Small short rattle in low revs

[YTL2000]

I was wondering if anyone knew what was rattling when I press the accelerator. It only seems to happen at low revs, doubt anymore than 2k - 2.5k and is not specific to turning or gear. I have a feeling it could be a heatshield somewhere but as I am new to my A3, I wanted to know if any one has experienced this before and what they found the problem to be?

Cheers!
Tom

 

[funnyclub]

I was wondering if anyone knew what was rattling when I press the accelerator. It only seems to happen at low revs, doubt anymore than 2k - 2.5k and is not specific to turning or gear. I have a feeling it could be a heatshield somewhere but as I am new to my A3, I wanted to know if any one has experienced this before and what they found the problem to be?

Cheers!
Tom

Yes I have the same issue at the moment it really bugs me. I jacked the car up today but I couldn't really get at it so when its in for its service I will get my mechanic to check it out. I just hope its the heat shield and not the cat itself.

 

[ash3435]

mine had a rattle the other week.been doing my head in for a while, turned out it was the pipe from the turbo to the charge pipe.standard jubilee clips are rubbish.would of never found it, but there was a small amount of oil around the edge

 

[gcs3]

Is there a rattle on startup?
also does it soung like its coming from the top of the engine?

I had a rattling/grunting noise on my s3 at around 2000 rpm and it was the cam chain tensioner. The oil pickup pipe gets blocked and restricts the flow of oil. Itl kill the engine if the pick up pipe gets really badly blocked but i think you usually get a low oil pressure warning light before it gets to that stage.

 

[Blueproject]

Hi,

Mine has literally just started making a similar noise this morning.

I'm new to my 8l S3 and so far so good, I last checked the oil on saturday and it was half full. After some hard driving yesterday in the blistering heat, I drove home, let the car cool down for a minute or two before turning it off and leaving it over night.

This morning I was a little late for work so I could only let the car warm up for a minute or two. Once the car was idling almost normally I left for the office and didn't start to drive it harder until the temp was around 90. I might have hit a pot-hole but then it wasn't a large nor deep one... shortly after the "oil level low" warning came up on the dash and I didn't take it into boost from then on. However, it sounded alot like a diesel and I drove it for another 3 minutes until coming to a stop at my office. I didn't check the oil and topped it up (a little too much as I've just found). The oil level low warning has now gone but has been replaced by the engine management light being solidly lit.

With the 5vTurbo cover off the engine I think I can hear the noise coming from the right hand side of the engine block (facing it). I'm sure the noise only appears whilst the revs are climbing and only at 2k rpm. From what I understand the car is unmodified but may have been remapped by the previous owner.

Any advice welcome, I'm not great with cars! If you need further information please do let me know.

 

[YTL2000]

Cheers for the replies guys, well it happens regardless of conditions and it turns out the rattling is at 1.25 - 1.5k revs not the 2 ish that I said before and it ONLY happens at this range, regardless of gear and only when driving. I think its the engine making the heatshield rattle in very low revs but when the boost kicks in and the vibrations arent so great, it stops?

Kind of inclined to go with ash3435 thinking as maybe I am too hopeful as it sounds like an easy fit, but it seems like it could be the case. The noise doesnt seem to come from the engine bay itself but more from underneath somewhere? TBH, I only ever have my window down so cant say if its on the left or the right

 

[leshkin]

Hi,

Mine has literally just started making a similar noise this morning.

I'm new to my 8l S3 and so far so good, I last checked the oil on saturday and it was half full. After some hard driving yesterday in the blistering heat, I drove home, let the car cool down for a minute or two before turning it off and leaving it over night.

This morning I was a little late for work so I could only let the car warm up for a minute or two. Once the car was idling almost normally I left for the office and didn't start to drive it harder until the temp was around 90. I might have hit a pot-hole but then it wasn't a large nor deep one... shortly after the "oil level low" warning came up on the dash and I didn't take it into boost from then on. However, it sounded alot like a diesel and I drove it for another 3 minutes until coming to a stop at my office. I didn't check the oil and topped it up (a little too much as I've just found). The oil level low warning has now gone but has been replaced by the engine management light being solidly lit.

With the 5vTurbo cover off the engine I think I can hear the noise coming from the right hand side of the engine block (facing it). I'm sure the noise only appears whilst the revs are climbing and only at 2k rpm. From what I understand the car is unmodified but may have been remapped by the previous owner.

Any advice welcome, I'm not great with cars! If you need further information please do let me know.

Hi mate and welcome to the forum. I'd start a new thread if I were you - as yours sounds like a completely different issue. Plus no-one likes a thread-jaker

 

[YTL2000]

Had a look on my MOT advisory and it says that the drivers rear brake caliper is binding (only advisory). lol may seem silly but how likely is this to be the cause of my problem? Does sound like its coming from the right.

Anyway I can stop it from binding just to solve that issue as it is?

Cheers!

 

[The Doctor]

Do you know / can you tell where the noise is coming from? Open your window as you pull away to try and locate it. If it sounds like a metal rattling noise, my money is on the heat shield which is between the main exhaust section literally below you in the car and the floorpan. It's a perforated aluminium metal shield. Mine does it when cold at around 2k revs (eg when pulling away from home in the morning), but stops once warmed up due to the expansion of the metal itself. Get under the car and give it a tap whilst it's cold - it should make a similar noise if this is the cause.

 

[Matt82]

cam chain tensioner or flywheel, from my experience