LordOfTheRings
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Hello folks! I'm very happy I found this forum, it actually looks alive and active unlike my regional forums. So I hope I can join the club even though I'm not from your part of the globe 
So, I've got a late 2003 A4 B6 sedan, FWD (not quattro), 1.8T (BFB, 163 hp), stick, 127 000 miles, and it's my first car. Beats the korean cars hands down (I've got to drive two recently).
I've got 3 questions about 3 odd sounds I've noticed the car make. Of course, I did not notice them during numerous drives with the previous owner. Does anything in my [vague] description sound familiar to you?
1. This is best described as a very quiet rasping or gritting non-periodic sound under the hood. Really quiet but distinct. It appears and disappears randomly (the on/off interval is on the order of dozen seconds). Doesn't seem to be coming from the engine (I hope that's a good sign?). I'm 95% sure it's coming from this area: http://i.imgur.com/hrFTaZ0.jpg?1
2. I don't have much experience, but this is certainly the most odd sound I've ever heard in car. It's a reasonably quiet hum that seems to be coming from the car's rear after braking with the main brake from decent speed (like stopping on a traffic light from 30 MPH or more). Sometimes it lasts for a couple seconds after I release the brake and stop; once it lasted a dozen seconds after I completely stopped and put the car in neutral. The sound is definitely related to braking. My colleague (a very experienced driver who's teaching me to drive) has said: "It's as if something spins up as we brake, then takes time to run out and hums while spinning". I assured him the car has no KERS system - because that could explain the noise
3. There's a squeaking sound coming from the front of the car when I'm trying to put load on the engine and the RPM are way too low. Example: I shift from 2nd to 3rd too soon, there's 800 RPM on tachometer, I press the accelerator and the squeaking starts as the engine is unable to accelerate the car because it has no torque at such low RPM. It doesn't happen over 1100 RPM where the engine starts making torque. The sound is very similar to squeaking of the power steering belt that my colleagues has had in his car for a long time. In fact, I think it is a belt, just don't know which one and whether or not I should be alarmed.
Of note: I have attended a service station before purchasing the car and got a pretty long list of things to fix. Among them was the generator belt. I have not replaced it yet. Could that be it?
P. S. I should not let the RPMs drop too low as I'm cruising, right? That harms the engine? I've noticed that the engine makes good torque at 1200 already and I have no problem accelerating from those RPM on the second gear, or even starting to move from standstill. And that's probably a bad thing because the engine doesn't signal me that I'm doing something wrong so I must pay special attention to the revs. So, what's my lowest target I shouldn't fall under? 1500 RPM, perhaps?..
So, I've got a late 2003 A4 B6 sedan, FWD (not quattro), 1.8T (BFB, 163 hp), stick, 127 000 miles, and it's my first car. Beats the korean cars hands down (I've got to drive two recently).
I've got 3 questions about 3 odd sounds I've noticed the car make. Of course, I did not notice them during numerous drives with the previous owner. Does anything in my [vague] description sound familiar to you?
1. This is best described as a very quiet rasping or gritting non-periodic sound under the hood. Really quiet but distinct. It appears and disappears randomly (the on/off interval is on the order of dozen seconds). Doesn't seem to be coming from the engine (I hope that's a good sign?). I'm 95% sure it's coming from this area: http://i.imgur.com/hrFTaZ0.jpg?1
2. I don't have much experience, but this is certainly the most odd sound I've ever heard in car. It's a reasonably quiet hum that seems to be coming from the car's rear after braking with the main brake from decent speed (like stopping on a traffic light from 30 MPH or more). Sometimes it lasts for a couple seconds after I release the brake and stop; once it lasted a dozen seconds after I completely stopped and put the car in neutral. The sound is definitely related to braking. My colleague (a very experienced driver who's teaching me to drive) has said: "It's as if something spins up as we brake, then takes time to run out and hums while spinning". I assured him the car has no KERS system - because that could explain the noise
3. There's a squeaking sound coming from the front of the car when I'm trying to put load on the engine and the RPM are way too low. Example: I shift from 2nd to 3rd too soon, there's 800 RPM on tachometer, I press the accelerator and the squeaking starts as the engine is unable to accelerate the car because it has no torque at such low RPM. It doesn't happen over 1100 RPM where the engine starts making torque. The sound is very similar to squeaking of the power steering belt that my colleagues has had in his car for a long time. In fact, I think it is a belt, just don't know which one and whether or not I should be alarmed.
Of note: I have attended a service station before purchasing the car and got a pretty long list of things to fix. Among them was the generator belt. I have not replaced it yet. Could that be it?
P. S. I should not let the RPMs drop too low as I'm cruising, right? That harms the engine? I've noticed that the engine makes good torque at 1200 already and I have no problem accelerating from those RPM on the second gear, or even starting to move from standstill. And that's probably a bad thing because the engine doesn't signal me that I'm doing something wrong so I must pay special attention to the revs. So, what's my lowest target I shouldn't fall under? 1500 RPM, perhaps?..
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