New Owner + wheel problem

G

gmc

Member
Hi,

Its my first post having recently bought an A2 (2004 1.6 FSI SE Colour.Storm). Initial impressions are that its a great little car,- a real design classic and many thanks to this club / site for helping to inform our decision to buy one.

I drove the car last night after my wife had been using it during the day (without any apparent issues) and noticed within a few metres a knocking sound that seemed to come from the wheels / suspension. I stopped the car and sure enough one tyre was under-inflated (0.5 bar). I checked for nails etc in the tyre but couldn't find any and pumped it back up and noticed it deflate slowly over the next few hours.

This morning, the plan was to pump the tyre up and drive to the local tyre centre (just down the road) and have it replaced. However with the tyre fully inflated I still got the knocking sound. From a visual inspection the tyre centre couldn't locate the puncture and didn't have a matching tyre in stock to replace it anyway. Any thoughts re the knocking? Could the wheel itself be deformed?

Gary
 
Welcome to the club. If your colour.storm has the 17" Sport alloy option then buckled alloys are quite common. However its more likely to be anti roll bar bushes. Do a search for 'anti roll bar' and you'll find loads to read on this.

If you bought from a garage get it back to them pronto. If it was a private sale I dont think the ARB are an expensive fix and very DIY' able if you are handy enough (speaking as someone who isn't:eek:) Luckily my ARB's were done just prior to me buying our A2.
 
Oops, didnt read your post properly! :eek: If the tyre deflated again with no obvious sign of puncture you'd better run it into your local tyre place. A quick spin on the wheel balancer will prove if its buckled, or if its really bad you will see the deformation straight away. Good luck, and if thats the problem remember you can get wheels straightened out before you hit eBay looking for a replacement. Dealers are out for replacement wheels, theyre about £200 each! :eek:
 
Problem solved!

I had the punctured wheel (front offside) on the balancer and it showed nothing untoward. I went ahead and ordered a replacement tyre and at the same time decided to get the other 3 changed as they were fairly worn. During replacement ANOTHER puncture was apparent this time on the rear tyre. However this was due to what looked like a bit of old timber lathing (the sort that internal walls used to be made out of) which comprised a nail passing through a 30mm x 6mm piece of timber. The tyre had been holding pressure perfectly so I didn't suspect it and the lathing was on the innermost part of the tyre and out of view. The timber was responsible for the knocking sensation as the car was driven.

Regarding the new tyres, after some research I went for the Uniroyal Rainsport2. These have received some very good reviews and are reasonably priced (about £10-15 cheaper than the Pirellis). They also seem to offer better rim protection which is important as those 17 in alloys are very vulnerable!
 
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