Intermittent bearing noise, water pump, tensioner?

Boostedballs · May 24, 2017

This is my first post! I have been driving my 2003 TDI Jetta with manual trans for a couple years not and I have racked up 40k, now it's at 220k. It's been a great car with 42-46mpg mostly highway driving at 82mph with cruise control set. I parked it until I can fix this weird noise that I have been hearing. I assume is the water pump or another bearing. I can't really tell where the sound is coming from but it sounds like maybe near the firewall but my hearing sucks from working on loud engines and music for too long. I don't think it is the injection pump but I can't be certain.

I found this video on youtube of a 2003 alh and it sounds EXACTLY like my noise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jbKxjaEjpE

The timing belt was supposedly replaced at 120k with German parts and metal impeller, but who knows. The belt itself looks good but that doesn't mean the bearings and pulleys are good. I have a full timing kit ready to install as soon as the weather in Sacramento cools down a bit. (looks like a daunting task compared to my Subarus, which I can do in an hour)
I also have a serpentine tensioner on order just because I read on here that it is a good thing to do after your alternator one-way clutch fails. Mine failed in a spectacular fashion a few months ago. I think the bearings in the alternator seized or there was an internal short. I've never seen an alternator smoke like that! I'm sure that if the engine was greasy, I would have had a car-B-Q. That thing was HOT!

Any ideas on the noise? I need to keep this thing running until my Tesla model 3 shows up

BobnOH · May 24, 2017

Remove the serpentine belt to isolate the noise. If it's still there, run the motor with the upper TB cover off. Use a hose in your ear as a probe.

hey_allen · May 24, 2017

As BobnOH said, remove the serpentine to make sure that the noise maker is on the serpentine path.

I would check your alternator pulley clutch while you have the serpentine belt off, as a common and easily tested potential cause.

YMMV, but when my car started making noise, I found a seized alternator pulley clutch. Apparently it was chirping when the belt was trying to slow and the alternator was still spinning fast enough to slip the belt. I replaced the pulley, and the noise went away.

jgerni · May 24, 2017

You might as well get a Timing Belt job done. It's got 100k+ on it if your numbers are correct. That would take the water pump and several rollers out of the equation as possible issues.

AndyBees · May 24, 2017

I agree .... you've got 100k plus miles on the TB as jgerni pointed out.

A couple of weeks ago the water pump locked up on the 02 ALH engine in my 84 Vanagon. Like you, my hearing sucks. I'd been hearing a chirp for a few weeks. I thought it was the small top roller on the TB. I changed that roller with an old used one... still had the same sound........ fast forward to about two weeks and all hell engulfed the TB area. I got lucky due to stopping to drop off a friend. That's when I made the discovery.

Here is a link to the Thread about my incident: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=477422

Foot note: Cruise at about 75 mph and your MPGs will improve greatly!

Boostedballs · Jun 11, 2017

Well, the sound was still there with the serpentine belt removed so I replaced the timing belt and all idlers and water pump yesterday. Everything was in surprisingly good condition. I know the setup had 100k on it but there was absolutely no wear detectible. The bearings still had that new feel and sound, the water pump had a very nice bronze impellor that was fixed to the shaft etc. I would have been confident going another 50k on these components, especially since 95% of my driving is highway driving.

So, the engine fired instantly and I couldn't get my vagg com thing to connect, so who knows how the pump it timed.

Unfortunately, the noise returned right away. I tried the hose in the ear, screwdriver in the ear but I could not isolate the sound. I even used my phone with a decible meter app. My best guess is that the sound is coming from the transmission input shaft or nearby. It the sound is intermittent and I have only heard it when the trans is in neutral or first with the clutch in and car stationary. I cant detect the noise when the car is moving. The parts involed sound metallic and fairly heavy; I can actually feel it on the floor board when seated.

benIV · Jun 11, 2017

Lol. That's my video and my 2003 jetta. For me, the bolt holding on the tensioner was busted. The alternator clutched pulley was shot and was causing a lot more stress than normal on the tensioner, from what I've been told by a guru. That was a while ago, but I remember getting the new pulley and tensioner and belt on and it was like night and day difference.

Man, I had forgotten about the video. It's actually starting to do it again, probably the same thing again for me. that "bad bearing" is back.

anyway, hope you figure out what is ailing your TDI.

Glad the video could help others!

Boostedballs said:
This is my first post! I have been driving my 2003 TDI Jetta with manual trans for a couple years not and I have racked up 40k, now it's at 220k. It's been a great car with 42-46mpg mostly highway driving at 82mph with cruise control set. I parked it until I can fix this weird noise that I have been hearing. I assume is the water pump or another bearing. I can't really tell where the sound is coming from but it sounds like maybe near the firewall but my hearing sucks from working on loud engines and music for too long. I don't think it is the injection pump but I can't be certain.

I found this video on youtube of a 2003 alh and it sounds EXACTLY like my noise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jbKxjaEjpE

The timing belt was supposedly replaced at 120k with German parts and metal impeller, but who knows. The belt itself looks good but that doesn't mean the bearings and pulleys are good. I have a full timing kit ready to install as soon as the weather in Sacramento cools down a bit. (looks like a daunting task compared to my Subarus, which I can do in an hour)
I also have a serpentine tensioner on order just because I read on here that it is a good thing to do after your alternator one-way clutch fails. Mine failed in a spectacular fashion a few months ago. I think the bearings in the alternator seized or there was an internal short. I've never seen an alternator smoke like that! I'm sure that if the engine was greasy, I would have had a car-B-Q. That thing was HOT!

Any ideas on the noise? I need to keep this thing running until my Tesla model 3 shows up

belome · Jun 12, 2017

Boostedballs said:
I would have been confident going another 50k on these components

Just keep telling yourself that. LOL

vtpsd · Jun 12, 2017

i had a strange noise from the timing belt area on my 03 wagon a couple weeks ago, right when I changed the timing belt. It turned out I had tweaked the lower timing belt cover every so slightly and it was barely rubbing on the large roller. Probably not your issue, but maybe worth a look. I suspected it because i could see a tiny bit of fine glitter come out of the upper timing belt cover when shining a bright light in there.

Boostedballs · Jun 12, 2017

Thanks for the replies!
I think the next step will be to replace the gear oil, mainly to see what else comes out with the fluid.
I'm reluctant to drive it 52 miles each way to work until I can get to the bottom of this. It really sounds like either a bearing oscillating around it's center or two heavy metal parts hitting eachother. These rattling diesels make it hard to isolate a noise. I sure hope I never have to do the same on my 12v Cummins.

BobnOH · Jun 12, 2017

Do you get the noise if you simply rev it up to 4500? Could be your DMF is coming apart, hard to diagnose.

Boostedballs · Jun 12, 2017

BobnOH said:
Do you get the noise if you simply rev it up to 4500? Could be your DMF is coming apart, hard to diagnose.

The location of the noise seems to be coming from that area but the noise is present in neutral and in gear with the clutch in. The clutch itself works perfectly without any feedback of the noise through the pedal. I can feel it in the floorboard though.

What could be failing on the flywheel and how catastophic would a total failure be?

BobnOH · Jun 12, 2017

The dual mass flywheel. It can cause some carnage if it completely separates. If it's going it can sometimes be heard, with the clutch disengaged. With clutch engaged the noise might go away.

benIV · Jun 12, 2017

I don't intend to hijack, but I have a quick question: If i hear a rattle and it goes away when i push the clutch in, is that the dmf failing?

Boostedballs · Jun 12, 2017

I think the flywheel is bad so I'm gonna go ahead and replace it. Grrr
Anyone know of a good single mass flywheel kit? I see quite a few different suppliers on ebay but I wanted to check here first. I have heard Valeo is good. I guess I should upgrade while I'm at it and go ahead with injectors and tune.

AndyBees · Jun 13, 2017

Check out Idparts. I've installed their SMF in a couple of Jettas and got good comments from the owners!

Also, check-out Amazon for the LUK DMF deal..

benIV · Jun 13, 2017

Boostedballs said:
I think the flywheel is bad so I'm gonna go ahead and replace it. Grrr
Anyone know of a good single mass flywheel kit? I see quite a few different suppliers on ebay but I wanted to check here first. I have heard Valeo is good. I guess I should upgrade while I'm at it and go ahead with injectors and tune.

I've heard many people say good things about Valeo as well. That's where I'm leaning.

Nevada_TDI · Jun 13, 2017

If you are going to go to the injector and tune upgrade, make sure you buy more clutch than you need. The few extra dollars now will save a boatload later if you have to buy another clutch setup because you were being thrifty...

maybe368 · Jun 13, 2017

Boostedballs said:
Thanks for the replies!
I think the next step will be to replace the gear oil, mainly to see what else comes out with the fluid.
I'm reluctant to drive it 52 miles each way to work until I can get to the bottom of this. It really sounds like either a bearing oscillating around it's center or two heavy metal parts hitting eachother. These rattling diesels make it hard to isolate a noise. I sure hope I never have to do the same on my 12v Cummins.

You should only worry about the Cummins when it stops making funny noises

...Mark

Boostedballs · Sep 15, 2017

UPDATE: the noise was absolutey the DMF. The two sections slipped but I was able to get the crank bolts off without the use of a cutting wheel. I went with a SMF and vr6 clutch. Now the clutch peddle feels lighter than stock! It runs and drives ok but I still need to figure out how to connect the VAG-COM to set the timing right. If anyone near Sacramento would like to help, I can provide a case of beer!

Intermittent bearing noise, water pump, tensioner?

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