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Hello again fellow ETCG members.
Lately, my 2004 Audi A4 Quattro with ~191K miles has been acting funky. I first noticed that upon accelerating it would seem like the rear tires are thumping or not getting traction when taking off (it then works normal). Now, when sitting at an idle I can feel a nasty vibration in the driver’s site kind of like clockwork, so I’m thinking my driveshaft might be bad.
I put all new inner/outer tie rods, upper/lower control arms, shocks, so I don’t think it could be any of those. However, this car has almost 191K miles and was given by my in-laws for winter use. I don’t know the history too much, but I fix things as I come across or notice that might need to be resolved.
I brought it to a mechanic I go to every now and then he said it was indeed my driveshaft (loose) and quoted about 2400 to fix. I’ve had a few questionable fixes from them with my other cars. Usually during inspection time, I don’t feel they try to rip me off, but I’m not entirely sure they have my best interests at heart of course.
I found a used driveshaft with almost 45K miles on it on eBay for 100, however, a reman goes for about 500 bucks. Are those symptoms of a bad driveshaft and also should I do with a used one or reman?
Thanks.
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You make reference to the rear wheels. Is it All Wheel Drive? And which axle(s) do you suspect. Axles don’t normally have an affect on vibration is the car is not moving.
Yes, it’s an all wheel drive system. It’s upon take off from a stop the rear tires thump like they are skipping I guess you could say. But, when I’m sitting at a stop light; I feel a shudder/vibration under the driver seat that is pretty intense (it feels kind of like something is off-center). Also, when I’m turning the car seems kind of loose in the rear.
I haven’t been able to take a look under the car yet, since my garage is unusable at the moment.
The mechanic I brought it to mentioned the carrier or carriage bolts were loose and the driveshaft had play.
Is the gearshift moving around when accelerating?
It could be a failed universal joint causing the problem.
Nope, the shifter seems pretty solid. I was told that the Audi actually uses CV joints on the drive shaft instead of u-joints. There is also a center rubber bushing that can go bad.
There is always the possibility the rear differential fluid needs to be changed and/or there is a leak and low.
Is this a AWD vehicle?
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