blackheart0866

Okay, I have an 2000 A6 quattro, bi-turbo, with 126,000 miles on it, Yesterday, as we was driving it , it started making a clunking noise, and shaking really bad, and the steering wheel was pulling to the right really hard.

We got her her, and whenever we made a right turn, it would then make a huge clunking noise coming from the right wheel area, and we did find a ball bearing in the driveway, the size of about an 1/2 inch.

What could be the problem, and how easy is the fix on it.

Thanks

Zaphodb17

You've got a blown-up outboard CV joint. Look under the car at the axle's outer end and you'll most likely find a bunch of grease and a torn boot. Just go get a rebuilt axle and change it. It's not too difficult.

Teutonix

That, my friend, sounds like a horribly failed outer CV joint. If it lost one of the *****, it's ready to let go anytime.

blackheart0866

Okay, I will now know what needs fixed, and the issue of the problem.

Thanks, much appreciated...

blackheart0866

It was the outer Cv joint, I did find more ball bearings in the driveway, and a large piece of metal, Had it towed to the shop, since he is a friend of mine, he is doing both sides for me, might as well have the other side done also, he is only charging me 90.00 for each CV joint, and 186.00 for labor to do both sides.


Make's it nice having friends that owns their own shop, and work's on German vehicle's..

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Wrong. Leave the other effing CVJ alone unless it's making noise or has a broken/leaking CVJ boot!!!

These CVJs will last the life of the car if you take care of the boots!!!!

jseklund

If he's actually replacing CV joints, $90 is more than enough. If he plans on replacing the entire axle, $90 is a waste of your money because it will fail again very shortly.

Ask him if he is replacing the inner and the outter CV joints or just the outter. If he acts like he's getting you a great deal because he's doing both, tell him to get a CV joint from Raxles instead, or just replace the outter. The $90 jobs are junk on the axles.

Again, if it's just for the CV joint, then he can get quality parts for that price and less.

clancy

OK so how do you take care of the boots?

4Driver4

Monitor condition by checking them each time you change the oil (as part of the general inspection you *should* be doing at oil changes) and replace them when dry rotted or cracked.

We traded our A6 at 315k miles. We never had a CV joint fail.

ezveedub

The boots are either rubber or hard plastic and they will crack and tear over time. If your car was inspected regularly or during oil changes, they should have been spotted as needing replacements. Once the boots are toasted, they leak out the CV joint grease and wear out the CV joints quickly. Yours apparently were really bad and should have been making loud clicking noise when making turns, but in your case, they are beyond that point and it now came apart. You still have to take the axle out and remove the CV joint to install new boots, but the boots are cheaper than an entire CV joint itself. Be wary of so-called reman axles IF they are not OEM or dealer axles, as most aftermarket local remans are junk. Only the inner tripod joint tend to wear out without torn boots. The form a groove inside and make the car vibrate on acceleration, but goes away when you're off the gas.