redcorradoguy
Veteran Member
Terrible vibration/noise/loss of power--Lifter failure
I purchased an '02 TDI New Beetle with a broken tbelt for a pretty decent deal. I was towing it home with my '02 TDI Golf, Beetle was on a dolly.
The car pulled just fine most of the way, but as I was going up a hill I noticed a loss of power and the engine sounded different. When I pushed the clutch, I fully expected the motor to die (that the momentum was the only thing keeping it "running") however it actually didn't die. But it sounded terrible.
I may have seen a little smoke coming from under the hood when I initially stopped but I'm not 100% sure, and there weren't plumes or anything when I opened the hood and restarted the motor. The engine runs, but vibrates pretty badly. There is an "exhausty" noise but part of the noises may well be part of the engine contacting the Panzer Plate due to the vibrations.
There is a significant lack of power too. Some have asked about motor mounts being an issue, but I can't think of how that would really affect the power?
The check engine light never came on. I do have the VAGCOM stuff so I'll still check for any codes just in case.
There is nothing obviously broken from what I could see on the side of the road. Anyone have any other ideas?
I purchased an '02 TDI New Beetle with a broken tbelt for a pretty decent deal. I was towing it home with my '02 TDI Golf, Beetle was on a dolly.
The car pulled just fine most of the way, but as I was going up a hill I noticed a loss of power and the engine sounded different. When I pushed the clutch, I fully expected the motor to die (that the momentum was the only thing keeping it "running") however it actually didn't die. But it sounded terrible.
I may have seen a little smoke coming from under the hood when I initially stopped but I'm not 100% sure, and there weren't plumes or anything when I opened the hood and restarted the motor. The engine runs, but vibrates pretty badly. There is an "exhausty" noise but part of the noises may well be part of the engine contacting the Panzer Plate due to the vibrations.
There is a significant lack of power too. Some have asked about motor mounts being an issue, but I can't think of how that would really affect the power?
The check engine light never came on. I do have the VAGCOM stuff so I'll still check for any codes just in case.
There is nothing obviously broken from what I could see on the side of the road. Anyone have any other ideas?
Last edited: