Thread: Ticking noise on a 300Tdi...only after just doing some major work...

dont have access to youtube at work, ill listen at home. if it's under load then i would say something with fuel system or whilst in boost. i would still check valve clearances. easy job to do. will take you 30 mins. just need a 0.203 feeler gauge and a couple of spanners. just jack up one wheel and put the gearbox in 4th (if manual) not too sure bout auto. take the wire off the back of the fuel pump solenoid. then as you spin the wheel that's off the ground you will see the valve train moving. use the rule of 9 method. i won't go into it. there's plenty of info here.

i had a fairly loud ticking after i did my head and lower power. i took rocker cover off and one of the nuts holding down rocker arm had wound itself loose and two valves were way out. i checked the arm for damage and put it back and tightened everything and adjusted valves again and went much more quiet and way smoother.

my IP makes a pretty loud tap too that you can hear when idling. always there but gets drowned out as you go faster. tried to investigate but could never find the actual reason. but two experts here say nothing to worry about so ive left it and touch wood been ok. she runs pretty well and fairly quick (as far as d1 go). one thing i was thinking is that my tapping sound was a valve slightly kissing a piston. but some people just have this noise in their tdi and nothing has ever come of it.

start with simple things and work your way up. all the advice that has been given to you, put in order or simplest to hardest and then work your way through by elimination. might seem stupid, but check that the mechanic did not leave something in your engine. hopefully you didn't pick up a bug from one of the alfa romeos. those things get sick quite often. ask me how i know.

Can't hear anything useful in that vid... sorry i only have my phone here.

Ah! this is the thread I was looking for!

Originally Posted by justinc

Can't hear anything useful in that vid... sorry i only have my phone here.

You're right, it was hard to hear, not only in the vid, but also in real life too. But definitely could be heard(in real life).

It sounded like jingling change, coming from the engine bay.
Looked about a lot, and couldn't really see it at first.
My initial thoughts as Ben was driving was that it may have been lightly touching valves on pistons, but then it 'came and went' .. so it was an irregular occurring noise. Definitely under load, as Ben said tho.

But I'm positive in that we found that the lift pump priming lever was flapping about like crazy.
On mine, the lever has a lot of resistance, and doesnt' have a 'locked position' as such. Just the friction of the lever holds it in it's place.

On Bens tho, the lever is quite loose and the locking position is a bit loose too, you feel it clip into place in the high position, but it's not a positive lock.

Anyhow, as the engine is running, it's flapping up and down madly, making this medium level tinkling sound.
Pulled it up, it's locked into position, but doesn't feel solid enough for my liking.
I have a feeling it will loosen with time(ie. typical Tdi vibrations!).
Ben had the pump replaced as a precaution, and had his old pump in the back of the car.
The old pumps lever locked position is much more positive than the new pump.

Ben will update once he gets back, and will have to keep an eye on it over time.

Pump did have a bit of diesel over it, implying a leak of some type too tho.
Some dribble on the lever itself and some on the side of the block and some spray on the vacuum pump.
Something else for him to keep an eye out for too.

Originally Posted by AK83

Ah! this is the thread I was looking for!



You're right, it was hard to hear, not only in the vid, but also in real life too. But definitely could be heard(in real life).

It sounded like jingling change, coming from the engine bay.
Looked about a lot, and couldn't really see it at first.
My initial thoughts as Ben was driving was that it may have been lightly touching valves on pistons, but then it 'came and went' .. so it was an irregular occurring noise. Definitely under load, as Ben said tho.

But I'm positive in that we found that the lift pump priming lever was flapping about like crazy.
On mine, the lever has a lot of resistance, and doesnt' have a 'locked position' as such. Just the friction of the lever holds it in it's place.

On Bens tho, the lever is quite loose and the locking position is a bit loose too, you feel it clip into place in the high position, but it's not a positive lock.

Anyhow, as the engine is running, it's flapping up and down madly, making this medium level tinkling sound.
Pulled it up, it's locked into position, but doesn't feel solid enough for my liking.
I have a feeling it will loosen with time(ie. typical Tdi vibrations!).
Ben had the pump replaced as a precaution, and had his old pump in the back of the car.
The old pumps lever locked position is much more positive than the new pump.

Ben will update once he gets back, and will have to keep an eye on it over time.

Pump did have a bit of diesel over it, implying a leak of some type too tho.
Some dribble on the lever itself and some on the side of the block and some spray on the vacuum pump.
Something else for him to keep an eye out for too.

So firstly a big huge thanks to Arthur for offering to help, spent a very nice arvo talking about Discos and other things in sunny Melbourne town...before the huge storm haha but hey my sunroof didn't leak so that was a good test!

So the fuel pump lever had not been put in the stowed position and it had been flapping about in the prime position like Arthur has said, and this was the source of a noise in the engine bay, as well as that there was a bit of fuel splashed about around there which may or may not be a result of the lever position or it could just be a leaky pump, not sure yet. However, the noise under load that we were hearing is still there unfortunately. I'm still not sure if it's a bad noise or just the engine, but Arthur too thought it shouldn't be there and I'm still convinced it wasn't there before it had the recent work done.

At least someone else has heard it now so I don't think I'm so crazy anymore, big ups to Arthur for helping, great bloke and I owe him a cold Fosters!

I wonder could anything with a faulty fuel lift pump cause other issues that may result in noise under load? The car never has any problems starting and it always keeps going, never coughs or splutters or anything, but that lever has been flapping around in the prime position since I picked it up from the mechanics...but the car hasn't skipped a beat so maybe it doesn't matter so much...

Sounds like a dodgy part.
I would swap it out now so i could forget about it.

Originally Posted by Young Angus

.... However, the noise under load that we were hearing is still there unfortunately. I'm still not sure if it's a bad noise or just the engine, but Arthur too thought it shouldn't be there and I'm still convinced it wasn't there before it had the recent work done.

...

Bugger!
Like eddo says, probably best to swap out the pump with your old one to eliminate it as a probable source .. and take it from there.

Access to it isn't the easiest of jobs, but it's not impossible either.
I'm free next week if you feel like doing it over this side of town too. Some days the kids just don't want to do nothing, which are those days when I'll just be bumming around myself looking for stuff to tweak on mine
Almost certainly it'll rain on the day that can be agreed on for the job to be done tho!

Originally Posted by edddo

Sounds like a dodgy part.
I would swap it out now so i could forget about it.

I recently had one fail on the Hay River track.
Started spraying fuel out of the hole in the side.
Luckily i was carrying a spare one...been in the spares box for about 6 years.
Hint...if putting new one on in the bush dont drop the new brass olive compression fittings in the grass or sand.

God i wish my tdi was that quiet. Comparing mine to yours id say theres nothing wrong with it