Another Broken Spring

K

ksimpson

Member
Hi,

Had a broken spring on the passenger side of my wife's 03 1.6FSI Sport a couple of months ago. Symptoms were a knock and a piece of metal hitting the ground. Soon afterwards, there was a grinding noise when turning. Got it sorted in Agnews in Belfast for around £400.

Noticed a knocking noise over the past few days which pointed towards the FARB. Took off both wheels tonight to have a good look. Guess what? Another broken spring on the driver's side:mad: A considerable chunk has broken off which has caused the suspension to drop by about an inch. This is causing the FARB to knock off another suspension component (sorry don't know what it is) which it's normally well clear off.

I'm going to get a local mechanic to replace the spring this time. This one does look as though it's been broken for some time and probably took a while to drop the car down an inch or so. The plate for the bearing above the spring is mangled so that will need replacing as well.

I'll get on to VAGparts and orther the spring and bearing. Anyone any idea of the exact parts I need?

Thanks,
 
Last edited:
Hi Ken

Audi list several front spring options so you need to check the colour coding (spots of paint on one of the coils) before ordering.
With heavy parts, the cost of postage often means the Vagparts total price is not competetive. Assuming you have a fairly local Audi dealer, also check their prices before ordering - most will give a 5 - 10% discount for being a member of the A2oc if you ask nicely.

Cheers Spike
 
Thanks Spike. However, I'm in Dublin, so there is no chance of a discount. "Main stealer" is very applicable to main dealers of all brands in the ROI.

I'll check the price with Vagparts and a dealer to be sure. I also want to get a couple of spare coilpacks so I'd be surprised if Vagparts weren't competitive.
 
ksimpson said:
Anyone any idea of the exact parts I need?
Click to expand...

Hello,

while looking for alternative springs that don’t happen to break every 3 years and that do feature stock height and stock spring rates, you should buy the folling high quality springs made by GKN SPIDAN (Germany):

http://www.gknservice.de/PCP/e/pcp_home_e.html

For A2 1.4 petrol:
  • Front: SPIDAN # 49527
  • Rear: SPIDAN # 49546


For A2 1.4 TDI (all) and 1.6 FSI:
  • Front: SPIDAN # 49515
  • Rear: SPIDAN # 49546

In terms of comfort these black coloured SPIDAN springs will offer best results with Koni FSD or Bilstein B6 shocks.

There won't occur any problems if combining front springs by SPIDAN with stock Audi rear springs (A2 rear springs never break).


In Germany you can purchase these springs and many other spare parts through:

http://www.q-11.de/wps/portal/q11/de
http://www.autoteilebox.de/shop.html

These suppliers won’t ship internationally sadly. However, I think that a local UK car parts dealer will be able to get them too reasonably priced.


There is still left the WEITEC 30/30 or 30/00 lowering spring option. These are highly recommended in combination with Koni FSD dampers especially for the Diesels and the FSI.


P.S: You should replace both front springs since the second Audi front spring is prone to break in near future too and because of the general mechanical "ageing" of springs. Replacing both non-expensive strut bearings prophylactically is highly recommended as well. :)
 
Hi Ken,

Sorry to read about yet another broken spring. This seems to be a common problem and not unique to A2s. The councils who erect speed humps have a lot to answer for. Why can't the humps in Ireland and UK be more like those in Spain, which seem to be less aggressive but just as effective?

When my front nearside spring broke I weighed up my options. The problem my car seemed to have was that the front suspension ran out of travel and impacted, with some force, into the bump stops / suspension mounts. After I got the spring fixed I saved up for Koni FSDs. Fitting these has gone a long way to reducing the suspension's crashing impact when going over bad bumps and in my mind, has reduced the problem that caused the spring to break.

I have 16" wheels on my A2 and have fitted 195/50 tyres rather than the standard 185/50, to get a tiny bit more side wall. My next option is to fit 15" wheels, which have tyres with more side wall, but I have not found this necessary.

Hope this helps,

John.
 
Hi,

How can you tell whether the spring is broken or not? I know this sounds a bit daft, but If I jack the car up can I see that a bit has broken off? Is the end of the spring sharp?? Or do I have to measure it!

Beginners question, any tips gladly taken!

Davd
 
Hi David,

They normally break at the top so you should be able to see where the piece broke off. You'll need to jack the car up and take the wheel off to get a good look.

If it breaks when you're driving, you'll hear a knock and possibly a piece of metal hitting the ground.
 
As mentioned the Audi stock front springs typically break within the first coil winding (on the top of the spring).

It seems to be a result of a poor annealing process in combination with poor chrome-silicium steel quality.
 
I have some sympathy for you as I've had this problem also (about 6 months ago). Even though just the drivers side spring broke (about 3" broke off from the top coil) I was advised to replace both springs to minimise any chance of abnormal handling during braking and the like. I've had no problems since. I got an independant garage to do the work which worked out about 50% of the main dealer price!
 
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