Hi,
I have a 2009 VW Rabbit 2.5L, automatic transmission, ~126k miles. My engine has developed a ticking noise on cold start during cold days. Mostly noticed it on days lower than 40°F. Sometimes it starts immediately (like yesterday when it was 0°F outside. It started and went away quickly), but most of the time it begins a minute or two after starting the engine, and it lasts about another minute or two and goes away. I just let the engine idle until it disappears. I’ve been trying to pinpoint it but it’s difficult since it’s transient. To me it sounds like it’s coming from the accessory belt side of the engine. I use the recommended 5W40 Castrol oil and change it ~5k.
Thanks for the help! Love the channel! Watch all the time!
Well what you want to do is remove all the fan belts if the noise goes away you know it's something that fan belts are doing but more often the ticking noise comes from inside the engine where things like valves are out of adjustment or there's where in the variable valve timing assembly.
Ticking on start is usually a sign of a worn VVT actuator.
The EA855 engines have VVT on the intake cam.
I HOPE it's not something bigger, I know these also had timing chain issues.
Can you specify the part and maybe how hard it would be to replace? I’ve done minor things since I’ve seen need the car like valve cover gasket, wheel bearing, axle boots, brakes, but I’ve never worked on engine internals before. If it were the VVT is that the only thing to replace or do more parts have to be replaced?