Strange noise

[AnotherB5S4]

Hey guys, I have recently noticed a strange noise, It is now loud enough that when I am at Idle with radio off, I can hear the noise in the cabin if i listen for it. Usually the noise only happens once the car reaches normal operating temp. Here is some info about my car, 2001.5 S4, 97,000 miles, it had the timing belt done at 80,000 miles by unknown mechanic, I recently purchased the vehicle at 85,000 miles. The previous owner took great car of the car. Umm, I use Mobil 1 5W-30.... Could it be the cam chain tensioner?

Here are some Youtube videos of the mysterious sound, This isn't my car in the video but my car sounds identical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2X2Y...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Rbn...eature=related


Please advise =/

Luis

[RedRocketS4]

I would say.... it's possible that the cam chain tensioner is jacked. VAG it. see if you're getting any misfire codes (which can come along without the CEL coming up). If that doesn't work, try changing the type of oil.

That's a start. I had a similar noise when I went to a different oil. I switched back and used castrol syntec 5w-40 (not-so-cheap), but the sound went away and the engine ran smoother.

[seadoo4563]

your oil type is fine. dont put castrol in there
make sure the oil level is where it is suppose to be, and try putting some sea foam in the crank case or lucas oils make a really nice stabilizer that works too, the speakers on my work computer suck so i could be hearing something completely different than the rest of you but kinda sounds like sticky lifters.... but like i said shitty work computer speakers.

[Unispeed]

it could be the serpentine tensioner.... spray some WD40 on the serpentine tensioner and see if the noise dies down.. thats how found out that it came from there. Just make sure not to spray too much or your belt will start to slip.

[AnotherB5S4]

Thanks for all your input guys, Still dont know what it could be.. I dont know if it could be the tensioners or not, it only happens when the motor gets hot (normal temperature). If it was a tensioner, i would assume it would always make the noise no matter whether it was hot or cold. Right?

[Dimcorner]

Not necessarily. It might be that when it's hot the belt expands a lil bit and the tension is then not holding enough tension (<--- pure theory here)

[rms-s4]

sounds like a chain tensioner but usually its noisy all the time. they are pretty expensive to since youre in orlando fine a reputable gargage to look at it.