Growling front end noise!

[Alex Kowalski]

mlgraham wrote:

>My 86 Quattro is making a growling noise in the front end. Mostly when
>turning left, or holding slight pressure on the steering to the left. I
have
>jacked the car up and checked wheel bearing, and they seem to be tight. I
>have replaced the left axle & CV joints two years ago, but not the right.

You mention the year but not the model.  That would be helpful to know for
diagnostic purposes.

Despite your saying that the wheel bearings "seem" to be tight, it sounds an
awful lot to me like a bad passenger front wheel bearing/race.  Is their any
"popping" or "clicking" when you do these maneuvers?  Try them at very low
speed also, because those sounds in addition to the growling could indicate
a bad CV joint.  Sometimes it can be difficult to isolate where that noise
is coming from.  I really think you're listening to a marginal wheel bearing
about to go seriously bad in the front passenger hub assembly, however.

If the transmission blew all its fluid out the rear seal, you would not just
be having a problem in left-hand turns, in all likelihood.
;)  Nevertheless, the drain and fill plugs (if it's a 5K) are all 17 mm
internal hex "pipe" plugs.  FACOM makes a specific tool for these plugs
(FACOM D.107-17), but you can also pick one up at the local FLAPS probably,
but it won't be as high a quality and won't be as nifty.  Alternatively, you
can cut down a big 17mm allen wrench and mount it in a socket to get the
plugs out.  A word of caution:  Remove the FILL PLUG before you remove the
DRAIN PLUG(S).  If you do it the other way around and cannot get the fill
plug out, you are going to be flatbedding your Audi somewhere, cursing
mightily, and/or destroying its transmission for sure.

HTH,
Alex Kowalski
'87 5KCSTQ
'86 5KCSTQ