2002 A2 Banging on front end ony in dry weather!

B

Bigtimecharlie32

New Member
Hi Members,

Hopefully someone can help me. We have a LHD 2002 A2 with 120K that we use in France for about four months a year and while there this summer the car developed a banging noise when going over any small bumps in the road. We we brought the car back to the UK it has been in two garages one being an Audi specialist and they say they can hear it but cannot see what is causing it and the car is completely safe to use. Just passed an MOT with flying colours. We have tried removing the bonnet to see if it was the plastic bonnet sleeve catches but this makes no difference.

While driving the car yesterday it started to rain quite hard so after going through a few puddles on the road the banging stops until it dries out again. The Audi specialist is adamant that the ARB is fine the droplinks are all fine and says wait for it to get worse and bring it back in but it is already banging it head off.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
 
Bigtimecharlie32 said:
Hi Members,

Hopefully someone can help me. We have a LHD 2002 A2 with 120K that we use in France for about four months a year and while there this summer the car developed a banging noise when going over any small bumps in the road. We we brought the car back to the UK it has been in two garages one being an Audi specialist and they say they can hear it but cannot see what is causing it and the car is completely safe to use. Just passed an MOT with flying colours. We have tried removing the bonnet to see if it was the plastic bonnet sleeve catches but this makes no difference.

While driving the car yesterday it started to rain quite hard so after going through a few puddles on the road the banging stops until it dries out again. The Audi specialist is adamant that the ARB is fine the droplinks are all fine and says wait for it to get worse and bring it back in but it is already banging it head off.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Click to expand...
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Hth
Keith
 
if it doesn't bang when moist, the water is a lubricant. When is the last time the ARB bushes were replaced? Droplinks?
The bonnet itself may also not sit correctly at the windscreen end.

I would take the bonnet off and try to replicate; find a piece of road that gives you the rattle and then take the bonnet off and drive it again; (preferably a quiet piece of road at low speed!). I'd also want to drive kerbs at angles to confirm it's not the droplinks, but TBH if the ARB bushes haven't been changed in a while, they would be my primary guess. Add to that that replacing them isn't hard and can be done on the drive in a couple of hours, but you will need to tighten the (one-time-use!) bolts correctly with weight on the car wheels.

- Bret
 
Hi Bret,

Thanks for your reply. To be honest I don't know if the ARB Bushes have ever been changed we just took it into the Audi specialist expecting them to have seen this problem before and fix it. I presume they would check these but I will try your advice and hopefully get to the bottom of this.

Simon
 
Probably nothing to worry about. Mine has been like this for 2-3 years and 50’km.

Been to 2 garages and Audi dealership. Passed MOT etc. Nobody can find any abnormalities.

Replaced a lot in the front end; two remaining suspects: CV joints or the spring that moves slightly in the strut making the noise.

Less wide tyres normally helps.
 
Hi i have same fault took it to my garage and they carnt find anything but they did say it might be on of the struts wearing on inside but to use it till it goes

cheers
 
I replaced virtually everything on the front end of mine. shocks, top mounts, bearings, springs, bushes, discs, console unit, lower arms. Still knocks. The only thing left original is the hub (unlikely as a solid lump) and the driveshafts. So for me its the splines or the CV joint...
 
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