What is this noise? Piston slap? (VR6) - maybe not the end of the world..

[axcel01uk 0]

Hi Jim

Further to my previous post, I had a word with a friend who works at the ombudsman service about your circumstances and about the possibility of you making a claim for a refund against your credit card provider under section 75.

 

She confirmed that firstly the name of the garage must match on both the receipt for the engine rebuild and the credit card statement (something to do with debtor-creditor-supplier). If you no longer have a copy of the credit card statement, this can still be obtained from your credit card provider even if your account has now been closed.

 

She explained that getting an independent report is crucial as hopefully this will be able to detail what was repaired or replaced as part of your rebuild and how long the engine (parts) should reasonably be expected to last for. If it is determined the problem with your engine is due to one of the elements that was replaced that’s when you can sometimes hit wear and tear issues. She explained that sometimes even if an engine part fails, it is a part that would reasonably not be expected to last the lifetime of a car. However, in your circumstances you would think it would be reasonable to expect it to last more than a year and only a few thousand miles.

 

She stated that most banks would want an independent report carried out by a company such as DEKRA (Check their website) as they are completely impartial. I suspect the Bank may not consider a report from say someone like Stealth independent enough as they may believe that at the end of the day Stealth would want your business for the repair job etc. She said that Dekra are recognised independent vehicle inspectors who do not undertake any repair work themselves, this is why the banks trust them. Apparently a Dekra's engineer’s report starts from around £195 inc VAT and the feedback they have is that Dekra are really helpful. She suggested it would be worth your while ringing Dekra to speak to them to discuss your issues and what they may find as part of their inspection. You can then make up your mind if you think it may will still be worth pursuing.

 

I appreciate there is still a lot to consider here but it still might be worth pursuing a claim as a last resort if have no joy sorting out through other means.

[Jim 2]

That's great information - it's really appreciated you finding out this information and posting it up. Will give it some thought if it's a route I want to pursue.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Jim. I typed a reply to your private message but got interrupted and not sure if i sent it or not.

[Jim 2]

Doesn't seem like it came through mate :(

[Jim 2]

Been soliciting opinion from a few folks now about the noise - some folks have said chains / tappets related, and someone else said piston slap and tappets.

 

CrazyDave is kindly coming over on Sunday to have a listen and run a compression check so that'll be interesting.

[VAG-hag 0]

I have an oil pressure test kit if you need to rule pump woes out mate....

[Jim 2]

That might be interesting mate. Is it easy to hook up?

[Jim 2]

Had CrazyDave over today for a listen, and a spin in the car. Car started up fairly quiet (seems to be better when it's milder outside) and then after a short warm up the ticking was noticeable again once you started to build the revs. We agreed it sounded very top end, and not bottom end. Decided to take the car out for a bit of a blast to confirm she was running OK and we noticed when we came back the ticking had reduced somewhat - so it seems to be pointing to a noisy lifter / tappet.

 

This makes me feel pretty good :) But annoying to be having to replace them again!! Time to find the best source of INA lifters..

 

Thanks for your help today Dave :)

[davevw 0]

Is the car used daily?

[Jim 2]

Nope. Sits in a garage for a couple of weeks at a time, sometimes longer.

[robrado974 1]

Thats better news Jim . If this is the cause at least you know its not going to be half as much work as any bottom end stuff .

[Wendy 0]

At last some good news.

 

Don't understand - What is a lifter ?

 

Tappetts - well's all VW's I have had suffered this including my current Corrado.

Had some replaced to be no better either. I just accept it now.

[Jim 2]

Thanks, Wendy. Some positive news indeed. I might either run some engine flush through it or just get them replaced. A set of new INA tappets (the best ones for a VR) are only £78 on eBay and had various offers to help fit free of charge :) When I have a bit of spare money I'll be looking into it.

[captainredeye 0]

A small sigh of relief then, I recently got some Ina tappets from German eBay £70 delivered and the Germans were pretty efficient at getting them to the door.

[Jim 2]

We also felt the car was running with a bit of a misfire and found that spark plug number one seemed a bit wet with fuel compared to the others which might suggest it's that injector which is causing the hiccup. I think my plan of action should be to get my spare injectors sent off and get the tappets ordered - then tackle both.

 

Maybe it's time to buy a Bentley manual and get stuck into some of this stuff myself.