LOUD ticking noise in engine!!!

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 28, 2011

I have posted questions on here regarding the fact that my car starts very hard every now and then. Randomly it can take about 10 seconds of cranking before it fires up. It then puffs out a bunch of smoke for a second. Outside temperature does not affect it. Most of the time it fires up real nice.

I checked timing with vagcom and it shows dead on.
Glow plug lights come on and off real nice.
IQ is set to about 4.
Starter and battery are perfect.

But.... the problem I am real worried about now is that "THE engine started a Loud ticking!!"......
It runs real nice from what I can tell but I am scared to run it much till I figure out what this is. I don't want a lifter or something to explode and ruin my whole engine.
Anybody have any idea of what this is? What should I check?

thanks!

RT1 · Jun 28, 2011

So if you're worried about a lifter did you take off the cover and check out the cam? Loud ticking is never a good sound and should be treated as fair warning against something worse to come. Of course "ticking" is subject to interpretation. An exhaust leak can sound like ticking if it's at the manifold.
Pull the valve cover and put your mind to rest. If it is a lifter you know what to do (even though you're going to hate having to do it). If its not a lifter scratch it off the list and keep looking.

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 28, 2011

I'm gonna go check timing and pull the valve cover right now.

The ticking is a sharp sharp loud tick that speeds up with rpms.

I have a real bad feeling about this...............

far_cry · Jun 28, 2011

check the lifters ,its a good idea if you can remove the cam as will, that u can see the whole lifter surface area.

also it can be the IP , they tend to make this kind of noises .

check also the timing of crank and cam

manual or auto you car is ?

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 28, 2011

Just looking at the lifters with the cam still on everything looks real good. They were actually replaced about 20k miles ago.

So right now I'm trying to check the mechanical timing..... I'm having a hard time finding that tdc mark on the flywheel.

I did notice that my oil level was fairly low. So I need to figure out where that is going as my car never ate oil at all till now.

belome · Jun 28, 2011

If your oil level is very low, make sure it hasn't collected in your intercooler before you start your car again.

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 28, 2011

mechanical timing is right on the money.
there is no oil in the intercooler.

Its a manual trani

What could be causing the ticking? I thought for sure it sounded like a lifter ticking on the cam. The oil level was still on the dipstick but it was below the minimum mark.

K5ING · Jun 28, 2011

What about the IP? Mine was making a ticking sound for quite a while, but I don't know if it was loud enough to warrant capitalization. I was told at 200K that it wouldn't last much longer. It lasted until 375K miles when it too became hard to start when cold.

RT1 · Jun 28, 2011

Why were the lifters replaced? Was there a T-belt failure? Was the head rebuilt? I wonder if what you're hearing is a valve getting ready to fall? I wouldn't run it without a compression test.

visionlogic · Jun 28, 2011

Get mechanic's stethoscope, or a piece of tubing in one ear and an earplug for the other, and find the source area of the noise.

josh8loop · Jun 28, 2011

IP can cause a playing card flipping type sound as mentioned above, but I doubt that is the type of noise you are getting. When my alternator pulley was going bad it caused the tensioner and related components to have a tapping sound. Worth looking into IMHO

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 28, 2011

The cam and lifters were replaced just for maintenance purposes.
The 11mm IP was put on not just terrible long ago either so I wouldn't think it was that.

I will do a compression test before I start it up again then I will try to figure out the exact source of the ticking.

far_cry · Jun 28, 2011

add oil, if you have below the minimum ,thats can causes lifter tiking

and where exactly the noise come from, cause in manual gear the dual mass flywheel can make noises as will

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 29, 2011

Yeah, thats what I'm hoping.
I have a g60 clutch/flywheel that makes a ton of nasty rattling and stuff. I hate it.

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 29, 2011

I added the right amount of oil..... and started it again.

It still ticks very loudly and the sound is coming from the cylinder head.

Its weird that I can't see any wear to the cam or lifters though when I remove the VC.
I'll probably end up removing the cam and getting a better look at the lifters.
What else could it be?

I couldn't imagine that it was my IP, being fairly new. But then so are my cam and lifters. Could it be injectors?

Could this mean that I might also have a bad valve? If so then I'm accepting donations.

runonbeer · Jun 29, 2011

I'd have a gander at the rod bearings.

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 29, 2011

runonbeer said:
I'd have a gander at the rod bearings.

you serious? rod bearings?

kooyajerms · Jun 29, 2011

Did you see if there is soot around the injectors? one of the bodies may not be seating well causing it to actually pump up and down while the engine is doing it's compression.

My own injector tapa tapa threadDon't mind the title, I was a pretty ignorant chicken-little

Actually happened a couple months ago installing another set of injectors. Just reseated them and made sure the injector lines were mating correctly as we torqued it down (could have happened when you installed the 11mm). Soot stopped infiltrating the hole and the sound went away.

11mm is a used pump?

runonbeer · Jun 29, 2011

TDIPOWERMAN said:
you serious?

As a heart attack

Here is the thread. "noticed a ticking", then it got worse, then it got spoons in the engine, then it gets a new crank and set of rods plus a whole bunch of other stuff. Could have been avoided if he'd (me) had caught it earlier and replaced the bearings.

I'd take a gander at those rod bearings.

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 29, 2011

runonbeer said:
As a heart attack

Here is the thread. "noticed a ticking", then it got worse, then it got spoons in the engine, then it gets a new crank and set of rods plus a whole bunch of other stuff. Could have been avoided if he'd (me) had caught it earlier and replaced the bearings.

I'd take a gander at those rod bearings.

Whoahhh!!! I think I will check those next!! I have done lots of high speed/high rpm driving recently. ( I love my 170 hp and wish I had more)

I've actually never been inside the bottom end of an engine so this will be a learning experience for me. Will I need a new gasket for the oil pan?

I removed the CAM and everything looks brand new. I'm pretty sure my injectors and IP are good.

Lightflyer1 · Jun 29, 2011

Maybe an oil test would be easier for now and show something.

runonbeer · Jun 29, 2011

Or both. Catch some of the oil when you drain it to pull the pan and send it off.

You'll need to get new con rod bolts from the dealer, 028 105 425C. And if you're going to check the bearings, you might as well just replace them. Full set is like $40, 028105701J. This will be cheaper and (possibly) less time consuming than replacing the cam and lifters.

Oil pan is sealed with RTV.

Of course, it could be a main knock. or the pump. or a loose injector.

brnsgrbr · Jun 29, 2011

kooyajerms said:
Did you see if there is soot around the injectors? one of the bodies may not be seating well causing it to actually pump up and down while the engine is doing it's compression.

My own injector tapa tapa threadDon't mind the title, I was a pretty ignorant chicken-little

Actually happened a couple months ago installing another set of injectors. Just reseated them and made sure the injector lines were mating correctly as we torqued it down (could have happened when you installed the 11mm). Soot stopped infiltrating the hole and the sound went away.

11mm is a used pump?

The injector seating on mine did this too me as well. Check for soot around the injectors. The sooty one is the culprit. If that is what it is.

Good luck.

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 29, 2011

Oh my.......... Where should I start?

would the injectors unseat themselves? because the ticking happened slowly out of the blue.

josh8loop · Jun 29, 2011

Do your best to verify it isn't your alternator pulley going out and causing the tensioner to clack. You could remove the serp belt real quick and start it up and see if you still have the noise.

kooyajerms · Jun 29, 2011

Start with the injectors and the alternator pulley check as it's free.

But don't ignore what runonbeer said.

Get to it!

TDIPOWERMAN · Jun 30, 2011

Alright ........ I put the head back together and started it back up.

its not the accessory pulley.
There is no noticeable "excess" soot around any injectors.
However, I put a pipe to my one ear and closed the other one and went searching over the engine to see where its the loudest. The loudest point seems to be over the cylinder head/injectors.

I don't know if this says anything about the rod bearings but its definitely louder on top of the engine than underneath. I'm hesitant to check the rob bearings as its very complicated and would seem to be slightly unlikely.

The sound is a very high pitched shrill clicking.

kooyajerms · Jun 30, 2011

Did you feel if there is any air coming out of the injector holes while idling? You'll feel it pump out. Clean off the head, and see if soot builds after some driving. Shouldn't really be "soot" in the first place. Obviously dirt buildup and all that but that's the way to determine if the injectors unseat at higher rpms.

Not trying to harp on it, but that's what you gotta do.

Where's the pump from?

Keith_J · Jun 30, 2011

Just because the tappet surfaces look smooth and there are rotation patterns doesn't mean everything is fine hydraulically inside the tappet. Tappets can collapse. The Bentley has a good test for this, the cam should be on the base circle, using a wood or plastic wedge is then shoved in between the base circle and tappet off to one side, measuring clearance between the tappet and cam.

far_cry · Jun 30, 2011

drip little bit water around the injectors while the car idling ,if there leak you will notice it

LOUD ticking noise in engine!!!

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