I’m hopefully posting this in the right section… I have a 2002 Mk2.5 (1.6) and over the last few days I’ve noticed a rattling/tapping sort of sound coming from the engine bay. The sound is similar to if something gets stuck on part of your tyre and you can hear it as it hits the road. It only seems to start just above 2k rpm gets at its loudest at around 2,250 but completely disappears by 2,600rpm. Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be? It’s done a little over 105k miles and is due a service in a few weeks. Was hoping to get an idea of what it could be before I mention it to the garage in case they try telling me it’s something that it isn’t! Had the cambelt done around 58k miles so could it be an early warning sign that it’s due its next change? Any help/ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Adrian
Pulley bearings maybe?
Doubt very much it’s the cambelt begging for help.
Pesky rattle that is!
Could be something as simple as a loose heatshield zizzing at just the right revs to make it happen.
Try and get it hoisted, drop the plastic tray, and see what’s up…pulleys etc.
Thanks for the suggestions - I’ll get it looked at when it goes in for a service. I’ve had a bit of a look round in the engine bay with it running & couldn’t spot anything moving but unfortunately I’ve not got any ramps to be able to get under it for a look - I’ll have to leave that to the professionals!
Cheers again for the help!
I got the same thing on my 53 mk2.5
Tapping noise from the engine bay around 900-2000 rpm
Found the noise!!
It’s coming from the belts at the front of the engine
Ran sandpaper over the grooves while the engine was idling
Solved my ticking instantly, also can try a light spray of wd40 or something similar
Try wd40 first you should hear the noise go instantly for few seconds, that is if it’s the same noise as mine
Considered this but then didn’t know if it was a good idea to be spraying WD40 on belts - wondered if it was likely to make them slip?
Thanks for the tip though!
We just sprayed for less than a second in one area while car is idling
Didn’t coat it
Could just do the sand paper method. We had 60 grit. Held it on the belt grooves for a few seconds.
was so surprised when the noise stopped because didn’t think a belt could make that sort of mechanical metal ticking noise
Ticking is usually either because something is trapped on the surface of the belt or a wheel, or something is developing a crack - usually the belt.
A small dab of white paint on the edges of the belt and each wheel gives references to help to establish the rate of the tick; timing shows if it is the belt or on a wheel.
The sandpaper is a quick way to clean out a foreign body, but can introduce its own grit problems for later; a fine wire brass brush is better at getting into the small grooves and will do less damage to the wheels.
Problem found!!
It turns out that the bracket holding the K&N Typhoon I have fitted in place has decided to snap directly underneath it where it’s bolted on
Not sure of how to fix it as I can’t see that anywhere will want to sell me just the one bracket from a whole kit.
It’s going into the garage anyway in a couple of days as the front passenger side brake calliper is sticking a little - I’ll just have to ask them to see if they can construct a similar bracket or even find a way of fixing the broken one.
Thanks for all the suggestions though everybody - it’s help like that that makes this forum so great!