JT Sarubbi

Hey Guys,

I'm about 10 months in on my A7, and I noticed a thump sound coming from the front tires of the vehicle when I am cruising around 45mph, which is a speed that I drive a lot during my work commute. It doesn' do it all the time, but I can hear it and feel it in the car on a regular basis when I'm at that speed. First thing I thought was nail in tire, obviously checked that. Then I brought it to dealer, and the service manager road in the car with me -noticed the thump, imediately said it was a wheel bearing. They replaced driver side wheel bearing...Got my car back, and a week later it was doing it again, so brought it back in, same guy rode in car, heard it again, and said it must be the other passenger side wheel bearing. Had that replaced, and now again I drive the car and I feel that the thump is not completely gone......Has anyone else experienced this, or have any other idea what it may be?....I'm getting sick of driving 30 minutes to dealer, spending mileage on my lease, and gas in my tank, for these guys to not get it right!!...Any help is greatly appreciated!

raslam77

I feel your pain... Have you contacted AoA? I had a similar experience w/ regards to driving 28mi back and forth to the dealership to get a recurring issue remedied. I eventually ended up emailing the owner of the dealership and opening a case w/ AoA and the issue finally got fixed. The dealer even worked a goodwill payment after it was all said and done. In the meantime, log on to truedelta.com to report the problems you're having.

nyca

Rotate the tires/wheels front to rear, does the sound move with the swap? That's the first thing the dealer should have done before taking everything apart and changing the wheel bearings - he could tell when he took the original bearings out whether they were damaged or not.

harihoudini

I have exactly the same issue and have it from day 1. Been back to the dealer multiple times. They have changed all my tires and done all the roadforce checks. They claim "this is how it is with 20" wheels". They recognise the thump on test drives, but have washed their hands off it. I am very frustrated.

I had a mechanic give me a second opinion without telling him about your feedback, and he pointed straight away that there is either a bearing issue (classic signs) or the axel rod. He even said that the thumping will vary depending on the weight distribution (i.e. when you turn the car, you may feel it more).

I get this exactly between 42-45 MPH, then it goes away. I do however still get a weird whine when Im at 80 as well.

Did u ever get this resolved? I was told i need to call Audi customer care if i need this fixed.

JT Sarubbi

Hari...Thanks for the reply and information man. Wow...It is a releif to know someone else is having the same problem. I thought I might be going crazy there for a bit. Anyway, I spoke with my local mechanic, who is a certified Audi technician, worked for Audi racing and Champion Motorsports for years, so he is our local Audi GURU I guess you could say. He said that Quattro's sometimes have a thumping or pulsing sound when cold, but will go away after driving for a while once it warms up. I told him that It's not only a sound, but that I feel it in the car, in the pedals, steering wheel, etc. He said it could be anything, maybe even a bent rim. I am bringing it in to him on Friday to test drive, and diagnose. I will let you know once I have any updates.

JT Sarubbi

So my buddy was too busy, so I just brought it back to the Dealership again. The service manager drove the car, and said 100% its a tread issue. At my 5k service, they rotated the tires, and our cars are heavier in the front than in the back, so the front tires wear differently than the rears, so when they switch them, sometimes on low pro tires like that you can hear a pulsating noise when driving a certain speed. They said the tread will eventually wear in, and the noise will subside.....I understand what they are saying, but I am at almost 8k miles, so thats 3k miles the tires have had to find their groove. So I bitched and complained, and then ended up replacing my front two tires. So far the noise has gone away mostly.....I've come to the realization that the problem will never get completely fixed. But as soon as the internet manager calls me to talk about trading in for a newer lease, I'm probably going to jump all over it!

fkaufman

I would get in touch with the manufacturer of the tire and get their opinion. What you are told does not sound plausible to me, I sure wouldn't accept it.

By the way, I had my A7 for over a year and it has no thumping issues whatsoever (19" Goodyear All Season tires).

BasicSlvr

Contact Audi customer care. Do not settle for the dealer recommendation. I run both - 19'"AS and 20" Summer Pirelli's. No thump / noise whatsoever. Don't waste time speaking to anyone other than Audi customer care.

Best of luck.

tenspeed

It's 100% a story. If it was a tread issue, wouldn't it be heard and felt at all speeds? Same deal with a bad wheel bearing.

First thing to check is the lug nuts. Easy to do since the lugs are right out there.

Second thing would be to swap tires around to see if it's a wheel/tire or something else. The dealer should have balanced your set. While the wheel is in the air, grab the coil spring and spin the tire. If there's a bad bearing, you can feel it in the spring.

It could be a CV joint or drive shaft U joint if the easy stuff checks out OK.

Have you tried changing gears when you hear it? If it changes the sound/vibration when you do, it's in the transmission. The rest of the drive train is rotating at the same speed no matter what gear you are in.

harihoudini

I called Customer care. They just reverted straight back to the service manager who said "This is how it is on 20's" If you want it to go away, down size to 19". Cust care doesnt do anything.