Strut Bearings on 2009 Audi A4

[ArdAtak]

Hi Everyone,
New Audi owner here. I have a 2009 A4 Quattro with 2.0 Liter, 4 cylinder engine.

I've been hearing an odd knocking sound from the front left suspension when I go over speed bumps and sometimes when accelerating or going uphill (I guess anything that causes lift to the front end). I took it to 2 different mechanics and both claimed they couldn't repro the issue but visual inspection of everything (control arms, strut mounts, etc.) was solid and everything seemed OK. In both cases, I had to drive the vehicle to show them the noise and they just defaulted to the problem being the struts, more by process of elimination and the fact that the inside of the struts is the only thing they can't see.

But just based on the nature of the sound, I have a suspicion that it might be the strut bearings, but I might be speaking out of ignorance since when I went to inspect the strut bearings from under the hood and all I saw was a metallic mound which is basically the same color and part of the car body. I was expecting to see a plastic cap that I could remove and see the strut bearing. But this wasn't the case. I could still see the 4 strut mount bolts. 2 of them accessible directly and the 2 closer to the windshield require removal of the weather strip and plastic cover by the windshield. They also require removal of the windshield wiper fluid pour tank (not the container itself) if you want to work on them.

I can post pictures if anyone's interested but I suspect you experts know what I'm talking about.

My question is: Is there even a strut bearing in this scenario? If so, how does one access it? Also, can the problem be anything other than struts? I could be wrong but I feel that the diagnosis by the mechanics was a bit lazy and uninformed (neither specialized in European cars).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[SimbadCA]

Last spring I was investigating a different noise and found a leaky strut on my 2007 B7A4. I replaced all four with new springs. Never did I find any bearing that you speaking of. Perhaps rubber bushings?



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[SimbadCA]

We're always learning something new. I've now found that on some strut designs, there is a strut bearing located/accessible within the rubber bushing above the spring. The bushing is within the strut tower and appears to only be accessible when you've removed the strut assembly, and the nut at the top of the strut. Hope this helps.