ajg617

I'm thinking this is a swollen/dry bushing. I can push down on the fender with no noise when the vehicle is cold, but when it is hot (or when the weather is hotter as in cool before morning drive, but hot on the way home), any tire movement up/down/left/right causes a really annoying noise. No clunking, no metal. At first I thought maybe some of the plastic trim in the engine compartment was rubbing, but nope - a push down on the left front fender will cause it. Awful when I got home from work. Just tried it now (about 20 degrees cooler air temp) and quiet as a mouse. Time to lube rubber joint?

Just Me

Check both the CA bushings, the sway bar bushings ( common) and, if its mroe of a "groan", it could be a dry ball joint.

Grant

thall6594

Mine was making a "groany whiny" noise, and when I checked the arms I noticed one of my ball joint boots was ripped open.

ajg617

Sprayed the upper CA bushings with wd40. Quiet as a mouse for one day. Guess it's time again.

johnkk

When it's hot and making noise, spray with soapy water (or windex) , each control arm and swaybar bushing and ball joint one at a time. When the noise changes, you should have found a culprit. Chance that more than one is squeaking, so continue until all are sprayed. ie if half the noise goes away with one of the bushings, keep going until you've quieted things down. Sort of a trial and error approach, but has worked for me many times.

ajg617

Boots are intact. Looks pretty clean in general. I know I've replaced them once, maybe even twice. Frost heaves and pot holes were the worst I remember this past winter. I am hearing a slight ticking sound when bouncing the fender so I'm guessing a little wear on one of the ball joints in addition to tired bushings.

aca6c5

I have the same exact issue when the temps are hot. Mine ended up being the tie rod end. Found a huge gash in the boot where obviously the grease dried up and makes a horrible noise when hot. To test/diagnose, I took some red and tacky Lucas grease and threw it in the boot and moved it around with a qtip..That eliminated the noise temporarily.

aca6c5

Also test to see if its the swaybar bushing as well.

aca6c5

ARGGHH!! So. While I thought it was the tie rod end that was causing the same noise. Its still there!! I replaced the TRE over the weekend and took the car for a test drive.. When I got home and the temps were up, the noise was back.
While it wasnt as loud as before its still there. Turning, going over bumps etc will make the same noise.
Ive replaced both upper and lower CA bushings as well as inspected the boots . All checked out great.
Lubed up the swaybar bushing, but that did not resolve the issue.
Anyone have any ideas?

Gsrob

I had the same problem after replacing all of my front suspension... Including all control arms, tie rod ends, sway bar end links, sway bar bushings... Had a terribly obnoxious knocking/banging sound after I made all of the repairs. I ended up replacing the inner tie rods which made a huge improvement to my handling and straightened out my steering wheel before having it realigned for the third time. Then, after I took care of that noise, something else popped up making an even more annoying metal on metal banging noise unless I hit the brakes. It turns out the PO replaced the brake pads with some no name advance auto parts brand without the proper anti rattle brackets and proceeded to leave the anti-rattle springs off the outside of the caliper. I spent another $70 from Audi for two small metal coiled springs and got some oem pads from there while I was at it. The difference in quality and fitment between the parts was huge and I'm happy to say I solved the problem. Before this it got to the point that both my wife and I were embarrassed to take the car because it was so loud. A quick check of seeing if the noise is there while applying the brakes may point you in the right direction. Sorry for the book, hopefully this helps.