stagger

Had that happen in my 91 passat thumping after a while if that is the same as my problem its the cv axle most often the longest one

nktanoli789

For me there was no vibration but i was hearing throttling sound from the transmission box.. i had two mechanics look at it and test drive the car and both told me that its rear left wheel bearing and i am pretty confident thats what it is, i ordered the after market part and getting it changed tomorrow or day after.

rusty_67

iTrader: (1)

I have to correct something here, the vibration only disappeared for a short time, and is back again and getting a little bit worse every day. I'm getting a bit worried about some kind of failure, and I made an apopointment with a shop in kelowna (unfortunately we dont have any audi specialists here in penticton) but I won't be able to get in until next saturday (the 23rd).

Also, to correct from this quote, the mechanic was confident that it was NOT the cv joint.

I will keep updates, sorry for any confusion, I'm starting to lean back towards the cv joint.

marcj

I think folks have covered all the bases here: bad CV joint or bad wheel bearing are my two guesses. Neither is a super-expensive fix. Here's something useful I just found: linkylink.

Sure it's not just a bent rim? It's more common than you think. You might try rotating your wheels and see if things change. or even try replacing the suspect wheel with the full size spare and see if it improves.

In general: don't spend forever trying to diagnose this before fixing it. A busted CV joint or seized bearing can both fail catastrophically, in a way that could be lethal to you or even someone else.

whoace

rusty: You are correct. A failing wheel bearing will make a whirring/humming noise that gets louder with speed.

Your problem sounds control arm/ball joint related. Both your symptoms (reduced steering returnability and clunking) could be related to these components.

You should also check your tie rods (inner/outer) for play. Excessive play will give you a clunk when you turn the wheel. Also if you just had the inners done and the mechanic was a dumbass (using an impact wrench), he might have damaged your steering rack or pinion gear causing a clunk when the gear moves over the broken teeth.

Some more things to check that others haven't mentioned:

- Tires (run your hand back and forth along the tread to see if it is uneven or a shifted belt)
- Alignment
- Brakes (a seized caliper will cause vibrations)

rusty_67

iTrader: (1)

well Heres the latest,

I took my car to Elite Auto in Kelowna. After about 2 hours of diagnostics they were able to determine, that the steering issue was in fact the rack. Yay! Probably one of the more expensive things it could have been. They disconnected the tie rods and the wheels moved freely back and forth with no resistance, this is how they pinpointed it. Quoted $1800 to replace.. ouch.

That being said, I picked up some lucas power steering additive on my home and swapped out some of the power steering fluid for it. I was suprised to find out just how little fluid is stored in the reservoir, I was only able to add about 175mL. I have driven a little bit since then and it seems to have improved a bit. I will put some more lucas in next weekend.

In the meantime, could anyone send me the procedure (with pics if possible) for rack replacement. I will assess and perhaps DIM. I found a place in the states thats sells remans for $310 +$150 core charge.

now, just that bloody vibration...