FYI, front brake rattle

[klausc]

My wife came home from work complaining about some new noise on her A4. Every tar strip or larger bump resulted in a metallic "clack" from the right front. None of the suspension pieces were loose or worn. The noise only happened if the brake was not applied. A plastic hammer tapping on all of the visible metal parts resulted in the brake claiper returning a "clack" when ever it was hit.
It turned out to be the inside brake pad. The spring clips that hold the pad to the piston had gone weak, allowing the pad to float up and down. Every bump caused the pad to bounce up and hit the metal of the caliper bracket.

The pads are ceramic, not OEM, and I forgot which company made them. They were installed about a year ago without problems.
The "fix" was to bend the 3 spring clips outward with a pair of needle nose pliers to make sure the pad did not move once it was reinstalled into the center of the piston.

[Nebone]

DIY

[djwimbo]

Fun find, good job.

[Vreihenmotor6]

The "fix" was to bend the 3 spring clips outward with a pair of needle nose pliers to make sure the pad did not move once it was reinstalled into the center of the piston.

you sir, are my hero, If I ever meet you I owe you a beer, or 10, I had just replaced every part in my front suspension and I couldn't get rid of that clunk

[klausc]

I'm glad my experiance helped. It was also a good time to get the black crud of the slide pins and grease them up with silicone brake grease.

Happy motorin'

[dtrockman]

A hit! I cannot tell you how many Audi certified mechanics have looked at this and suggest something expensive that did not work or was turned down for lack of logic. I spend 1 hour in my driveway and now have a happy car. Silly springs!

[Kaytek]

Just be careful with the bending. Same thing happened to me, then the third time I had to bend them out one of the metal prongs broke due to rust. Now it's time for new pads since I can't stand the rattling any more. If you drive as 'aggressively' as I do and have your pads for nearly 60K, then watch the rust on the prongs.

Cheers,

Kaytek