Morning all.

Yesterday evening I had taken my car (Mk1 vRS) out to see some friends, when I parked up I left the engine idling whilst I retrieved something from the boot. There was a very loud tapping noise coming from somewhere on the engine that I've never heard before. Popped the bonnet and give it a blip on the throttle and the frequency increased with revs. It was very hard to tell what part of the engine it was coming from so I turned it off and left it until this morning for further investigation.

This morning I went out to the car to try and diagnose the noise but when I started the engine it had disappeared apart from when it first started firing. I left the engine to idle and warm up to see if the noise came back and nothing...

Any idea's to what it could have been? The sound was a quite a mechanical tick.

I expect this to be completely un-related but whilst the engine was running to warm up I noticed a moving part I've never seen before! To me it looks like the flywheel but would just like some clarification.

Is there any chance this is related to the ticking issue?

It's not a threaded hole so I can only assume there should be a rubber bung in there? Any part numbers available?

EDIT: I have now found out what the hole is for, and a part number (02M301115B).

The question "Is there any chance this is related to the ticking issue?" still stands though EDIT

Sorry for the long thread! Thanks in advance guys.

Just an update.

New plug has been sourced from Wings in Peterborough for £4.65.

I had a word with one of the Diesel techs at work and he suggested the tapping noise could have been from hydraulic lifter in the top end. It's now gone and hasn't come back so will keep my ear out in future.

hope cars alryt pal