Halloween sword fighting from rear axle in snow storm

[Mr_Goodkat]

We got hammered with snow this past Saturday as my girl and I were getting ready for a Halloween party. With several inches of snow on the road I opted to drive my car rather than her POS Ford Focus. (She was suppose to drive so I could drink - F'n snow...)

After warming up the car for 10min while I brush the 15lbs of wet snow off and my GF in her hot n' whore'ish costume toasty warm with my seat warmers on 5, I hop in and we take off. 10-15min of back roads I get on to the highway/turnpike. About 2 miles in cruising around 55mph we start to hear what sounds like metal dragging, a metal clang more than grinding from the rear (My exhaust rusted off before right before the muffler, so the sound was familiar). Did notice the sound got more intense as I switched lanes driving over the snow piles in between the lanes. It was still pouring snow as I start to pull over and the shoulder is barely wide enough for a car. I got out, nearly dodge all the traffic speeding by and look underneath, nothing. Car is still idle and no sound.

Get in, put in 1st gear and start accelerating. Soon as I hit 40mph+ the sound started again. Seemed to be constant with speed and would decrease sound as I decreased speed but would not stop until I was completely stopped. Started thinking it was either brakes or something in/on the rear axle. It sounded so nasty I debated getting it towed. Ended up limping back home under 40mph.

Sunday morning after the snow started melting gave me a chance to visually inspect but I couldn't see anything. I ended up taking to Audi to diagnosis. After 15miles of driving in the car with the tech, we couldn't reproduce the sound.

After talking with the tech, all we could come up with were theories about the drastic temp difference and potential freezing parts. Potential corrosion. Or even ice/snow accumulation in the brakes...


Have any of you experienced this in snow/cold weather? Any thoughts or theories of your own?

[Pothole]

that is truly bizarre, the only thing that as ever been effected from extreme cold is my E-brake getting frozen on
but this doesn't really sound like that, you would have smelled it

[Mr_Goodkat]

I'm glad you just mentioned that, because we did notice a burning odor the first time I pulled over. However the 2nd, 3rd and 4th time pulling over and hearing the sound we didn't smell anything.

Happy that is wasn't anything serious, but I now find myself extremely cautious driving and constantly questioning what the hell was causing the sound.

[DNasty777]

I had a metal clanging when going around a soft, long left turn and couldn't for the life of me figure it out. Turned out one of the rubber exhaust hangers broke and a hanger was hitting the drive shaft. You could check yours and see if its something like that.

[Mr_Goodkat]

I had a metal clanging when going around a soft, long left turn and couldn't for the life of me figure it out. Turned out one of the rubber exhaust hangers broke and a hanger was hitting the drive shaft. You could check yours and see if its something like that.

One of the first things I checked (Still thinking it was a potental exhaust issue). When I was installing my new exhaust few months ago, noticed the hangers provided were literally touching my drive shaft. Had to shorten those badboys pretty significantly to provide clearance. Didn't notice any rub or fresh scraps on the shaft when I inspected it Sunday morning.

[JoshDub]

Posting pictures of your girlfriend may help in providing a quicker response to your problem.

[a4_matt]

Posting pictures of your girlfriend may help in providing a quicker response to your problem.

Hahaha....

[ilko]

Posting pictures of your girlfriend in aforementioned outfit may help in providing a quicker response to your problem.

Fixed it for you

[nein-reis]

Posting pictures of your girlfriend may help in providing a quicker response to your problem.

Ah ha ha ha ha!!!! Win.

[Mr_Goodkat]

Hahaha.... It was only a matter of time before I knew that request/demand was going to be made.

[JA4]

You can't mention hot 'n' whore'ish without giving us a visual

[widgget]

i had that sound too! was the AC hose that runs across the front under the engine with the front swaybar. the metal side that is attached to the AC pump was ripped right out of the pump so i just chopped the other side off. AC hasn't worked since i got the car anyway so i'm just going to mark this down as a weight reduction mod and leave it as is. my AC system has been empty for about 5 years, do i have to worry about the pump wearing out and having belt issues? that's my only concern.

[FORCE_FED_DUB]

It is most likely your exhaust hangers hitting the driveshaft, it gets worse as different parts shrink/expand due to difference in temperature, such as driving through deep water or snow.

[n7plus1]

22

[Mr_Goodkat]

It is most likely your exhaust hangers hitting the driveshaft, it gets worse as different parts shrink/expand due to difference in temperature, such as driving through deep water or snow.

This seems to be the most logical of possibilities which lead me to checking the hangers/exhaust first. However would the speed (40mph+) factor play that big of a role? I guess the faster I was traveling, the more sway and movement causing them to rub more on the driveshaft.

[Pothole]

it would be more related to RPM than speed, maybe its when you are going 40, you hit that sweet spot, you could try hitting 40 at different gears, see if that affects it

[Mr_Goodkat]

it would be more related to RPM than speed, maybe its when you are going 40, you hit that sweet spot, you could try hitting 40 at different gears, see if that affects it

After the 2nd time I had to pull over, I did exactly that in attempts of trying to remove any transmission potential from my mental checklist of causing the problem. 3rd, 4th and 5th gear all reproduced the same sound (and same level of severity) at the 40mph mark while roughly between 3500-2000 RPM's respective to the gear.

[old guy]

It is most likely your exhaust hangers hitting the driveshaft, it gets worse as different parts shrink/expand due to difference in temperature, such as driving through deep water or snow.

Ding ding ding!! Winner winner chicken dinner!! Clicky click

[FORCE_FED_DUB]

it would be more related to RPM than speed, maybe its when you are going 40, you hit that sweet spot, you could try hitting 40 at different gears, see if that affects it

The driveshaft RPM is directly linked to wheel speed, not engine RPM

[Mr_Goodkat]

Ding ding ding!! Winner winner chicken dinner!! Clicky click

Much appreciated Old Guy for the link and the "how-to" fix. If I recall correctly from previous exhaust posts, you have the Borla set up correct? That's what I have and noticed immediately on install the rub. I'll have to get back under there and attempt your solution to this problem.

As always, thanks everyone for the help!

[old guy]

Much appreciated Old Guy for the link and the "how-to" fix. If I recall correctly from previous exhaust posts, you have the Borla set up correct? That's what I have and noticed immediately on install the rub. I'll have to get back under there and attempt your solution to this problem.

As always, thanks everyone for the help!

Yep, I have a Borla. The infamous Borla Screech.