I had a cambelt and water pump change today, first time it's been in a vag garage for a while.

Long story short the change went without event, piston tensioner had gone so had to be replaced but what concerns me is one of the advisories they've given me.... In their words "top end of engine sounds tappy" - when I enquired about this I was told it shouldn't sound like that but they didn't know what it could be.

This is happening when the car is hot or cold, and it's coming from the top front of the engine bay - no it's not the charcoal canister :p

The car is serviced every 10k or 12 months and I only ever use Fuchs Titan GT1 5w-40, with the last one being a month ago. The sparks are on about 20k now and the coil packs will only be around 18-24months old.

Any idea what the tappy sound good be? I've had a google and people have mentioned tappets? Sound like a right pain to sort out though.

Could it just be the garage being too particular or do you think it's worth investigating further. As things go the car itself doesn't appear to be running badly, it is 8 years old now though at 96k.

Without investigating further it sound like the garage didn't get the timing right after the cam belt change, and one of the cams is running out.

Without investigating further it sound like the garage didn't get the timing right after the cam belt change, and one of the cams is running out.

In fairness I think I've heard it before but put it down to it being the 1.8t, not sure whether its because they've brought my attention to it now or not but it does seem a bit louder than before. Will try and get a video up of it idling.

They're a well rated north west garage on here so I do trust they've done the job properly, you never know though!

I've been having a google and someone's mentioned that the 1.8T jettas got this when the downpipe to the turbo was slightly cracked :-/ presume its not the 20v engine though.

Video attached, it actually makes it sound a lot louder than it does. Noise seems louder toward the centre of the engine bay.

Injectors doing their thang ??

It might be the video but to me that sounds like the turbo gasket has gone under the manifold. Does it smell at all around the back of the engine?

Injectors doing their thang ??

Believe so, nothing being recorded on vcdslite and the car appears to be running okay. Just doesn't sound great!

It might be the video but to me that sounds like the turbo gasket has gone under the manifold. Does it smell at all around the back of the engine?

Sorry for the dumb question, I presume you mean when it's running?

Is it worth replacing anyway, presume like with the throttle body gasket if I have it apart it'll need replacing either way?

Anyone got to part numbers handy :-D

Edited 1 June, 201313 yr by Funkoid

Mine sounds like that all the time. Bugs me a bit, but just put it down to the way the 1.8t engine runs. Done it all the time I've had the car (5 years!) and 50k miles later it still pulls as strong!

Mine sounds like that all the time. Bugs me a bit, but just put it down to the way the 1.8t engine runs. Done it all the time I've had the car (5 years!) and 50k miles later it still pulls as strong!

Me to, it the tech hadn't mentioned it today I probably would have just left it alone like I say, but it's with them saying that's not normal - it's bugging me!

Believe so, nothing being recorded on vcdslite and the car appears to be running okay. Just doesn't sound great!

Think David was getting at the noise might just be the injectors working normally...

What fuel are you running it on as it sounds like injectors ticking to me

What fuel are you running it on as it sounds like injectors ticking to me

Using momentum 99 at the moment

Sounds like alot of engines sound when your that close up

Sent from my iPhone 4s

Sounds like alot of engines sound when your that close up

Sent from my iPhone 4s

That's what I thought initially, I'm not naming names but this came from a well respected vag specialist hence my confusion. I posted the video wondering whether I'd ignored an ongoing problem or not. As I said their line on it was "engine sounds tappy" and when questioned about it I got told its not right but we don't know what it is. Hugely confused.

If i was to put money on it, id say either its just the injectors ticking or theres a blowing gasket somewhere.

Sent from my iPhone 4s

If i was to put money on it, id say either its just the injectors ticking or theres a blowing gasket somewhere.

Sent from my iPhone 4s

I would agree

More likely injectors. Mine has done that since I bought mine 6 years ago.

Could be gasket but why garage had a concern is silly.

Sent from my Galaxy S3.

Definitely sound like the engine is running.

It is hard to be sure from the vid but tbh it sound normal mate

Cheers guys figured as much. Thanks for the advice.

mine sounds the same i was worried but im not now obv its just a normal sound

I'm wondering if the description of the advisory wasn't great, I've discovered yesterday when driving with the windows down I can hear a chirping tap when the engine is under load, at idle it sounds okay. It wasn't there before the car had the work done. Going to take the under tray and engine cover off tonight and take it for a spin again. Naffs me off when £400 odd quids worth of work ends up causing you more hassle.

Edited 3 June, 201313 yr by Funkoid

I'm wondering if the description of the advisory wasn't great, I've discovered yesterday when driving with the windows down I can hear a chirping tap when the engine is under load, at idle it sounds okay. It wasn't there before the car had the work done. Going to take the under tray and engine cover off tonight and take it for a spin again. Naffs me off when £400 odd quids worth of work ends up causing you more hassle.

They left a bird in there somewhere...lol

Could that be your DV.

Post a vid up if you can....

Try not to get paranoid buddy, perhaps the car is just making normal sounds. You will be surprised now you start to try to hear things what your ears focus on..

I'm wondering if the description of the advisory wasn't great, I've discovered yesterday when driving with the windows down I can hear a chirping tap when the engine is under load, at idle it sounds okay. It wasn't there before the car had the work done. Going to take the under tray and engine cover off tonight and take it for a spin again. Naffs me off when £400 odd quids worth of work ends up causing you more hassle.

From that description it could be the DV failing.

Edited 5 June, 201313 yr by pauldazzle

Ah, Bowders1 was already on to that I see

Edited 5 June, 201313 yr by pauldazzle

Ive posted some videos of the noise below, it only happens on a cold startup whilst the engine gets to temp. I took it back to the garage who did the work but annoyingly everything looked fine and they weren't able to recreate the problem due to the engine being warm! Typical!

Any idea what it could be? In the first clip you can't hear it too badly because of the air pump kicking in, should be better in the second clip though.

The noise increases with revs between 1-2000 revs but is most audible around 1300-1500. Power wise the car seems to be running fine it just sounds like a heap when cold.

After looking for similar issues all last night I've just found a clip on you tube. People are blaming the tensioner but its unclear as to whether its the cam belt tensioner or the auxiliary belt tensioner, if its the cambelt tensioner it'll be going back again!! The aux belt is tight though and there looks to be no play in the tensioner.

Apparently the auxiliary belt could be too tight but slackens once the car warms up hence why the sound goes away when it's warm? Is that a possibility?

So the question is what to do, would it make sense to do the auxiliary belt and tensioner? Is that an easy enough DIY job? The car sounds like a heap when it's cold at the moment, the garage claim it was making the noise before the belt was changed but its my word against theirs. Not sure what to do. One thought was to remove the belt, run the engine for a moment or two and see if the noise disappears?