[05tdi]

Hey guys, so I recently went through a bad alternator which also caused a bad tensioner pulley. All that's been fixed and now I'm ready to tackle the next issue. It's a clacking sound that happens at complete random and only at idle (so far as I can tell). Please watch this video and listen to the sound. I was able to capture it pretty good. VW TDI Chatter... What is it? - YouTube

I'm kinda sorta thinking it could be an injector going out but what the heck do I know. This is a 2005 VW Beetle TDI with the Pompe Duse motor. It's got roughly 128k miles on it and runs great.

 

[billymade]

I"m no diesel expert nor am I "attuned" to their normal motor sounds; question, do you have a stick/standard transmission (is the sound affected by depressing the clutch)? I'm wondering if the clutch and dual mass flywheel has ever been replaced; still the stock setup? The Dual Mass Flywheels; over time, do wear out and can cause a unique noise and do fail. Can you go under the car; near the transmission and do a video there, can the noise be ascertained there? Maybe the diesel guys can hear something or if the sound is more pronounced near the trans; could it be the DMF!?

Some videos to check out on youtube; DMF failure noises and diagnosis:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vw+dmf+failure&sm=3

By the way; on your alternator video, your clutch pulley (OAP) may have been the initial, problem and eventually destroyed your alternator bearings or could have been both. The cheaper rebuilds; tend to have cheaper pulleys and even the high quality german oem branded ones, do fail (INA brand). When the OAP fails; the belt and tensioner have allot of movement and the belts squeal, causes allot stress on the belt path (can destroy, tensioner, belts, alternator etc.). When they get replaced (new alt/new clutch pulley); the engine runs much smoother and the squeal is eliminated! In the future; you can just replace the clutch pulley; if the alternator is ok. Check out this thread for more info:

http://newbeetle.org/forums/1-8-lit...-failure-what-best-brand-replacement-buy.html

 

[CoriBug]

It's an automatic, look at the odometer. I don't know about your mystery noise, good luck and let us know when you find out!

 

[janitz]

If you are outside the vehicle when it occurs can you hear it then? If you can, walk around the car and see if you can find the general area from which the sound emanates. Do this in an open area not in a garage or the echos from the walls might confuse your ears.

You're in Park, does it happen when you shift to Neutral as well?

Can you hear it if you're driving and then shift to Neutral and coast for a bit?

Does it happen when the engine is cold, warm, both?

If it is occurring and you press gently on the throttle, does it stop?

 

[h_2_o]

I think i heard it but am curious about something as i am not sure i heard the right thing. was it fairly repetitive kinda? the noise i heard was kinda a ticka-ticka-ticka...... sound.

 

[05tdi]

It's an automatic. The tranny seems to be in great operating condition. The noise is very noticeable outside the car when it's happening. I don't really notice it at all when driving. Yes, it happens while in 'drive' like, for example, sitting in a drive through line. I haven't tested if it changes upon pressing the throttle. I've tried to figure the location but it's just nearly impossible with how loud these diesels are.

 

[05tdi]

So far, since changing the tensioner pulley and alternator, the clacking has been happening less and less. I'm curious as to why this would be. I didn't think, and still don't, the clacking sound would be related in any way to those two things. Any thoughts?

 

[BeetleGeorge]

You may want to have the camshaft bearings or lobes checked for wear. Some of these wonderful diesels have been known to have premature camshaft wear and it may be causing the clatter you are hearing due to lifter/rod noise. Hopefully not but you never know. It a great time to check it when you get a new timing belt.

 

[billymade]

As mentioned above; if your clutch pulley (OAP) on your alternator was bad, that could have contributed or been the sound you were experiencing. When you replaced the alternator; you got a new fully functioning OAP with the alternator. Any of the three components (i.e.: alternator, oap, and tensioner): could have made the noise or contributed to the noise that you were experiencing. I could be wrong but those are three (3) variables; that you removed, by replacing those parts.

Here is a video: from INA, that explains how the OAP pulley system works:

The INA Overrunning Alternator Pulley (OAP) -- Simply Explained!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXa384YJdL0

The INA Overrunning Alternator Pulley (OAP) -- the Technology Film

The INA Overrunning Alternator Pulley (OAP) -- the Technology Film - YouTube

Now, if you are still experiencing the sounds that you were dealing with before; I would take the car to someone that works on TDIs all the time (professionally). It always helps; to have a second opinion or "ear", to listen to an engine (especially a noisy TDI), that knows what a correctly running version, sounds like. When you listen to something all the time, every day; you can lose your objectivity, ability to ascertain whether something is wrong or not. Get some outside opinions/professional evaluation; you car maybe "speaking" to you, warning you of a impending failure of some sort (it always pays to be safe, rather then, sorry; then, having a catastrophic failure that could have been avoided by having the noise checked out by a professional).

Keep us updated on your progress; any results of a professional evaluation.

 

[hevster1]

DSG Flywheel chatter

 

[KAmaia]

Hey guys, so I recently went through a bad alternator which also caused a bad tensioner pulley. All that's been fixed and now I'm ready to tackle the next issue. It's a clacking sound that happens at complete random and only at idle (so far as I can tell). Please watch this video and listen to the sound. I was able to capture it pretty good. VW TDI Chatter... What is it? - YouTube

I'm kinda sorta thinking it could be an injector going out but what the heck do I know. This is a 2005 VW Beetle TDI with the Pompe Duse motor. It's got roughly 128k miles on it and runs great.

I know this post is 2 years old now, but....

My wife's '06 emma has this same sound, we ran some seafoam through the fuel system and for roughly 500 miles the sound went away. It's back now, but my suspicion is that it is a clogged injector.

I don't have the tools to handle injectors at the moment so I cannot say for certain, however I'm going to run some more seafoam through it and see if the sound goes away again.

K.