[Vwdiesel] loud clacking in Jetta turbo diesel

[Gary, Orlando]

I would check the obvious...
Check cam timing, valve lash, do the injector pipe trick as earlier
suggested. Also, get a length of solid metal rod like and antenna, hold
one end tightly against the side of your head, and touch the other end
to various parts of the engine. You will be surprised of the individual
noises you can pick up this way.

You can have the oil analysed for an abundance of babbit material if
there is a bad bearing.

A bad injector will have noise in the head area, and a bad rod will have
sound lower in the crankcase.

Does the noise seem to isolated to one cylinder? Is the noise worst when
snapping the throttle as opposed to decelerating?

-The "other" Gary, Orlando




On Mon, 2002-12-16 at 09:54, Steckly.Gary at ic.gc.ca wrote:
> I'm closing in on my very first diesel purchase, and it is now between an
> '89 Jetta Turbo with 305k for about 1200 CDN, which needs a clutch right
> away -  or a '92 turbo diesel with 180K, that seems to be running well
> except for the fact that it makes the most unsettling clacking noise from
> the engine.  I could likely get this one for 1500 CDN.
>
> I am leaning toward the '92, due to age, mileage and overall condition and
> options (air and nice alloy rims), but the noise has me concerned.  It
> doesn't't seem to diminish at all even as the engine speed changes.  A
> friend mentioned that it could be as simple as a bad injector.  Does this
> sound right?  It makes an awful racket (even for a diesel).
>
> Any other things to suspect and are there any simple tips for diagnosing
> noisy injectors as opposed to more serious things internally?
>
> thanks
>
> Gary