Rattling Front Suspension on B5 A4 Avant

[Jorge]

Right, I know this isn't a tech forum, or vehicle specific, however I don't frequent any others and quite a few VAG drivers on here.

My B5 Avant has developed a rattling, metallic, clunking noise from both front corners. Had the car jacked up and checked all bushes (they're a bit worn but limited movement), can't see anything loose in particular.

It happens over bumps etc, usually once the car has warmed up a little. It stops when braking. Read online the brake pad retaining clips may fail, and the pads may be loose. They seem pretty tight in however? The heat and stopping when braking does lead me to believe it may be the pads.I changed them under my ownership and didn't notice the noise before. They jsut seem pretty tight, and so does my mechanic.

Can anyone suggest any other ideas?

[andybob]

I've run into this before on a Jetta when I used to work in a shop. Like you said, it ended up being the brakes in the caliper brackets.

Jack up the front end so the wheels are off the ground, and then hit the tires with a hammer. If it is the brake pads, you should be able to see them moving. As for fixing it the customer didn't want to put on new brakes yet so they lived with it.

The only other thing I could think of would be the swaybar endlinks, but those would rattle all the time on bumps.

[Jorge]

I'll take another look at the pads then. Thanks for the advice

[nellydragracer]

Pretty much what Andy said, and if I remember rightly, VAG calipers of that era had 3M adhesive on the back of both pads to eliminate pad rattling.

[ChuckNDicks]

Take a peak at your heat shields behind the rotors too, those sometimes rattle loose. Might not be a bad idea to just put a wrench on every bolt on the suspension and see what happens.

[Jorge]

I took a prybar to every arm etc and tried to force a noise but nothing. I need to look again.