Mk 4 Golf GT TDi engine noise

[uuf361]

Afternoon All

I've just bought a 2003 Golf GT TDi (150) for well below book price and all seems pretty good with it so far bar one problem.

Once the engine is warm and only when at idle sitting in traffic there is an intermittent vibration which sounds like a metal part vibrating or rubbing against something else. A quick blip of the throttle and it disappears.

I have been advised it could be a heat shield or the PD pump - does this sound right and if so what's the rough cost of replacement or the risk associated with not ?

Only driven 200 miles so far but does not seem to have any effect on performance or efficiency.

Over to the PH massive

[cuprabob]

Heatshields rattling is very common on Golfs. Only way to tell is to get it on a ramp and have a look and see if any are loose

[uuf361]

cuprabob said:

Heatshields rattling is very common on Golfs. Only way to tell is to get it on a ramp and have a look and see if any are loose

Thanks - it's in for a major service on Monday with the main dealer so will ask them to take a look.....

[stewies_minion]

Similar problem in my Passat. Engine cover is loose apparently. Might be worth a quick check.

[phumy]

Auxiliary belt tensioner, thats normal to go on that engine.

[uuf361]

Checked the engine cover and seems fine so think I can rule that one out.

Guess I'll see what the dealer says on Monday.....

[TDIfurby]

Any vibes when pulling away or using tickover revs to pull the car off the line? That would rule out the dual mass flywheel starting to break up. There's not much in the engine bay in terms of metal bits that can rattle. Its possible a heatshield near the downpipe has dropped onto the exhaust and the vibrations on tickover are enough to make it rattle, but I would expect this all the time, not just when warmed up.

Tried sticking your head in the engine bay when stationary and at tick-over? Maybe getting a mate to blip the throttle to make the noise stop/come back/stop.

[Webbit]

Could be the aux drive belt tensioner as someone else has said. Same issue on mine, but it's only intermittent at the mo, quick throttle blip and it's gone - makes a metal rubbing type skeeky noise is my best description!

[S2AVANT]

Worn out dog bone bushes, mine needs some now.

[uuf361]

Thanks for the ideas - will let you know what the dealer says on Monday.....

[JeffC]

alternator pulley is very common and makes a racket, see if on idle the noise increases as you turn the steering wheel if so good chance thats what it will be .

[Jw Vw]

Doubt it's the auxilary drive belt as I had mine change and the vibration still appears. Will be interested to found out what it is as it happens on my Golf occasionally.

[uuf361]

Well ,in for the major service today and all is well including the noise which turned out to be a blown fuse which powered the fans (which may have also been why the climate wasn't as effective when sat in traffic).

The cost for the fix - £2.41, which they also didn't charge me for

[cuprabob]

One thing to check is that when the Air Con is switched on the radiator fans rotate slowly. On MK4 Golfs the low speed can burn out and cause the fans to pulse between off and high speed which results in a blown fuse.

If you google "Golf MK4 Common Fan Problem" you will see it's the most common fault with all VAG cars based on the MK4 platform

[TDIfurby]

Hmm, I'm no mechanic but I don't see how a blown fuse can cause a metallic rattle from the fans? They either spin or don't spin, no?

[grahamw48]

Unless someone had tied the blown fuse to the end of one of the fan blades with a piece of string, leaving a short length of free play to enable the fuse to bounce around a little ?

[D34NO87]

TDIfurby said:

Hmm, I'm no mechanic but I don't see how a blown fuse can cause a metallic rattle from the fans? They either spin or don't spin, no?

The fuse has probably blown because the fans are knackered. It may or may not be related to the noise.

[uuf361]

I'm certainly no mechanic either but that's what the main dealer said, so guess I'll have to see if they're right as I've not had to sit in any traffic yet to test out the fix....