Front end noise.

[lipunx]

My car is making the following two noises. At lower speeds from about 20 to 50 mph you can hear a knocking. Also when I shift or tap on the gas i'll get a grinding noise. Both noises are faint. Anybody got a clue ? Cause I dont lol.

[Optigman]

we'll need more information about your car. What year/make/model and is it automatic or manual transmission?

[lipunx]

It is a 1998 Jetta Gl 2.0 and is standard.

[Optigman]

let's work on the first problem, does the knocking speed up as you accelerate? and does it get louder when either turning left or right?

[lipunx]

It speeds up but does not increase or decrease on turns.

[Optigman]

does the noise stop when braking?

[lipunx]

The noise is there as long as the car is moving.

[Optigman]

The reason for the 20 questions was to rule out wheel bearings and worn out or siezed disk pads. It sounds like this is drivetrain related, however I have had a 2001 Jetta and 2001 Golf have similar probs, one was subframe issues. Since your car is an A3, I'll have to think about this a bit more. Hopefully some of the other guys have come across this before, I'll get the gears working in my head and hopefully have something for you soon.

[lipunx]

Ok thanks so much. I posted on two other sites and recieved absolutly no replies. Oh and by the way I just remembered something that happened today that might relate to this all. I got my breaks done a few months ago. I was coming down a hill on the highway by my house pretty fast slowing down from 100 and I hit the breaks to slow down for a light that was way up the road and I heard an awful grinding noise. Now Im not sure if thats suppose to happen when your slowing down from going so fast but I never happened before so why would it now. I dunno.

[Optigman]

You'll find the guys here are a big help and willing to devot their time to helping others. They like to have a good time too, although I'm relatively new to the site, welcome.

[jettadude]

did you do the breaks yourself or did you have someone else do them? the grinding noise could be the pads breaking in, but i don't think it is. if you had it done at a low rent shop they might not have put new pads on, but broken off the squeelers. check your rotor for groves and or obvous wear.

[lipunx]

I had my front done at a shop by a guy who is a family friend. He seemed to know what he was doing. Im pretty sure I got them done in late July or early august. New pads and rotors. The grinding when I was breaking today might be another problem all it's own but we'll see. I'll look at everything tomorow and post here if I find anything unusual of course.

[Optigman]

jettadude is on the the same thought path as me here, the anti squeakers could have gone missing on either one side or both thus leaving the pads to woble about. Let us know what you find.

[lipunx]

Ok I got the car up on the stands today. Everything looks normal. I turned it on and the wheels started to move but I could not hear the sound I can hear while driving. Im stumped. I guees worse comes to worst i'll take it to my mechanic and we'll see what he says.

[burn_your_money]

Did you wiggle the wheels like I said to on AIM? (I'm drivingadub).

[lipunx]

Yep they did'nt move.

[burn_your_money]

OK that's good then. Did you take the wheels off and have a look at the rotors?

[lipunx]

I looked at the rotors as well. They look good.

[burn_your_money]

Hopefully this isn't an expensive fix.....

[lipunx]

I finally took the car to a shop, turns out the transaxle was loose. So there taking a transmission I gave them from my last Jetta that was wrecked by a terrible driver rebuilding it and putting it in.
Thanks for your advice

[burn_your_money]

Glad to hear you got it fixed :D

[miamiDaveGLi]

:D awesome glad to hear its fixed !