# Rattle from rear of A3 2.0 Tdi Sport



## Broad_Marsh (Nov 20, 2003)

I have been plagued by a rattle from the rear suspension area of my A3 2.0 Tdi Sport from the day I purchased it. The rattle is heard at very slow speeds (5 to 10 mph) and can be heard on many roads that are reasonably smooth as well as bumpy ones. I found the road outside the local dealer showed the problem every time the car was driven over it; accordingly the dealer has no problem reproducing the fault and trying to eliminate it.

Around February time when it went in for a windscreen wiper motor change, parts of the rear suspension were removed and checked, but nothing that could cause the rattle could be found. The dealer contacted Audi, but it appears they had not heard of the problem before. Funny thing that, as the brand new demonstrator car (A3 2.0 Tdi Sport) they lent me had a similar rattle but was less intrusive. The dealer then advised me that there was one other car locally that had quite a loud rattle similar to mine.

To cut a long story short, the car had to go back to the dealer again for another problem, so I asked them to look again at the rear suspension rattle. It now appears that Audi are making modified shock absorbers. I am unsure whether Audi in general have accepted the rattle problem exists and the new shock absorbers are being fitted into the current production run to eliminate it and I and all the other "rattlers" have to wait until production is ramped up to produce enough spares to retrofit the problem cars, or, are these modified shock absorbers part of the solution to the suspension hopping problem that I and other A3 2.0 Tdi Sport owners have experienced. The hopping problem is discussed elsewhere in UK and German forums.

Comments anyone?


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## davek9 (May 7, 2002)

Mine has the standard suspension, over particularly bumpy surfaces i can hear what can best be described as a "pattering" sound. Def not a rattle though.

I put this down to an A3 "feature" to do with the suspension settings.

Not so sure now :? Perhaps it will develop into a rattle.


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## christtopher (May 7, 2002)

It's a diesel, surely it's supposed to rattle!?  :wink:


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## Broad_Marsh (Nov 20, 2003)

christopher. Thank you for the really helpful reply of "It's a diesel, surely it's supposed to rattle!?" As you will no doubt have noticed, it stops everthing in its tracks as no one takes the thread seriously anymore.

Anyway, this is the end result from another thread.

After being fobbed off with "we have heard this on a few cars" and "we have submitted a report to Audi", for the past 12 months, I wrote to the MD at Audi UK. Within a short period of time I received a nice letter and a phone call from his personal assistant asking me to contact my local dealer "Who would deal with it to my satisfaction".

I took it in and the rear shock absorbers were placed on order and replaced 3 days later. It is now a pleasure to drive and I do not have to turn the stereo on at low speeds to drown out the noise (knock)!

I have seen various threads on other forums that say that the problem is to do with the mounting brackets! I am reliabley informed by Audi that it is in fact the valves inside the shock absorber that was the cause.

If anyone is still not satisfied with the service, then I suggest you write to the MD...it certainly gets them moving.


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## dannyboyz4 (Sep 19, 2004)

Broad, you need to learn to chil out pal.  
Dont take everything so seriously. RELAX. :idea:


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## Broad_Marsh (Nov 20, 2003)

Hey! I chilled out a long time ago! I thought this forum was to help each other with our problems and not a place where unhelpful remarks were made when one asked for help. Obviously I need to find a place where I can ask for help without getting unhelpful remarks. Not the place for me...please ignore the information I posted on this site, it might not have been true. Bye!


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