Followed the thumping from the wrong direction.

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
I thought my engine was making this thumping noise because it wasn’t pumping the oil good enough to lube the top of the engine. Took the oil pan off, disassembled oil pump stuff and nothing seemed wrong. it was a little Sludgy. I cleaned it, sealed it and the noise was still there. what is this?
seeing this described as a cam shaft or flywheel. i have a video, not sure how to share it on here yet.
 

Ajelderwell

Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2020
Location
Usa
TDI
2011 Volkswagen Jetta
Hey, my comment is not an answer to your question, but do you know the torque specs for the oil pan? I have an unanswered thread and I am trying to replace my oil pan. It takes 3 bolt types. One to the oil pan itself, one to the tranny, and one to the flywheel (I believe.. though you could check my post for specifics..). I'm trying to do the repair this weekend so any help is very appreciated 🙏

Here is a link to my thread:

 

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
oil pan to bell housing bolts (pain in the butt bolts to torque with the space to work with)
45 Nm or 33 Ft-lbs.

there is one extra odd bolt which was the little torque bolt along the front side of the oil pan “lip” .. it is through plastic frame that goes up to the cooling fan area. i just snugged it in there. couldn’t find spec— used the force...

hope you could see all my responses
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
yea, 2nd for a manifold crack or egr pipe rusted out. too thumpy "airy" to be metal on metal. not tappy like a cam or rod or bearing failure.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
it kinda sounds like you forgot to put the oil fill cap back on.
 

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
oil fill cap was on. it’s pretty messy to leave that off.
so not a bad cam? i hope not. $$$$$ cam expense.
my path is to do the least expensive procedure.
there is definitely a tiny oil leak from back of engine valve cover area. so while i replace valve cover gasket and see what else is leaking oil, i will check for the manifold leak and the EGR stuff. what do you think?
thanks
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
What engine is this? Are we talking a BEW? That is a noise from the INTAKE. To confirm, turn engine OFF. Remove the intake boost pipe from the intake manifold. Remove lower wheel well splash guard. Turn the crankshaft clockwise with a breaker bar connected to 2-ft long extensions and 19mm 12pt bolt socket. Standing from the passenger side of the vehicle, use the breaker bar to rotate engine two revolutions. Listen for a sucking noise on intake. 'Funk!'.

This sucking noise it caused by wear on the cam. When the cylinder has both valves closed between exhaust and intake strokes, the piston drops creating a suction before the intake valve opens.

If that is the case, your cam is worn. Remove the timing belt cover, and if it is a BEW, the three screws that hold the EGR in place and the 20 bolts for the valve cover. Remove Valve cover and inspect the cam for severe wear.

We have been selling replacement cam kits for this issue that cure the problem for over `10 years. Sorry this is not the cheap option you may hope for, but the indications are plain on the cam. You will find galling on the base circles of the exhaust lobes. Probably in a severe case, the top of the lobes are apparently worn, and you can see the cam followers are dished. When the cam is removed, sometimes the cam followers have holes worn through the tops.

We have repair options to make it never happen again or others to just keep it going.
 

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
Jetta 2005 TDI 1.9 with 160,000 miles
If i end up needing repair options you are telling me, what are these options?

I asked dealer about a new cam shaft...almost $1000 for the part. “noooo!”

my next step WAS to remove the valve cover to see if some of the wires in there are not making good connections causing poor firing or misfiring. Is this at all possible to be a misfire? regardless , i should probably turn this engine to see if it does the sucking intake noise “Funk!” or maybe the Funk part is the curse word we use when we discover what is ahead of us!
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
Pd injected cars were/are hard on the cams even when using the spec oil. More so if the proper oil wasn't used. The PD injector is driven by a lobe on the cam. There are pictures here showing what to look for on the cam, since you have the VC off. No bevel left on the edge of the lobe is one thing to look for.
 

Skylake

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Location
EU
TDI
Mk5 1.9TDI PD
At this moment your engine is not breathing as it should, so you're gonna get lower mileage, more smoke, and huge risk of breaking through some of tappets and potentionaly damaging valves.. soo, solve it ASAP. IDK what are the prices there in USA, but here in EU only parts (OEM quality) are around $300+-50. example
Also you'll need new oil, oil filter and usually timing belt kit if you haven't changed it recently..
 

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
At this moment your engine is not breathing as it should, so you're gonna get lower mileage, more smoke, and huge risk of breaking through some of tappets and potentionaly damaging valves.. soo, solve it ASAP. IDK what are the prices there in USA, but here in EU only parts (OEM quality) are around $300+-50. example
Also you'll need new oil, oil filter and usually timing belt kit if you haven't changed it recently..
thank you. W ould you know why the dealership is selling me a cam shaft for almost $1000? I have seen Cam repair kits that have all of these items in it before at about the same price. Will they last as long as a Volkswagen Factory direct part? or is it all the same and the dealer is scamming me?
 

mrsmart180

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Location
North Carolina
TDI
2000 Golf TDI ALH
Dealerships only really make money on parts and used cars, you can definitely find them cheaper somewhere else. You could even pull one from the junkyard too, although it would be used but much much cheaper.
 

Skylake

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Location
EU
TDI
Mk5 1.9TDI PD
thank you. W ould you know why the dealership is selling me a cam shaft for almost $1000? I have seen Cam repair kits that have all of these items in it before at about the same price. Will they last as long as a Volkswagen Factory direct part? or is it all the same and the dealer is scamming me?
Well dealers are just like that, expensive. Here in EU they are charging around $250 just for regular mainteinance(oil and filters), and thats for new car still under warranty. (Mk7 1.6TDI)

Regarding camshaft, I don't have much experience, but when time comes for a change on my TDI I'll take all kolbenschmidt, since thats usually OEM supplier for pistons, camshafts etc.

And for longer cam life in the future change 505.01 oil once a year or every 10k miles. Also try to avoid driving with low rpm/high load or with prolonged high load without letting throttle off every now and then, since camshaft is on its max stress when you are at constant high throttle/load, also that's when oiling is reduced, especially if you are well under 2k rpm..
 
Last edited:

300D

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Location
New England
TDI
Mk6
I am confused. One of our resident gurus gave you explicit instructions to follow for diagnosing a possible issue, but you haven’t followed those instructions? First thing I would do is read through Frank’s post, follow it to the T, then report back with what you find. If you have further questions after doing this then the knowledge you will have gained from the effort will inform your questions, and get you much better answers as a result.
And dealers are at least double private shops for the work, and parts are sometimes triple.
 

Skylake

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2014
Location
EU
TDI
Mk5 1.9TDI PD
Here, same engine same noise. Not many things can make exactly the same thumping noise, especially if it's becoming louder as he moves camera/mic closer to intake..
 

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
I am confused. One of our resident gurus gave you explicit instructions to follow for diagnosing a possible issue, but you haven’t followed those instructions? First thing I would do is read through Frank’s post, follow it to the T, then report back with what you find. If you have further questions after doing this then the knowledge you will have gained from the effort will inform your questions, and get you much better answers as a result.
And dealers are at least double private shops for the work, and parts are sometimes triple.
understood.
 

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
well . i am going to get together the parts and just tear into this job. I will get the kit for a cam shaft replacement . I will also get a timing belt kit.
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
I am that Franko6 you seem to have an aversion to talk to. What is even stranger, I am so close, some would say a 'stones throw' for most of my customers. I recently helped someone in Lithuania and here you are, comparatively local and I can't be any help? Instead of jumping into a questionable parts selection, what is your issue figuring out what we do here?

If you already ordered whatever parts, then I hope that works for you. Because I will tell you this. Based on your complaints of cost, if you take the cheap way out, you will learn lessons by yourself you don't want to. Good luck. You will need it.

If you want to learn what to avoid, I'll be around this afternoon.
 

jokila

Vendor
Joined
Dec 3, 2004
Location
Houston, Texas
TDI
2003 Jetta GLS, Manual
well . i am going to get together the parts and just tear into this job. I will get the kit for a cam shaft replacement . I will also get a timing belt kit.
If you have never done this kind of work, I would highly recommend you use resources like Franko6 as he's seen it all. More importantly, he is close to you and will prevent you from going astray into unchartered (for you) territory. You did a lot of work already that didn't need to be done. I am sure no one here told you to do that.
 

Dexterity

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO
TDI
2005 new jetta 1.9
I am that Franko6 you seem to have an aversion to talk to. What is even stranger, I am so close, some would say a 'stones throw' for most of my customers. I recently helped someone in Lithuania and here you are, comparatively local and I can't be any help? Instead of jumping into a questionable parts selection, what is your issue figuring out what we do here?

If you already ordered whatever parts, then I hope that works for you. Because I will tell you this. Based on your complaints of cost, if you take the cheap way out, you will learn lessons by yourself you don't want to. Good luck. You will need it.

If you want to learn what to avoid, I'll be around this afternoon.
franko6- this forum takes getting used to. navigation and attention to all responses is not easy for me. none of the aversion is on purpose. I apologize for any issue here with that.
The engine is presenting a sound that is most likely the indication for the need of a cam shaft system replacement. i haven’t opened the valve cover yet. but that is the plan. i also am juggling the usual family responsibilities along with professional responsibilities.
 
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