My car makes a horrible, loud engine noise that can be heard over any semi truck that pulls up next to me. At first, it only made this noise for a few seconds when I turned the car on and a bit when going up long steep hills. The noise is a really loud rattling that comes from the engine. After having an oil change (stuck to synthetic as before) it started to make the noise more often, and louder- now in idle, it only goes away when I accelerate fast enough. I have been to numerous mechanics, including the VW dealership, they all tell me it's something different.
I received a oil sludge settlement letter from VW stating that cars like mine often have an oil sludge problem "is your check engine light on?" etc. My car had all the signs so I took it in to the VW dealership hoping to get it fixed under the extended warranty. The problem is VW doesn't really want to fix their problem. The dealership told me that they wouldn't do it, my car didn't have signs of oil sludge, that I should never have bought it, charged me $200 and wanted an additional $200 from me to "TRY and figure out the noise" So I took my car in to a different mechanic who told me that the noise was most likely due to the timing chain tensioner- which apparently doesn't break/get ruined except due to oil sludge.
So I'm stuck with this awful noise, no one knows what it is for sure and VW won't help with my sludge. Anyone have any ideas?
My car makes a horrible, loud engine noise that can be heard over any semi truck that pulls up next to me. At first, it only made this noise for a few seconds when I turned the car on and a bit when going up long steep hills. The noise is a really loud rattling that comes from the engine. After having an oil change (stuck to synthetic as before) it started to make the noise more often, and louder- now in idle, it only goes away when I accelerate fast enough. I have been to numerous mechanics, including the VW dealership, they all tell me it's something different.
I received a oil sludge settlement letter from VW stating that cars like mine often have an oil sludge problem "is your check engine light on?" etc. My car had all the signs so I took it in to the VW dealership hoping to get it fixed under the extended warranty. The problem is VW doesn't really want to fix their problem. The dealership told me that they wouldn't do it, my car didn't have signs of oil sludge, that I should never have bought it, charged me $200 and wanted an additional $200 from me to "TRY and figure out the noise" So I took my car in to a different mechanic who told me that the noise was most likely due to the timing chain tensioner- which apparently doesn't break/get ruined except due to oil sludge.
So I'm stuck with this awful noise, no one knows what it is for sure and VW won't help with my sludge. Anyone have any ideas?
- Betty C., Santa Cruz, CA, US