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STARTUP RATTLE - Havent seen many recent posts about it

damagi123

damagi123

Go Kart Champion
I have startup rattle like every few times i start my car.
Im at 90k.

2 different dealers confirm that i have the updated tensioner and that they dont see any reason to do a chain or tensioner right now the markings are in the green.

Anyone else?

Did you change your chain and tensioner and still have rattles?

Its been a while since Ive seen anyone mention it. Ive seen a bunch of people say they still have startup rattle after servicing it.
 
thatspsychotic

thatspsychotic

Ready to race!
damagi123 said:
I have startup rattle like every few times i start my car.
Im at 90k.

2 different dealers confirm that i have the updated tensioner and that they dont see any reason to do a chain or tensioner right now the markings are in the green.

Anyone else?

Did you change your chain and tensioner and still have rattles?

Its been a while since Ive seen anyone mention it. Ive seen a bunch of people say they still have startup rattle after servicing it.
Click to expand...

Yes I have experienced this, and I had the updated tensioner put in 2 years ago. It's probably your dual-mass flywheel. When my rear main seal let go at 145k miles, I had my DMF replaced since it's effectively free labor at that point. Startup and idle got much quieter without the rattle/clatter of the worn DMF, and pulling away from a standstill and 1-2 shifts got better with the DSG.

It was a nearly $2k bill at an independent shop though, not something I'd do for just to take care of the sound. Worth doing if you're already in there for a clutch or LSD or something else though.
 
B

BudgetPhoenix

Autocross Champion
Man I did countless of hours of research on this exact topic. I too had a warm start up rattle even after having an updated tensioner installed. It sounded EXACTLY like the videos of old style tensioner going bad you hear on youtube. I even made accounts on foreign forums to ask guys questions who I saw posted about the exact same thing but no one had a definitive answer. Basically my issue was on cold start it would sound fine. But if I drove the car for a while and shut it off for 30min to 1 hour I would get a terrible start up rattle if I went to start again. This tended to only happen on hot days outside thus never happened during winter. My best guess was a stretched timing chain.

I finally did my entire timing chain myself a few weeks back and the old chain was stretched a bit. Updated tensioner was pushed out very far. Can you check VCDS engine block 93 with the car fully warmed up? Mine was showing ~4.25ish for a long time, indicative of a stretched chain. Now it hasn't started to get really hot again but I did try letting it sit outside after being driven in 70 degree weather and I didn't hear any start up noise. It really liked to be noisy on 90+ degree days so ill see how it does in a month or two. The engine does seem be smoother though with a fresh chain now.
 
thatspsychotic

thatspsychotic

Ready to race!
BudgetPhoenix said:
Man I did countless of hours of research on this exact topic. I too had a warm start up rattle even after having an updated tensioner installed. It sounded EXACTLY like the videos of old style tensioner going bad you hear on youtube. I even made accounts on foreign forums to ask guys questions who I saw posted about the exact same thing but no one had a definitive answer. Basically my issue was on cold start it would sound fine. But if I drove the car for a while and shut it off for 30min to 1 hour I would get a terrible start up rattle if I went to start again. This tended to only happen on hot days outside thus never happened during winter. My best guess was a stretched timing chain.

I finally did my entire timing chain myself a few weeks back and the old chain was stretched a bit. Updated tensioner was pushed out very far. Can you check VCDS engine block 93 with the car fully warmed up? Mine was showing ~4.25ish for a long time, indicative of a stretched chain. Now it hasn't started to get really hot again but I did try letting it sit outside after being driven in 70 degree weather and I didn't hear any start up noise. It really liked to be noisy on 90+ degree days so ill see how it does in a month or two. The engine does seem be smoother though with a fresh chain now.
Click to expand...

How many miles did you have on the car when you had the tensioner updated, and how many miles when you did the chain?

I bit the bullet and had my tensioner replaced at the dealer, and they went ahead and did the timing chain, cam adjuster bridge and a couple other things while they were in there too. Only thing they didn't do were all the guides. Bummer to have to do the labor twice, good on you for DIYing it the second time around. Sounds like OP had the chain done at the same time as tensioner as well, so less likely to be the cause for OP. My money is still on flywheel.
 
A

Allchokedup

Autocross Champion
If your not sure, get chain and tensioner done. I have had mine jump time lucky didnt wreck anything.
 
B

BudgetPhoenix

Autocross Champion
thatspsychotic said:
Yes I have experienced this, and I had the updated tensioner put in 2 years ago. It's probably your dual-mass flywheel. When my rear main seal let go at 145k miles, I had my DMF replaced since it's effectively free labor at that point. Startup and idle got much quieter without the rattle/clatter of the worn DMF, and pulling away from a standstill and 1-2 shifts got better with the DSG.

It was a nearly $2k bill at an independent shop though, not something I'd do for just to take care of the sound. Worth doing if you're already in there for a clutch or LSD or something else though.
Click to expand...


Also what was your rattle like with the bad DMF? Was it just a second or two rattle you heard at startup? Was there any relation to temp or hot and cold starts? I also looked into my DMF being a possibly culprit a long time ago but I often saw people describing a constant rattle or clunk at idle with a bad DMF. At one point I even took off my starter to see if I could find any play with a screwdriver on the flywheel but I couldnt find any really.
 
damagi123

damagi123

Go Kart Champion
no i havent had anything replaced. Im saying they confirmed i had the updated one from 2012 vs the older one that failed consistently. I will log my timing. if im 4 or more I should probably do the chain and tensioner huh
 
zef

zef

Drag Racing Champion
I had an odd warm start rattle that went away when I switched to Liqui Moly Leitchitauf. I too have the updated tensioner when it was making the noise and simply switching to a different oil made it go away.
 
ahard48

ahard48

Ready to race!
Interested in this convo. I has a rattle going on during start up and starting for a stop. Not sure if its my downpipe as I think I noticed it when installed last year. No aftermarket mounts installed as of yet either.
 
PhthaloType

PhthaloType

Go Kart Champion
damagi123 said:
I have startup rattle like every few times i start my car.
Im at 90k.

2 different dealers confirm that i have the updated tensioner and that they dont see any reason to do a chain or tensioner right now the markings are in the green.

Anyone else?

Did you change your chain and tensioner and still have rattles?

Its been a while since Ive seen anyone mention it. Ive seen a bunch of people say they still have startup rattle after servicing it.
Click to expand...

Question: Are you parking on an incline at all? Specifically, nose pointing downhill? I always used to back into my driveway (nose downhill). Sometimes I'd get the chain rattle on startup, so I started parking nose uphill, and it hasn't happened since. Apparently there's something about how the chain comes to rest when it was tilted that way.
 
Uberryan

Uberryan

Banned
ahard48 said:
Interested in this convo. I has a rattle going on during start up and starting for a stop. Not sure if its my downpipe as I think I noticed it when installed last year. No aftermarket mounts installed as of yet either.
Click to expand...

Is it a DSG?
 
ahard48

ahard48

Ready to race!
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