Sharing an Experience for You Quattro Dirvers

lyleswk · 05-03-2012, 05:08 AM

I have a 5 speed manual quattro, but assume this experience would apply to tiptronic drivers as well. My A4 is primarily driven by my son and I got a call from him at 6 o'clock last friday evening stranded on the side of one our local major freeways with his girlfriend who was acting in a play. Won't bore anyone with the traffic stories or how long I was waiting for the tow, etc., but when I got there, I sat in the car, started it, rowed the shift lever through the gears which felt normal, i.e. like any gear could be engaged. Next I pushed the clutch pedal it and it felt normal, i.e. felt like I had good hyd pressure and return. So, my immediate diagnosis was it wasn't the tranny or the slave cylinder, but had to be in the clutch / pressure plate / throwout bearing area. I tossed my son the keys to my Z and off he went to get his girlfriend to her play and I waited for the tow truck.

My favorite local indie diagnosed it the same, but said it was likely the dual mass flywheel which on our cars have a tendency to separate with one half spinning with the engine and the other half engaged against the clutch just sitting there. I could bore you with details of the dual mass flywheel, but won't. Anyway, he was estimating $2000 for a clutch job including the flywheel and I told him to do it. I get a call the next day and he said that I was going to be very happy becuase the problem was the right front axle had backed out of the hub! The axle is held into the hub with a large c-clip, and that had gone missing. So, the first thought in my mind was "well, I have 3 other axles" and quickly remembered that this is a "feature" of our quattro systems that if one wheel is 100% slipping, the torque is not transfered to the other wheels. There are lots of youtube videos on this subject which attempt to show the superiority of other awd systems but upon detailed analysis, only offer very non real world scenarios to show this.

So if you are ever stranded somewhere, include a loose axle in your troubleshooting.

turbo510 · 05-04-2012, 05:38 PM

Well, you might have read of my adventure Christmas eve, in my Daughter's 3.0 Quattro. In my case, I was stranded at the 8,000 foot elevation and had to hike down the mountain road. I was so sure the trans was shot (nasty whirring noise and vibration when in gear) that I ordered a used trans. Then the same thing as you; the trans shop called to say they had good news- it was stripped-out CV splines. So now I have a used Quattro Tip tranny strapped to a pallot.

awdjunkies · 05-05-2012, 11:42 AM

That sux!! So, not only do we have to carry spare Coil Packs, but axles as well???

lyleswk · 05-08-2012, 08:51 AM

I had forgotten about that. In my case, my now even more favorite indie shop just held on to the parts to use on the next clutch job, so I'm not out any money on parts. Your situation really stinks.

lyleswk · 05-16-2012, 07:40 AM

And then the rest of the story...

Well, last Sunday (yes Mother's Day) I get a call from my son literally minutes after sitting down at a restaurant with the rest of my family (he was headed to meet us) that his car did the identical thing, a bit of noise and then no power. Fortunately he was not on a major freeway during rush hour like 2 weeks ago. He coasted into a parking lot near my house. I went and got him, we had a nice dinner, I went and changed, went to the car, reached underneath, and sure enough the passenger front axle had backed out again.

Had the car towed to my favorite Indy, and after a chat, decided that it was backing out due to the axle, likely the diff side connection which has internal planar bearings sinced the CV seemed okay. If these are binding, it can "jolt" the axle and cause the c-clip that holds the spline in the hub to break or pop loose. During the discussion, it occured to me that maybe this was also the cause of a low vibration / humming noise similar to a wheel bearing that I have had since I bought the car, but have only replaced the driver's wheel bearing and never did anything else about since I hate shot-gunning parts (I would have started with the driver's axle and then gone to the bearing in the torsen itself based on the symptoms) and it didn't seem to be getting worse...until about 2 months ago when it seemed to be getting louder. Replaced the whole axle and will see about the axle backing out, but the noise is certainly gone!! So, she should be good for another 210,000 miles now...

Prospeeder · 05-17-2012, 11:47 AM

something is not right. These cars axles that bolt on to a flange that goes into the diff and has a c clip inside. If he is saying its coming out of the hub, than that is the wheel side. The wheel side is held in by a large Bolt in the center of a hub. Hes not telling you something correctly or is doing it wrong. If he is not installing a bolt, no **** its going to come back out when driving it around.

lyleswk · 05-21-2012, 03:36 AM

Your right. I'm 99% sure I am not understanding something correctly. I generally ask for my old parts back and after looking at it for about 10 seconds, how I remember the axle when I replaced my driver's side bearing and how he described it don't make sense. Iam going to ring him today or tomorrow and visit with him. I trust the guy as he has done a bunch of work for me over the years.

More to come.

05-04-2012, 05:38 PM	#2
turbo510 AudiWorld Senior Member 2007 Volkswagen Touareg My Garage Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Yorba Linda CA Posts: 1,443	Well, you might have read of my adventure Christmas eve, in my Daughter's 3.0 Quattro. In my case, I was stranded at the 8,000 foot elevation and had to hike down the mountain road. I was so sure the trans was shot (nasty whirring noise and vibration when in gear) that I ordered a used trans. Then the same thing as you; the trans shop called to say they had good news- it was stripped-out CV splines. So now I have a used Quattro Tip tranny strapped to a pallot. __________________ 1996 Audi A4 2.8 1972 Datsun 510 Last edited by turbo510; 05-04-2012 at 05:40 PM.

05-05-2012, 11:42 AM	#3
awdjunkies AudiWorld Senior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 761	That sux!! So, not only do we have to carry spare Coil Packs, but axles as well??? __________________ AUDI ALLROAD Metric: 5 X 112.. Standard: 5 X 4.41 ..Stud size: 14 X 1.5b HUB BORE 57.1 --------------------------------------------- http://www.audiworld.com/model/Check your model's Tech specs. & features. http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng.htmlAudiworld's DIY/How to's

05-16-2012, 07:40 AM	#5
lyleswk AudiWorld Senior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Fort Worth, Tx Posts: 1,659	And then the rest of the story... Well, last Sunday (yes Mother's Day) I get a call from my son literally minutes after sitting down at a restaurant with the rest of my family (he was headed to meet us) that his car did the identical thing, a bit of noise and then no power. Fortunately he was not on a major freeway during rush hour like 2 weeks ago. He coasted into a parking lot near my house. I went and got him, we had a nice dinner, I went and changed, went to the car, reached underneath, and sure enough the passenger front axle had backed out again. Had the car towed to my favorite Indy, and after a chat, decided that it was backing out due to the axle, likely the diff side connection which has internal planar bearings sinced the CV seemed okay. If these are binding, it can "jolt" the axle and cause the c-clip that holds the spline in the hub to break or pop loose. During the discussion, it occured to me that maybe this was also the cause of a low vibration / humming noise similar to a wheel bearing that I have had since I bought the car, but have only replaced the driver's wheel bearing and never did anything else about since I hate shot-gunning parts (I would have started with the driver's axle and then gone to the bearing in the torsen itself based on the symptoms) and it didn't seem to be getting worse...until about 2 months ago when it seemed to be getting louder. Replaced the whole axle and will see about the axle backing out, but the noise is certainly gone!! So, she should be good for another 210,000 miles now... Last edited by lyleswk; 05-16-2012 at 07:44 AM.

05-17-2012, 11:47 AM	#6
Prospeeder AudiWorld Senior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 837	something is not right. These cars axles that bolt on to a flange that goes into the diff and has a c clip inside. If he is saying its coming out of the hub, than that is the wheel side. The wheel side is held in by a large Bolt in the center of a hub. Hes not telling you something correctly or is doing it wrong. If he is not installing a bolt, no **** its going to come back out when driving it around. __________________ 1992 Audi 100 CS Quattro 1990 Audi 200 Avant Turbo Quattro 1991 Audi 200 Turbo 1999 Audi A6 Avant

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05-08-2012, 08:51 AM	#4
lyleswk AudiWorld Senior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Fort Worth, Tx Posts: 1,659	I had forgotten about that. In my case, my now even more favorite indie shop just held on to the parts to use on the next clutch job, so I'm not out any money on parts. Your situation really stinks.

05-21-2012, 03:36 AM	#7
lyleswk AudiWorld Senior Member Garage is empty, add now Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Fort Worth, Tx Posts: 1,659	Your right. I'm 99% sure I am not understanding something correctly. I generally ask for my old parts back and after looking at it for about 10 seconds, how I remember the axle when I replaced my driver's side bearing and how he described it don't make sense. Iam going to ring him today or tomorrow and visit with him. I trust the guy as he has done a bunch of work for me over the years. More to come.