Clicking Noise from engine of 2000 VW Eurovan (Sticky Lifter?)

claymcdaniel
Mon, 03 May 2010 04:42:09 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

Hello. I recently bought a 10 year old VW Eurovan in need of major repairs - timing chain, new transmission, some other odds and ends. The body and everything else was in good shape so we went for it. I relatively reputable repair shop in town did all of the repairs, but the one issue that we can’t seem to shake is a ‘tick tick tick tick’ clicking noise that sounds as if its about as fast as the engine RPM’s. It’s particularly noticeable / loud when the engine is idling at start up, when the car is moving towards an intersection at the very start of the day it can be a pretty pronounced loud clicking when engine is revving down in lower gear. As the car runs longer, it tends to make the clicking more prominent at idle. It hasn’t had any noticeable effect on performance, gas mileage, etc. The sounds is audible from drivers seat, but outside the car near the small engine compartment it is harder to hear.

Having taken it to two mechanics, both suggested that it was probably a ‘sticky lifter’ and that it wasn’t a concern and wouldn’t affect anything. One suggested staying on top of oil changes and that it might ‘work itself out’.

So my question is, should I care? Other than the clicking noise, does this matter at all for engine life, performance, reliability, etc? If yes, what? If no, given that this thing already has 140k miles on it and that we’re just using it for a city run-around with all of our kids for the next few years, I will just stop caring and turn up the radio.

Thanks.

8 posts - 6 participants