1.8T Cam Chain noise when the car is revved (video)

[BlazinB5]

For those of you that are fairly familiar with the cam chain tensioner - how big of a deal is the cam chain noise that my car is making? I understand a little bit of noise on startup is normal, but I've never had a 1.8T make cam chain noise while warmed up. Am I able to put off replacing this for now, or is this CCT pretty much toast? Normally I would've replaced it by now.. but I've had a couple major expenses nail me pretty hard recently, and I still have a couple important things I need to take care of before I can spend on my car, so I'm at a low point right now, and really can't afford to replace it just yet.

I currently own both an A4 1.8T and Passat 1.8T, but I figured I would ask about my Passat here, since it's basically the same car and motor (longitudinal 1.8T), and any information posted here could possibly be useful to others.

Here's the video of the noise:

[GOODBYNAAIR]

I would say that its important to replace it as soon as you can if its stating to chip away or not filling all the way with oil when needed. the chain its self could do damage or the parts of the tensor that break off could case other problems.

the chipped parts can clog your oil pick up tube = low oil pressure which is not good for the motor or turbo. that's just one of the big ones that could happen.

[woolveren]

Here's the video of the noise:

Is that really a Cam chain noise?

[walky_talky20]

I did have a CCT that made noise while driving. It would do it on take-off from a stop sign. I believe the VVT kicks in at that moment for low-end torque assist. Mine was advancing past where it should have. Far enough for the chain to hit the cylinder head. I heard the grinding noise. See the gouge in the head just above ^13x casting:



I was away from home at the time, so I just unplugged the VVT solenoid (disables the VVT advance function entirely), and it took care of almost all of the noise. I swapped the tensioner a few months later.

[BlazinB5]

I would say that its important to replace it as soon as you can if its stating to chip away or not filling all the way with oil when needed. the chain its self could do damage or the parts of the tensor that break off could case other problems.

the chipped parts can clog your oil pick up tube = low oil pressure which is not good for the motor or turbo. that's just one of the big ones that could happen.

good point. i'll have to take the valve cover off, take a peek, and see if the pad is chipping away or not. that's definitely not something I would wanna let go, seeing how much of a PITA replacing the oil pump screen is.

I did have a CCT that made noise while driving. It would do it on take-off from a stop sign. I believe the VVT kicks in at that moment for low-end torque assist. Mine was advancing past where it should have. Far enough for the chain to hit the cylinder head. I heard the grinding noise. See the gouge in the head just above ^13x casting:



I was away from home at the time, so I just unplugged the VVT solenoid (disables the VVT advance function entirely), and it took care of almost all of the noise. I swapped the tensioner a few months later.

interesting.. i can't quite tell if mine makes noise from take-off (i'll have to pay attention and see if it does), but i'm assuming it does since it makes noise just from being revved. based on that picture, i should probably take care of it ASAP if it's hitting the head. i'd much rather not have to replace the chain too, lol.

thanks for the input so far guys i'll probably order the CCT up via EuropaParts.com tomorrow.

[crazyquik22023]

From my experience when the CCT makes noise when it is warmed up and the noise gets louder when rpms increase that is usually a bad CCT. When the noise gets quieter when rpms increase that is usually an oil pressure problem. But either situation could also be a combination of both. If your top end looks like the one pictured above I would probably suggest doing a de-sludge as well as replacing the CCT.