control arms, coilovers, coolant sensor, and probably the CV rebuilds in one day without too much trouble. That depends on everyone's schedules but I can talk to them if you want. Buzz me when you get a chance via PM and we can talk it over.

 

Here's the list of CV rebuild kits from them:

http://www.blauparts.com/products.asp?cat=2280

Just pick the one that matches your car. If you aren't sure, they can probably get you the right parts based on your VIN - I have matched parts that way with ECS Tuning and since so many parts for our cars are specific by model year or sub-year, that's probably the best way to go about it.

 

once again imthedevil aka jeremy pulls thru... ur the sh*t man... thats not a bad price at all for that cv kit... just shy of 100 bucks...

i would love to have u work on my car but i just looked it up on mapquest and its a 5 hour drive... it sucks that im gona have to pay over a grand just for labor to fix everything i need to be fixed...

btw i found this control arm kit on ebay... i know ebay sucks for auto parts but i was wondering if u know any1 that has had any luck with it... heres the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-A...Q5fAccessories

 

For over a thousand bucks, you could drive out there to meet with Devil and company, get their help, buy them a couple cases of beer, lunch, and slip them each some cash for the help, and still have a few hundred left over, plus you'd earn some valuable experience with working on your car... trust me, if Devil and company offered their help (and I wasn't about 1300 miles away) I would jump on it in an instant. I also suspect I need new control arms and CV joint/ boot...