2009 1.6 sport petrol engine noisy?

[MarkQuinton]

Hi All

The wife has decided she wants to learn to drive so I am going to have to sell my Accord Automatic and get something smaller with a manual gear box. I went to look at a 2009 Ibiza Sport with a 1,6 104bhp petrol engine today. It seemed in decent nick apart from one of the front alloys suffering quite a bit of corrosion. However what worried me was how noisy and tappety the engine was, it sounded rough and nothing like I expected. I would of thought it was a diesel if i hadn't of known otherwise. It did drive ok however. The car has been sitting for a few weeks so could that be the reason? Its it just a lack of oil circulation from a lack of use? It has 83k and full service history.

Also the ride was rock hard with the sport alloys, i am used to a hard ride but this seemed to jar quite a lot over bumps. The mechanic did pump the tyres up before my test drive so maybe he put in a little too much.

Are these engines generally reliable? I also believe this is a chain driven engine, would i be right?

Any opinions thoroughly appreciated.

Regards

Mark

 

[dm222]

Look at this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FAcMeyIo1Lo

 

[MarkQuinton]

So it appears that is to be expected with this engine then?

 

[dm222]

So it appears that is to be expected with this engine then?

I wasn't there so can't be sure, but all VAG petrol engines are noisy.

I was also worried when I bought my 1.4
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=392177
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=392185

 

[GranadaDan]

My stepson bought a 10 plate 1.6 Sport petrol last October with 74k on the clock.

I've got to say the engine is whisper quiet not noisy or tappety at all!

Engine is also chain driven I believe.

If the Sport you looked at has the 17" wheels then ride will be quite hard. Our 1.6TDi Sport has the 17"s and the ride is quite hard. Tyres more expensive too than the standard 16" plus fuel consumption is worse on 17"s.

Dan

 

[MarkQuinton]

Thanks for the feedback.

Maybe i'll ask the garage to investigate and see if they can find a fault, loose exhaust manifold or something. I was all up for buying the car otherwise. Like I said it could simply be that the car has been standing for a while and my test drive was too short for it to circulate oil around the engine and warm up.

 

[dm222]

It deppends, they are noisy, no doubt... But if you are in a noisy environment that would mask it.
They are also a lot noisy the first 4/5 minutes.

 

[skyrocketeer]

If you're going to have a learner behind the wheel, I'd be looking at changing those 17" for 15" or something a lot more forgiving of the curbs.

I'm also not convinced that the 1.6 valver is the best engine for a learner. Everyone has a preference but I find the flatter torque curve of an 8v engine to be a lot easier to drive, with plenty of power in a usable rev-range. I've test driven a good few B segment cars before settling on the wife's new car, and I found all of the small petrol valvers very uninspiring.

If you can, look for a 1.2 TSI - similar sort of money/spec but a much nicer engine.

As for the noise - has it had a chain/belt change recently - get it on a tooth out and it'll run but sound like a tractor. Tappet noise should go away within a minute or two, if it doesn't then there's either no oil, or serious circulation problems - enough to make me want to walk away.