Tsi engine rattle

[davidmack]

Hi

Just want to know your thoughts and if you have had any issues like this.

I took the car in for its first service last saturday. It was just an oil change, no update to tge ecu or anything. Ive got the work van during te week so dont drive the car much, so yeaterday was really the firat time i had been out in it.

It was just when i stopped at lights, and kept my foot down on the clutch (not activating the start stop) when a heard a loud ticking noice, it sounded a bit like a diesel engine!! So i drove it home and called seat assist.

They were brilliant and the AA were out within 25mins, the guy listened to yhe engine and asked if it was a 3cylinder. He said it sounded a bit like a vw polo but as i haf not heares it before suggested i took it to the garange.

We got to the garage and they tech said thia is normal is oil is being pumped into and injector when starting cold. He said he would update the ecu with the latest software and see if that made it quieter. So after waiting around for a while he came back out ad said he hears a strange noise when starting from cold. So they decided to keep the car and look into it on monday.

I got a 61plate 1.2tsi courtesy car anf there is no noise at all when clutch down and stopped, plus it feels a good bit more responsive.

I must say seat assist were brilliant, as well as the garage. Any ideas what could be up though?? I hope its not too serious!!

 

[TSI BOY]

Not heard this before mate. Gearbox rattle but not the engine lol

Seat assist are good thou

Hope it gets sorted mate

 

[hstjern]

Its funny, I just noticed the same thing the other week. I have a ticking noise like there would be leaf in the fans or something. ANd the ticking is even louder when you pop the hood and listen to it.
What did the garage find on your TSI ?

 

[davidmack]

I got the car back on wedneaday there. The noise was coming from the engine whwn it was cold. Ended up being a fault with the hydraulic chain tensioner. They replaced the full kit and the noise has gone now. I would get the car checked out!!

 

[davidmack]

Had this problem happen again. It was only about 600/700 miles ago I had warranty work done. Does anyone know hat exactly a hudraulic chain tensioner does??

I was thinking what ive changed recently and the only things woul be changing from vpower to bp ultimate and an oil change at the last service 800miles ago. Could any of this be related??

 

[BaldyDave]

Doubt that the fuel would have anything to do with the noise in this instance if you say the noise went when the chain tensioner was changed. If the chain tensioner is the same that is on motorbikes, it uses oil pressure to keep the chain tension correct, if the chain does not get tensioned properly it "rattles" , giving the noise you describe, especially when the engine is under no load. The noise can be worse when the engine is cold as when the tensioner mechanism heats up it can free-off and work properly.

Does the TSi engine use chains to connect the cams/supercharger/turbo rather than belts?

 

[NetworkMan]

Does the TSi engine use chains to connect the cams/supercharger/turbo rather than belts?

1.2TSI has a chain driven camshaft with a hydraulic tensioner so that was probably it but why it should re-occur is a mystery. Petrol would not make any difference. I suppose if the oil used was not light enough then the problem might show up more with a cold engine in the cold weather.

I think that there may have been some changes in the area of timing chain and cover - seem to remember seeing some drawings somewhere or other ....

I find mine goes just fine on normal 95 octane petrol by the way.

 

[davidmack]

Cheers for the replies!! Ive not got a clue when it comes to engines.

This is the 2nd time ut has happened now, is it a big problem, like left unfixed could it cause problems with the engine? Its just funny how i never had any problems for 9800miles and now thats twice in 700miles!
Im not too fussed about it just now because it is all covered under warranty but i think the car has to go after the warranty is up.

 

[NetworkMan]

but i think the car has to go after the warranty is up.

I'd wait and see; you may have no more trouble and almost all cars need something done during the guarantee period. I had a driving seat with a busted weld but it's not put me off so far.

 

[BaldyDave]

Cheers for the replies!! Ive not got a clue when it comes to engines.

This is the 2nd time ut has happened now, is it a big problem, like left unfixed could it cause problems with the engine? Its just funny how i never had any problems for 9800miles and now thats twice in 700miles!
Im not too fussed about it just now because it is all covered under warranty but i think the car has to go after the warranty is up.

Well I would call the garage and get some advice. Assuming that the same issue with the chain tensioner has reoccurred it might depend on just how much of the tensioner mechanism they replaced. If they only replaced some of the mechanism it may be that the fault lies in the part that was not swapped-out and that the fault was temporarily resolved when the tensioner was worked on due to parts being removed/replaced - may have temporarily freed off a part that was jamming..

Again I can only refer back to the motorbikes I have worked on, but the tensioner blade may have been replaced but the hydraulic adjuster may have been left (or vice-versa). It's been a whie since I stripped an engine down so things may have changed a lot since! lol

In any case I would definitely contact the dealer and see what they say. I would imagine they'll want to have another look at the engine and will advise on how soon they'd prefer to have your car in. I seriously doubt that they'll ask you to stop using your car as a loose cam chain tends only to snap or damage engine casings if negected for some time.

 

[BenjaminFR]

I noticed on my car, that when I'm setting off from standstill there seems to be a rattle just before the supercharger makes its noise, is this the same thing do you think??

 

[BaldyDave]

I've heard some stories of the DSG box rattling but I don't know in what circumstances this happens. If you search this forum for DSG rattling you might come up with something. I've very limited knowledge of the 1.4TSI engines and the DSG boxes as my FR TDI uses a conventional manual gearbox.

There is also a small chance that it might be the cam chain rattling but I'd more expect this noise to happen at idle or when the engine is under no load.

If in doubt get the dealer to have a look.

 

[davidmack]

Turna out the rattle on my car was the aircon pipe hitting stuff in the engine. So Arnold Clark done some sort of quick fix but ive to book it in again and they will replace the pipework for the aircon. So i will book it in for over the xmas holidays.

I went to w livingstone the first time with the exact same noise and they said it was the tensioner and replaced it. All seems a bit funny. I dont have a clue what is going on.

The guy in arnold clark proved to me it was the pipe by lifting up the bonnet and moving the pipe to make it worse and then dissapear.

 

[NetworkMan]

the rattle on my car was the aircon pipe hitting stuff in the engine.

Hi David,
Can you tell me roughly whereabouts under the bonnet this is? I'm interested since I have this engine too.

Thanks.

 

[davidmack]

Im not positive where it ia an ie not got the car with me to check. But im pretty sure its at the back on the drivers side of the engine. The service manger managed to get some good movement on it so im guessing its some sort of flexi pipe?

 

[BaldyDave]

Turna out the rattle on my car was the aircon pipe hitting stuff in the engine. So Arnold Clark done some sort of quick fix but ive to book it in again and they will replace the pipework for the aircon. So i will book it in for over the xmas holidays.

I went to W Livingstone the first time with the exact same noise and they said it was the tensioner and replaced it. All seems a bit funny. I dont have a clue what is going on.

The guy in arnold clark proved to me it was the pipe by lifting up the bonnet and moving the pipe to make it worse and then dissapear.

That's a bit worrying that W Livingstone never found the problem, I have used them before the last time I had a Seat. Have you used them before recently? If so what were your experiences of them? They used to be very good...

What branch of Arnold Clark did you book your car into?

Oh, and I'm glad the root cause of the problem has been identified.

 

[davidmack]

I thought w livingstone were pretty good, but thrre must have been aomething up with the tensioner as i cant seemthem replacing parts for no reason. Ive been told by arnold clark, linwood, to book it back in so i think i will take it bk to w livingstone and see what they say. Its all a bit odd!....

 

[davidmack]

If anyone works in a seat/vw garage could you help?

Ive taken the car back in because arnold. Lark pit velcro strips round the fuel pipes which were ratteling. Ive taken it to another garage who are saying tey think they heared an announcement by seat that this is the way the problem should be fixed. Anyone heared this or know of this?

Thanks!!!

 

[BaldyDave]

Sounds like a bit of a bodge to me, but I wouldn't be suprised if it was true... Any Seat mechanics care to comment?

 

[davidmack]

So ive just had a call back of the techie at the garage. He said there is a notice out by seat for ratteling fuel pipes and foam padding is the fix. It is on back order so will take a few weeks to come in. So anyone with a similar issue go see about ordering this padding.