A month or two ago, I had to have this car’s oil pump replaced. Since that replacement, it seems that whenever I start the engine there is a rattling noise in the upper engine area that lasts 1-2 seconds before going away. It’s possible it has always been there (I haven’t owned this car for long), but it seems a bit worse in the past week or two. I am taking it in to the dealer on Monday (today is Saturday), but wondered if anyone has thoughts on what it might be: valves, rings, etc.?
have you checked the oil level since then?
From what I understand from what you have writen, it sounds like you were told the oil pump was replaced but it actually wasn’t. The first big indication of this is how much time the shop had your car. Replaceing the oil pump takes just about as much time to replace as rebuilding the entire engine because most of the engine and surrounding components need to be cleared away to get to the oil pump.
Do yourself a big favor and take the car to an entirely different shop and have them diagnose the problem. I bet they’ll tell you that you need a new oil pump, and (But don’t tell them you know this) a valve job. That rattleing you are hearing is not the rings, but the valve assembly in the upper part of the engine. Rings are one of two extemes, either they work or they dont - either you will have a lot of white smoke comeing out of the tailpipe or you wont.
Never, never, never take your car to the corner, convenience, franchise shop. They will always sell you more than what you need and will do a poor job replaceing those sold items because their mechanics can’t get jobs anywhere else. And dealerships are just as bad, but with hungry mechanics.
Did you have to pay for the oil pump? I had a passat with the 1.8 it was a 2002. VW sent me some info in the mail that they were extending the warranty because of oil sludge. This engine is prone to it and a lot of them have failed. You might have a oil sludge problem.
And VW recommends you use only synthetic oil on this engine.
Thats what I used in mine. I know a few people that followed the book and used synthetic oil and still had problems. VW wouldn’t extend the warranty if they weren’t having problems with these cars.
looking back you have been having these noise, engine malfunction lights since august.
you have been going to the dealership since then.
why not find a local mechanic who specializes in VW.
obviously the dealership is incapable of getting to the bottom of this.
maybe you need a “fresh look” at the problem with someone who is honest!
Ignore the others advice and go to dealer first. Your repair is under warranty and the engine is also under warranty for sludging that may have occurred(causing the oil pump failure).
Make sure your engine is oil topped off.
A major problem with this engine is that they did not clearly spec synthetic oil and if owners were lax(many are) about oil changes duration/level this engine is very hard on oil leading to sludging. Hopefully this all works out. Good luck.
First - the noise you hear may well be the cam chain tensioner . It’s at the back of the cylinder head and can be noisy as these engines get old . If it doesn’t get any worse don’t sweat it .
Second - synthetic oil - true BUT VW spec 502.00 spec synthetic . Not all synthetics meet this spec. Mobil 1 0-40 does meet it but Mobil 1 5-30 doesn’t ! Look at the back of the oil bottle - there’s a list of specs the oil meets .
Third - start reading Passatworld.com and VWvortex.com - lots of info on VWs