sidepocketwil

99.5 quattro with manual tranny. Lowered with bilstein shocks/H&R springs.

So one day out of the blue I started hearing an intermittent clak clak clak... noise, from the drivers side front end, during acceleration from a standstill. The noise can be fast or slow depending on how quickly I'm accelerating. If I drive like grandma the noise is barely there, and there is no noise when I'm making a turn (left or right) from a stop. Once the car gets up to ~40mph the noise disappears unless I mash the gas (and that's not all the time), but at 65/70 the noise is gone whether I step on it or not.

I've already checked the brakes/rotors, control arms, cv boot, and everything seems fine. I checked the tire/wheel for play and there is non. I was hoping it was some debris stuck near a moving part but I couldn't find any.

The noise sounds like what it would, if you stuck a strip of cardboard in a fan, the faster the fan/acceleration the more rapid the noise. It's almost as if a gear is slipping when accelerating rapidly, but there doesn't seem to be any ill effects or strong vibrations from inside the car and the car still tracks straight.

My coworker listened for the noise and thinks it's coming from the center of the car but inside the car it sounds like it's the left front end.

TIA for any advice.

4Driver4

CV joint? Got bootz?

sam_bossco

sounds like you either have a hose or a something touching one of the belts, or the rad fan.
I had that problem too, couldn't find it for a while

HielToh

I thought I had exactly that problem: something touching one of my belts, or maybe a belt had shredded a little and was flapping. I have an electric fan, so it wasn't that....

Nope. Turns out it was a worn camshaft.

I hope yours is something benign.

joloya

I had rattles noise too but couldn't diagnose it sooner. long story short, fan ripped Serpentine belt, damaged radiator and sensors wires, was a mess. still need to find out where the air temperature sensor and coolant temperature wires plugs into.

Yap, its good to stop car immediately and find out where. It's costing me $800 to replace parts

sidepocketwil

I checked the boots on both side and they're clean with no leaks or cracks.

sidepocketwil

Thanks...whats the damage on fixing the bad camshaft?

AMJ

Could be the front to rear driveshaft (prop shaft) front cv joint? Sounds like marbles in a can rattling.

RallyVermont

have you ever changed your CV joints? I'd say that side is just on the way out.

sidepocketwil

Still on the stock joints, so yeah they're prob ready for replacement. Going to the shop tomorrow and hopefully it's nothing too expensive.