Water sound behind dash

[FrozenCommunist]

Has this every happened to any of you? About 3 days ago, as I drove off in the morning (wasn't particularly cold), about 2-3 minutes into my drive I heard a water sound behind my dash. The best way to describe it is hearing water in a pipe behind the drywall in your house after someone flushed a toilet or used the sink. This went on for about 10 seconds.

I've driven everyday since, and when it's cold and this sound never came back. I read this could be air in the coolant system, but everything seems to be ok and it's never come back.

Anyone else experience this?

[Weener]

Not sure I had the same problem as you but my B5 A4 had water sloshing sounds when I drove. Problem ended up being leaves falling onto my car and they clogged some drainage by the windshield. When rain water fell on the car it ended up getting routed into the ventilation and it ended up getting bad enough where water ended up gushing out into the footwells. You may want to check leaf buildup between the windshield and hood.


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[FrozenCommunist]

Not sure I had the same problem as you but my B5 A4 had water sloshing sounds when I drove. Problem ended up being leaves falling onto my car and they clogged some drainage by the windshield. When rain water fell on the car it ended up getting routed into the ventilation and it ended up getting bad enough where water ended up gushing out into the footwells. You may want to check leaf buildup between the windshield and hood.


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Thanks. I'll check it out when I get home to make sure there aren't leaves or debris in there.

[AudiS4TW]

That's normal. Don't worry about it.


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[schirm]

I definitely think I have this sound now and then. I have looked into it and could not find anything.

[Acejam]

This happened to my friend's 2014 S4 as well. Shortly thereafter, his thermostat went and the radiator somehow began leaking. I'd pop the hood and take a quick peak if I were you. When this happened, his car did display a trouble/error message.

[schirm]

Not sure I had the same problem as you but my B5 A4 had water sloshing sounds when I drove. Problem ended up being leaves falling onto my car and they clogged some drainage by the windshield. When rain water fell on the car it ended up getting routed into the ventilation and it ended up getting bad enough where water ended up gushing out into the footwells. You may want to check leaf buildup between the windshield and hood.


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I had this same issue with my B7 it fried my ecu or something. Audi tried denying warranty because they said I must live by trees and that's not their fault.. They ended up paying

[Wusty]

All 3 of my B8 S4's have done this....2010, 2013 & 2014.....it's just how they sound. Normal.

[AudiS4TW]

The only time I heard this in my car was when I had the A/C running in the summer. If it's louder than usual then I would have it checked. Otherwise you could also just be overly sensitive in hearing it as I was when I first encountered it. The thermostat issue is typically a B8 problem. I haven't heard it being the case for B8.5 all that much.


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[kcrunch]

I have heard that sound frequently since my car was new. I'm at 31k with no problems, so I think it's normal.

[S4'ed]

I just recently noticed this too. It is bubbles in the coolant making noise as it flows thru the heater core. I will try to bleed it. I suspect that when the waterpump and thermostat was replaced (at 5000 miles, previous owner), the Audi Tech did not properly bleed the air out (there are 3 or 4 bleeder screws).

And no, my noise is not from clogged rain water drains in the cowl...it is all dry in there....

Does anybody have this noise on a later S4 (where the coolant is the original factory fill, and the waterpump and thermostat were never replaced like earlier S4s) ??

[schirm]

Im glad you made this thread, because I always thought I was crazy when I heard this noise.

[robdog289]

I just heard this the other day. LOL glad it is normal and not just me hearing things!!

[PitchS4]

leaves

[schirm]

leaves

You may just be right. Leaves stuck under there sliding back and forth.

[S4'ed]

No leaves in my cowl...I checked that...

[MaxxS4]

Mine does this every morning on a cold start. It sounds like fast dripping.

[tanklee]

i had a customers car make that noise when ac was on, i checked refrigent level and it was a little low. so i ended up recharging the ac, and never heard the sound again. i would try that if it happens when the ac is on and after you checked the coolant system.

edit:

nvm no one uses the ac up there now since its getting cold lol

[Daily Driver]

Thought of this thread yesterday morning when I heard the sound for the first time... sounded like someone left the kitchen sink on or something!! It was pretty cold out and in the first 5-7 minutes of my drive, right after a pretty quick acceleration from 0-50. Haven't heard it again yet.

[Jones2012s4]

This is normal.

Search you will find plenty of threads describing this sound.

Has been happening to my car for 3 years.

[blk18tq]

mine sounds like the windshield wiper moves, but doesn't, every time on a coldstart when i leave the house, mines a 2010

[Zman84]

The only time my 2011 made severe water sloshing noise was when the head gasket was blown. Dealer initially thought it was air in the coolant system, but after further analysis they discovered not only a blown head gasket, but cylinder wall damage as well. Had to replace the entire long block under warranty. however all this was the result of thermostat failure and overheating.

Suggest you get it checked out as before and after my incident, the car made no water sloshing sounds. In fact it would be ridiculous for that sound to be normal in any car, much less a $50k+ car...more than likely there's air in the coolant system that needs to be flushed out.

[Jones2012s4]

The only time my 2011 made severe water sloshing noise was when the head gasket was blown. Dealer initially thought it was air in the coolant system, but after further analysis they discovered not only a blown head gasket, but cylinder wall damage as well. Had to replace the entire long block under warranty. however all this was the result of thermostat failure and overheating.

Suggest you get it checked out as before and after my incident, the car made no water sloshing sounds. In fact it would be ridiculous for that sound to be normal in any car, much less a $50k+ car...more than likely there's air in the coolant system that needs to be flushed out.

THIS IS NOT a blown head gasket. This is a normal sound.

[Zman84]

THIS IS NOT a blown head gasket. This is a normal sound.

If you are speaking from experience as I am, then we must be talking about completely different sounds. Not to mention I did not insist that the noise is limited to a blown head gasket.

[Jones2012s4]

If you are speaking from experience as I am, then we must be talking about completely different sounds. Not to mention I did not insist that the noise is limited to a blown head gasket.

Yes, experience with this car, this forum, and research.

The OPs car is fine, his head gasket is fine, the sound is normal. Not only is there not ONE single documented case of a blown headgasket, but the OP would be experiencing worse issues than some "sloshing behind the dash".

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

[dizzlesizzle]

have the same sound on mine, usually on cold days. what gets me is that sometimes on cold days for some reason there is condensation inside the cabin and then freezes on the inside of my windshield. gotta wait for about 10-15 min for defrosters to heat up for it to go away. anyone else get this on the inside of the windshield?

[Crucible35]

Yes, experience with this car, this forum, and research.

The OPs car is fine, his head gasket is fine, the sound is normal. Not only is there not ONE single documented case of a blown headgasket, but the OP would be experiencing worse issues than some "sloshing behind the dash".

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Water+sound

Just had my car in the dealership the other day for this. It is not normal.....of course, depending on the level of the sound, yours may be different....mine sounds like a river running through my dash. Make sure to keep an eye on your coolant level. Mine started with the river, then mysterious misfires, then a very gradual drop in coolant. They said they couldn't find a leak in the system or an issue with the heater core but wanted to check the water jacket and cylinders....for $1175. I said no thanks. Keep in mind that this is on my 2009 A4, not S4.

I will be looking into an independent to see whether they can at least properly diagnose.

[S4'ed]

A bad head gasket could allow cylinder compression to force air into the coolant passages, and those are the bubbles you hear in the heater-core, behind the dash. As the engine heats up, the gasket seals better, and the air leakage stops.

I had this exact same thing happen on a 2005 Passat 1.8T, around 85000 miles.. The first sign of the head gasket failure was the heater-core bubble noises, which subsided as the engine warmed-up. At first, I tried to bleed the air out of the coolant system, but the bubble-noise problem returned the next day. This engine had never overheated, and I owned the car since new. Eventually, the coolant would leak into one of the cylinders, seeping in, when the hot engine was shut off, and sat overnight to cool. When it was cold restarted, it then had a misfire in that cylinder until the coolant was cleared out. http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...t=awm+misfires

[shortgamewizard]

I think you're looking at one of the following:

*Air In The Coolant System as a couple of guys above mentioned
*Bad Heater Core
*Coolant Leak (Less Likely Unless Your Windshield Is Fogging Up,
You Would Smell It Also).

One thing about it, it's not normal.

[cookinsolo]

pretty sure its normal, mine does this noise on every cold start rev, no issues at all though

[303LSU]

That sound on most cars is usually a little bit of air in the cooling system. It can happen when you get low on coolant, or don't open the heater controls and purge all the air out of the heater core when you do a coolant flush. It can also happen if you have a cooling system that will purge excess coolant to the atmosphere if the reservoir gets too full. Get your coolant up to the proper level drive around for about 10 minutes with the heater on full hot and then bleed the system. NEVER open a hot radiator, and use caution when opening a reservoir with the engine hot. A lot of people seem to have this issue on Audis, and a little air in the system is usually not a big deal, but making sure the system is full and bleeding it a couple times can't hurt.

[bpang1]

My car with all of 300 miles on it has this sound.

I attributed it to the Supercharger coolant moving through at start up. It sounds very similar to my PC's liquid cooling system (on a bigger scale obviously) so I know it is just coolant starting to cycle through the system.

[cookinsolo]

thanks for the feedback

[sturte30]

Yep mine makes the same sounds in the winter when its cold.

[srt2evo]

It's normal and happens to mine when cold. Just cracked 2600 miles.

[Meinbeast]

I have had my 2011 s4 for 6 months and it never made this sound. Well, just had my thermostat replaced this week and as I drove off the service lot it started making this noise. It went away after about 10 minutes of driving around. I checked the coolant level and it is much higher than the max line.

I will check to see if this happens again tomorrow.

If so... Should I take back to the dealer to have them bleed/flush the coolant lines to rid them of air bubbles???

[jygesq]

i have had my 2011 s4 for 6 months and it never made this sound. Well, just had my thermostat replaced this week and as i drove off the service lot it started making this noise. It went away after about 10 minutes of driving around. I checked the coolant level and it is much higher than the max line.

I will check to see if this happens again tomorrow.

If so... Should i take back to the dealer to have them bleed/flush the coolant lines to rid them of air bubbles???

yes you must bleed system,

[laakness]

I have this sound as well and will mention it at my 15k service though I've heard it in the wife's car as well as my previous S4.

[cookinsolo]

I have this sound as well and will mention it at my 15k service though I've heard it in the wife's car as well as my previous S4.

I'm going to get the dealership to bleed the coolant system while its under warranty. my blindspot lights aren't working anymore either, so i'm getting them to take care of those 2 things for me at once. mines a 2010 though.

[Chandler]

Mine does it too. I suspect it is just the T-Stat opening.....