paintguy

Hi,

I am having a strange problem that I have not seen described so far (but I could be wrong about that ).

I have a 2007 A6 with about 32k KM on it and last year I replaced all the brake pads and rotors because I was getting pedal vibration when braking at highway speeds. Ever since the brake job, I have been hearing a thumping noise when breaking lightly coming from the front drivers side (I think). If I brake hard there is no noise at all. One other interesting fact is that it does not happen until I drive for a little while and I'm guessing the breaks heat up.

I took it back to the dealership several times and while they confirmed that they also hear the noise, the couldn't figure out what is wrong. I am about to take it back to them but have been reluctant as they really aggravate me when the come up with all kind of excuses. So please let me know if this makes sense to you and if I should be worried about it, or if there is something I can do to fix it.

Thanks.

Sie Sezs

Any resolution to your issue?
Does the steering wheel vibrate when braking (and hearing the noise?).
Vibrating steering wheel usually points to the front brakes.
Only other thing I could think of is an unbalanced tyre or bent rim...
Maybe a second opinion from a different dealership or good indy might be in order.

Cheers,
Simon

paintguy

No resolution yet. There is no vibration when hearing the noise. Basically I can make the noise go away if I press slightly harder on the brakes. So this is forcing me to break harder than necessary so that I don't hear this clunking noise. What I don't understand is why does it only happen after the breaks heat up. It never happens when the car is cold. The noise is definitely coming from the front driver side brakes and it's unlikely to be a bent rim since I changed the rims to my summer ones and the problem is the same.

I think it has something to do with the brake pad mechanism, in that when it gets hot and the metal expands, something becomes loose. This would explain why the noise only occurs under light braking and never under hard breaking.

I'm probably going to go to an indy and see if they have any ideas.

paintguy

So, I took the car to an independent mechanic and after taking the brake rotors off they found a lot of rust underneath which was causing the rotor to warp when it warmed up. To make a long story short, he cleaned the rust, machined the rotors and now my brakes work perfectly. Of course it did cost me more money to fix a problem caused by the dealer improperly installing the new rotors so I am considering what I should do next. Any suggestions?

businessdegree

does it still make noises and things like that or did it stop??

paintguy

All the noise stopped so everything is working perfectly. These is also no vibration when braking at high speeds. So this seems to have been the cause of all the problems. So at this point I'm trying to decide if I should send a letter to Audi and complain about the terrible service, or go to the dealership and talk to them.

Sie Sezs

Glad the issue is sorted.
As for the dealership..... not sure what to suggest.
Depending on your relationship with them I would take the receipt from the indy to them and see if they are willing to come to some sort of compromise.