2015 Golf TDI Weird idle 'grinding' sound

Hey all, I picked up a project 2015 TDI that was involved in a minor front end collision, took out the rads & condenser but no damage to anything mechanical.
When the engine is started up (cold as I haven't been able to get it warmed) there's a odd rolling dry grinding sound, Almost sound like a pulley gone bad?

I have the front of the car torn off now so I can post an audio clip of what it does sound like, however I did find another clip on YouTube where the engine idle had the same odd rolling idle sound.

https://youtu.be/_3hQ0-z1C_w
thanks to YouTuber Diesel Drives for the upload.

I also bought a 2015 (Golf TDI) that was stored for over a year in a dusty area(found it all over the covered parts Inder the hood). My car has the identical noise. I suspect it’s the serpentine belt tensioner. I bought a kit with the tensioner, belt, and two replacement bolts(bolt replacement suggested by my shop manual).
It’s the easier and cheaper of the two issues that could be causing the noise. The other is the timing belt tensioner. I.D. Parts.com has a kit for both. I will update this thread as soon as I’m able to replace mine.


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Awesome thanks for the reply, I did take the pulley off the serpentine belt tensioner and the bearing does has slight grinning to it, I'm hoping thats what the issue is and it's not the timing belt tensioner. The car only has 98k km on it so it's not die for the timing belt components to be replaced yet.

Also see TSB 87-18-02 - Air Conditioning Does Not Cool and / or Compressor is Noisy

Awesome thank you, I have the front end ripped off the car so I may just swap the appropriate valve to be on the safe side.

My brother and I both have 2015 golfs and both do the same thing and always have. I think it might have something to do with the solenoid controlled water pump. I have seen so many reports of this on the EA288 I assume it is normal operation and don't worry about it.

I too have a similar sound on my car every once in a while. At first I assumed heat shield, but could not find one loose. Then I assumed turbine wheel. It's like when you have a headache and your immediate thought is brain cancer.

Hasn't caused issue yet, so I haven't spent significant time looking into it.