Hello,

First of all, I did do a search but I really couldn’t find anything that answered any questions, so please don’t beat me up if this is answered somewhere!!

Hopefully somebody can give me a couple of ideas on what I should check out. My car makes a strange gurgling noise every once in a while. It seems to happen when it’s raining and if you go through a puddle, but not always. The other day it started making the noise while on the highway, no rain and about an hour into a trip. It almost sounds like an exhaust problem because the exhaust gets louder and kind of sounds like it is breaking up. It often clears itself out within a few miles. This time it cleared up after I lowered my speed for a couple miles and then was fine the rest of the trip.

I just bought the car in January. It is a 2004 A4 USP. 1.8T. Quattro. Rennen Tuning Exhaust. I’m pretty sure it is chipped but don’t know with what or what else has been done to it. Looks like it has the stock diverter valve. Car had a brand new diverter valve in the trunk not installed. We finally figured out how to get under the car yesterday (it has been lowered) and we couldn’t find anything in the exhaust that was lose so that blew our theory of an exhaust leak. Any ideas? Could this be a diverter valve problem?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!!

Mary

BTW - anybody know where I can get some cheap ramps for a lowered car and also a cheap jack?

 

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/misc8.shtml

Does that sound like it?

 

No, unfortunately not. The closest that I can compare it to is a 2-stroke motorcycle with an exhaust leak or one that is running too rich, then bogs down and eventually clears itself out. Yet, this gurgle doesn't seem to affect power, at least nothing noticeable. Bad catalytic converter? It really sounds exhaust related because the exhaust does get louder and then it smooths out.