Ticking/tapping from engine on driver side

carbore

Member
Hi,

My project A2 (1.4 petrol 2001) has had a Tap since I bought it a couple of months back, its on the driver side and is reasonably loud when idle but fades out as revs increase.

The car was unused for 6months+ when I bought it, since then I have serviced it wiht oil and cambelt = Aux belth change and its still tap tap tap.

Could it be the aircon compressor? I say this as it doesnt seem to blow cold so wondered if loss of refigerant can make them noisy if they have nothing to compress. I dont think its alternator bearings as I can get a sound probe on that and its just spinning no tapping. I probably need to remove the wheen arch and have another sound probe session. The top of the engine does tap a bit on the probe but not that much so its more like conduced noise than the direct sound. I suppose maybe tappets ? how can I check that?

Thanks.
 
If its engine could it be a sticky lifter/tappet? Could you throw one of those potions in that eases sticky lifters? Then take it for a spirited drive?

In my experience of vags the air con compressors simply do not operate if there is no refrigerant in the system - there is often a code thrown up if this is the case too when scanned using vcds. They make sucky noises inside the car if it is low.
 
Hi,

My project A2 (1.4 petrol 2001) has had a Tap since I bought it a couple of months back, its on the driver side and is reasonably loud when idle but fades out as revs increase.

The car was unused for 6months+ when I bought it, since then I have serviced it wiht oil and cambelt = Aux belth change and its still tap tap tap.

Could it be the aircon compressor? I say this as it doesnt seem to blow cold so wondered if loss of refigerant can make them noisy if they have nothing to compress. I dont think its alternator bearings as I can get a sound probe on that and its just spinning no tapping. I probably need to remove the wheen arch and have another sound probe session. The top of the engine does tap a bit on the probe but not that much so its more like conduced noise than the direct sound. I suppose maybe tappets ? how can I check that?

Thanks.
Your reg doesn’t start with LA51 does it?
 
It's not my old one: the dealer still has it up for sale (£1295). I concluded it was pretty bad piston slap as it was always worst when stone cold. My Forester S Turbo has always done it, but the difference is that after five mins the Forester is absolutely silent and has never changed in seven years. LASI seemed to get worse every time I drove it and being warm just muted the noise a bit.

Shame as that little 1.4i was my favourite A2 in many ways although I suspect I'll soon be bringing the PXY'i the FSi project back to life and baling on the TDi.

Anyway, unlikely to be AC compressor, but if you rest a long screwdriver on the compressor body (keep clear of the belt!!) and press an ear to the handle you'll soon hear if it's tapping. My money is on piston slap, the AUA is very prone to it, esp if the oil changes have been extended or low quality.

Back to LASi: it's actually being stored at the farm where my workshop is, so get to see it every day at the moment. I know it went through its MOT again. As the dealer says, it'll probably go to someone that just wants a tidy car to potter around locally, and it'd probably soldier on for that purpose for years. Everything else was actually pretty good.
 
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