[Revs2777]

Bought a mk2 TT Roadster on Saturday and am doing a long road trip currently. Had a mechanic look it over and do a full report. Car is a 2.O, 2007 with around 70k miles.

Some questions from my first 1000 miles on the road:

1. Car judders on the motorway when going over 80. Can't tell if it the engine, wheels or motorway itself doing that to the car over that speed, but I can feel and hear the juddering approaching 80 and beyond. Normal?

2. Best MPG on the motorway I can get is 36-37. Normal? Doing around 70 mph.

3. Engine is noisy. A little noisy in low gears, noisy on the motorway. Obviously noisy when you put your foot down hard too. It's a nice noise. However is that normal? Sounds like my old car when the exhaust was blowing.

4. When I take my foot off the throttle on the motorway, I hear excess revs suddenly. They then decrease. Normal?

5. Bit of clunky noises when changing from first to second. Normal or an issue?

6. When going in a tunnel, dials illuminate for 3 seconds than go dark with only the needles glowing red. Normal?

Cheers.

 

[Wormrider]

Wouldn’t be surprised if the judders are from your tyres.

 

[Revs2777]

Wouldn’t be surprised if the judders are from your tyres.

As part of the bargaining for the car, the dealer put on 4 brand new Pirelli P Zeros and also made the mechanics to a realignment. Had the receipts and I could see the tires were new on. The previous tires were a disaster. Perhaps the realignment guy didn't do his job properly? The vibration is through the steering and can also feel it in the pedals.

 

[FNChaos]

Yeah, juddering at a specific speed is usually a tire / wheel balance issue.
Vibration is felt when the wheel hits a resonate frequency. Sometimes you get a bad tire or a bent rim that can't quite be balanced. There are special "road force" balancers that can get the job done but not every shop had one.

1. No
2. Yes
3. Maybe. Could be normal, depends on potential mods or could be leaks
4. No, if manual sounds like clutch slipping. If DSG 'maybe' if tuned to downshift
5. No
6. Yes

Your mechanic seems to have missed a lot of potetial issues.

 

[TT'sRevenge]

1. Get the wheels balanced, all four. 90% of the time this would be your problem. However it could be other things as well, but this is something to do first before going any further. Edit: Before I posted I see you replied they are brand new tyres, so they should have been balanced upon mounting. In this case it's still possible the balancer is out of cal. and produced out of balance results, or it's simply something else. Is the car a quattro of FWD car?

2. Yeah pretty normal, you can increase your FE a little by using higher tyre pressures than suggested. Also things to do to maximise the engine's efficiency are going to be simple things like new fuel filter and air filter (if needed), to more involved service like pulling the intake and doing a carbon clean on the valves.

3. I don't think it should be too noisy but some cars have a "noise pipe" in the intake piping intentionally...to make more noise. If yours has this, you can remove it and replace with the non-noise pipe parts. You have to look at your intake piping to see if you have it or not.

4. Is the car a DSG or a clutch-pedal manual?
5. Same as above.

6. Yes if you don't have the auto headlights it does this by design--it's basically to "remind you to turn on the headlights".

 

[SwissJetPilot]

To help you understand what's going on with the engine, transmission and everything else, an OBDII diagnostic scan would be the first place to start looking for possible fault codes to help figure out what's going on. Otherwise it's just a lot of guessing.

Most Forum members recommend VCDS or OBDeleven since they are coded specifically for VAG software. As a Roadster owner, if you run into problems with the top, VCDS is the only option since OBDeleven doesn't support the Adaptation required for the top - see link below on the Roof Flap Servo R&R.

However for everyday scans and fault diagnostics, OBDeleven can manage just fine. I have both and use the OBDeleven more often since it's simply more convenient and it lives in my glove box -

FAQ - OBDII Diagnostic Device Reviews

For the purpose of this discussion the term "OBDII Diagnostic Device" includes any diagnostic device that can be used to interrogate and report on the status of the electronic system of the Mk1, Mk2 or Mk3 TT by means of the OBD port. For the specific details on the differences between VCDS and...

www.ttforum.co.uk

Before you take off on your long trip, be sure the Crank Arm Tool is under the air pump and that it's not broken. You may want to try a manual open/close before you go so you know how it works. It's not difficult, but it's also not something you want to learn do to at night, in the rain, in the middle of no where! Here's a good read from The posts below will provide you with a ton of information on the Roadster.

For some specific information from Audi on the Mk2 Convertible top operation not included in the owner's manual click here.

FAQ - The Ultimate Audi TT Mk2 (8J) Roadster Compendium

Written specifically for anyone interested in the Audi TT Mk2 Roadster, this post covers the majority of issues, questions, and problems encountered with the soft top. There's also some trouble shooting topics and links to Audi publications and Technical Service Bulletins (TSB). Section Index -...

www.ttforum.co.uk

FAQ - Mk2 Roadster Compendium of Convertible Top...

This first link will take you to a comprehensive post on all things associated with the Roadster. For anyone new to the Forum, this is probably the best place to learn all about your Mk2 Roadster. FAQ - The Ultimate Audi TT Mk2 (8J) Roadster Compendium https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtop...

www.ttforum.co.uk

To avoid problems with the top later on, it's highly recommended to do the Roof Flap Servo R&R as soon as possible. Even if the top is operating okay now, the Roof Flap Servos are the major cause of convertible top top operation failures. Cleaning out the excess grease will reduce the risk of problems later on and it's a pretty easy DIY job -

How to: Audi TT Mk2 (8J) Convertible Roof Flap Servo R&R

Scope - One of the most common problems with the roof not working is due to a fault code from the convertible top Roof Flap Servos (RFS). If your top suddenly stops working, or doesn't open or close all the way, or if the windows and the top stop working correctly odds are good one or both of...

www.ttforum.co.uk

 

[Revs2777]

Firstly, thanks for all your responses.

To answer a your questions:
The car is a clutch pedal manual and FWD. The clunk of the gear slipping into second is the only time I hear the noise. The mechanic said he carried out a diagnostics but didn't state which. The company is quite famous - click mechanic - but sadly varies in quality from mechanic to mechanic.

There was one other issue that I forgot to mention:

7. There is some play in the steering around an inch each way when the car is pointed true. In this position steering is very loose withing those 2 inches and can move around it a bit on the motorway.

 

[Hoggy]

Firstly, thanks for all your responses.

To answer a your questions:
The car is a clutch pedal manual and FWD. The clunk of the gear slipping into second is the only time I hear the noise. The mechanic said he carried out a diagnostics but didn't state which. The company is quite famous - click mechanic - but sadly varies in quality from mechanic to mechanic.

There was one other issue that I forgot to mention:

7. There is some play in the steering around an inch each way when the car is pointed true. In this position steering is very loose withing those 2 inches and can move around it a bit on the motorway.

Hi, Get the front sub-frame bolts checked out for security & probably replacement.
Hoggy.

 

[TT'sRevenge]

Firstly, thanks for all your responses.

To answer a your questions:
The car is a clutch pedal manual and FWD. The clunk of the gear slipping into second is the only time I hear the noise. The mechanic said he carried out a diagnostics but didn't state which. The company is quite famous - click mechanic - but sadly varies in quality from mechanic to mechanic.

Hmm that's weird. When the car is in motion, the engine RPM should always match the speed of the car on the road. That is, for a given gear ratio, final drive ratio, axle ratio, and set of tyres, the RPM of the engine should always be the same at the same road speed. Both the DSG and manual should behave like this (a torque-converter automatic might not since the torque converter comes into play).

What is the vehicle speed doing when you sense this RPM increase? Also is it an increase you see on the tach or just that you feel it's increasing? There's a phenomena called "rev hang" which occurs because in modern cars the fuel is not shut off as soon as you lift your foot, it's delayed. This is done for emissions reasons. Some cars it's really bad (you can read all about WRX rev hang lol), but I've never heard this to be a big issue with these cars (TT, Golf, etc.), though it's not like I drive one daily to say for sure. It's also usually most noticeable in shifting because it's annoying waiting for the revs to drop--if you don't notice it there this would probably not be the cause but thought I would mention it.

Other thing I can think of would be the clutch slipping and this would be indicated by the RPM changing but the vehicle speed not changing.

There was one other issue that I forgot to mention:

7. There is some play in the steering around an inch each way when the car is pointed true. In this position steering is very loose withing those 2 inches and can move around it a bit on the motorway.

This one should be simple enough to find. You'll have to check/have checked all the steering and suspension joints and bolts to make sure nothing is loose. Most commonly I'd say this would be worn tie rod ends but could also almost anything suspension-related--subframe bolts as Hoggy mentioned, bushings, ball joints, etc. Any of that stuff that's loose or worn could cause this.

Hopefully you can get the important ones sorted by Saturday!

 

[Revs2777]

So it seems they just put on new tires and did no balancing, I guess these weights still on the wheels are for the old tires. Do I get them removed? Are these the problem? Will the tire balancing guy know what to do? Cheers.

 

[Steviejones133]

Wheels should be balanced when tyres are changed. Can’t believe someone changed tyres and didn’t rebalance them, that’s stupidity! The people or person doing it should really remove all old weights and apply new ones when rebalancing them….

 

[SwissJetPilot]

New tires have two marks; a red and yellow dot...more on that below and why these are important when balancing tires. Congrats on finding a wheel shops who's evidently hired the town idiot to mount tires.

Are your “tire dots” where they should be?

Tire manufacturers recommend the correct positioning of the red and yellow dots with respect to certain “landmarks” on both steel and alloy wheels. These dots can be used to mount tires for optimum initial balance and minimum ride disturbance – where the dots go depends on which dots – and which wheels you have.

First, if the tire has a red dot, the yellow dot is ignored! The red dot is then lined up with either the “low point dimple” (on steel wheels) or next to the valve stem on alloy wheels. Regardless of the type of wheel, if there is no red dot, the yellow dot is positioned next to the valve stem.

Why do the tire dots go where they do?

Simply put – the tire is a bit lighter in the area where the yellow dot is located, and a bit thicker where the red dot is located. On an alloy wheel, the valve stem marks the heavy point of the wheel. By matching the light point of the tire with the heavy point of the wheel it’s likely to give the best initial balance.

On a steel wheel the low point dimple marks the thinner part of the wheel – so it makes sense to match the red dot to the wheel dimple. Abiding by these guidelines results in a precise – uniform placing and usage of wheel weights when balancing your vehicle’s tires.

 

[Revs2777]

Just looks a mess..

Rear:

 

[SamoaChris]

Those weights look new to me, given that the OP has already done a thousand miles. That steering issue is a concern and can't believe it wasn't picked up by the "mechanic".

You're a braver man than me embarking on a major trip in an unproven car especially given the issues that are already manifesting themselves.

Edit: I see you've posted another photo, in which it does look as though an old weight has been left, though it is difficult to tell given the brake dust. This might be alright though? I had a full set of new tyres fitted by my Audi dealer and noticed the odd old weight left on and others removed and I have no vibrations at all with the wheels feeling perfectly balanced. As others have said, first port of call is to get them rebalanced to eliminate that.

As a comparison, my car is also a 2.0 FWD and when I lift off I don't get any increase in revs. That must feel really weird and not what you want!

 

[Revs2777]

Well, got the wheels re-balanced in Athens. 30 euros. All wheels were fine except left front which was unbalanced and they added 25 grams of weight to at specific points. Will see in a few days on the motorway if it worked.

BTW, southern Athens is the spiritual home of the TT Roadster, you see one every few yards..

 

[Revs2777]

What is the vehicle speed doing when you sense this RPM increase? Also is it an increase you see on the tach or just that you feel it's increasing? There's a phenomena called "rev hang" which occurs because in modern cars the fuel is not shut off as soon as you lift your foot, it's delayed. This is done for emissions reasons. Some cars it's really bad (you can read all about WRX rev hang lol), but I've never heard this to be a big issue with these cars (TT, Golf, etc.), though it's not like I drive one daily to say for sure. It's also usually most noticeable in shifting because it's annoying waiting for the revs to drop--if you don't notice it there this would probably not be the cause but thought I would mention it.

Around 60 to 80. Take foot of gas and "vroommmmm...." Revs don't seem to increase on the tach.

 

[TT'sRevenge]

BTW, southern Athens is the spiritual home of the TT Roadster, you see one every few yards..

Nice. But Athens, Greece? I thought #1 sales area for TT was...the UK?

Around 60 to 80. Take foot of gas and "vroommmmm...." Revs don't seem to increase on the tach.

Right but I mean does the vehicle speed increase? Seems if the revs don't increase on the tach it might just be a feeling you're getting rather than a real concern. That said, some of the instruments do "lie" for reasons of owner calming and gauge smoothness lol. For example the temp gauge will show 90C even if the coolant temp is like 20C higher than that. In order to see the true RPM you can use any OBD reader (even a generic one and a general app like Torque, etc.) to see the real RPM.

 

[Revs2777]

Nice. But Athens, Greece? I thought #1 sales area for TT was...the UK?


Right but I mean does the vehicle speed increase? Seems if the revs don't increase on the tach it might just be a feeling you're getting rather than a real concern. That said, some of the instruments do "lie" for reasons of owner calming and gauge smoothness lol. For example the temp gauge will show 90C even if the coolant temp is like 20C higher than that. In order to see the true RPM you can use any OBD reader (even a generic one and a general app like Torque, etc.) to see the real RPM.

Oh yea, you will see more Z4 mk1's here than anywhere else on earth. The others you see every other car are the TTs all mks (more Roadsters than Coupes) and of course a few Boxsters and Merc drop-tops. Besides that, 1000s of FIAT 500s and Smarts. Many nasty BMW Xs too. A few MX5s but not many. The Athens Riveria is the home of these cars. I tend to notice cars all over the place. This was quite an interesting one today, CR-X:

As was this old M151:

As for the noise, identical noise as to when you down shift from speed to brake. Speed does not increase, just sound. And yes, seems the 90° temp gauge never moves.

 

[Revs2777]

OK, so took her out on the motorway today with the newly rebalanced wheels, problem still there.

So we can cross balancing off the list, what next?

 

[Hoggy]

Hi, Get the front subframe bolts checked for tightness & probably replaced.
Hoggy.