2002 Audi A4 1.8T stock 106,000 miles---I'm getting a strange noise, I think it may be in the exhaust - it's quiet until the engine gets warmed up for about 10 minutes. Almost sounds like my muffler is gargling or something and it only sounds that way from around 2800 - 3000 RPM's then it disappears. Any of you experience this? Just trying to find out if it's something I can correct without taking it into a shop.
Thanks and Happy 4th of July!!

 

chances you have a hole in the exhaust? any difference in performance?

 

Yes, performance has gone down, but I also just got a new set of tires, thought that might be the reason. Would a hole in the exhaust cause a loss in performance?

 

For the turbos I believ so, your best bet is to raise the car somehow and start it so you can check the exhaust, specially around the turbo area.

 

Got a friend with a lift in his garage, I'll take it over next weekend and check it out.
Thanks for the advice.

 

Took it over and put it on the lift, there is no hole in the exhaust system. However we did figure out that the noise is coming from part of the exhaust system but is apparently a vibration inside?
On the 2002 1.8t, the exhaust starts at the manifold, goes into a catalytic converter, runs back as a single pipe into a muffler and exits the muffler as dual exhaust pipes which then have another box that each travel through at the very back of the car before coming out as the tail pipe.
The vibration is in the box on the passenger side exhaust, just in front of the tail pipe.
What is this box, some type of resonator for the exhaust?

 

That's your muffler, is probably done for. You could change it for an aftermarket one or try to get another one. Unless some joker threw something in there while the car was parked...

 

Thanks for all your help. Guess I'll look into getting this replaced. Hope it's not going to cost too much $$

 

are you sure it's my muffler? mine is a FWD...

 

So over the weekend we found a vibration in the passenger side resonator on the exhaust.... I had mentioned that I had seen a loss in gas milage - i based this on how many miles I get to a tank, which in the past had always been right at 400 miles. When we were searching for the source of the vibration we shook the passenger side exhaust pipe. I filled up today but my fuel gauge still shows 3/4 of a tank.
Question is - does the fuel float mechanism in the tank sit on top of the passenger side resonator and could these two issues be related? Could something have become lose, and touch the resonator causing the sound? Could we have severed the wiring or something?

The guage still jumps from E to 1/4 tank but won't go over.
But I just put 16 gallons of fuel in it.

Once again thanks for your time and advice...