[urq] front end clunk

[Mike Veglia]

In a message dated September 25, 2006  Mike Del Tergo wrote:

<< This was certainly looked at.  (and no movement confirmed yet) While I know the Audi bearings of the era were "sealed", I did not know the inner races were split and could allow for some movement.  Given the number of large cars I've owned with this bearing, a bad one must be a small probability.  I causes me to wonder if this was strongly suspected of being the culprit, why would you try to mickey mouse it versus just replacing it? >>

In the case of my then new and in-warranty '87 4kq (keep in mind we're now talking nearly 20 years ago so my memory of the details is hazy) the wheel bearing was first replaced for clunking. The problem (symptom) persisted so the car went back in. The dealership then replaced the wheel bearing along with an added shim in the hub to eliminate the side-to-side movement. The shim came from their Porsche parts bins. I knew the parts manager of the dealership at the time (I did all their Blaupunkt repairs in a warranty station I ran) and was able to talk with the Tech who was quite good. Seemed to all make sense at the time. Simply replacing the wheel bearing the first time did not fix the clunk. As an aside, that was my first Audi and in talking with a co-worker at the time who also had a 4kq, she mentioned hers "always did that" and was told by her dealer it was "normal for a quattro" (huh?). I suppose replacing the hub would have been less "mickey mouse" than adding the shim,
 but appartently this was a legitimate "fix" for Porsches (I can't attest to that, just what I was told at the time) hence the shim in the parts system.

OTOH, I have now had five additional type 85 chassis Audis (three 4kqs, one CGT, and my '83 Ur-Q) and none of them have had this same clunk. In fact, of the 10 or so Audis I have owned to date only that first 4kq and the A6q we presently own have had the mystery clunk. Our '95 A6q sure does clunk and I have found no loose suspension components. We have lived with it this way for over 60k miles now. However, on a recent road trip the A6 has also started making that tell tale wheel bearing noise (@ ~174k miles) at the same (right front) corner of the car so it will be changes soon now.

I don't know if this will help, or not, but I have not heard wheel bearings mentioned much in connection with "clunking" so I thought I should toss it out there. Good luck!

Mike Veglia