pman6

I think my engine has been torn down twice for recalls. Is it twice? not sure.
But the clattering sound during idle is noticeably louder and unusual sounding, like there's something loose.
Standing outside the car, It clearly doesn't sound like the direct inject diesel sound when it was new.

Anyone else experience this?

I hope it's not because they reassembled it shoddily during the valve spring and fuel supply line recalls.

Sodium

Could you post a video? I'm having a hard time imagining a clattering sound from an engine ("clattering" brings to my mind the sound of someone loudly stacking dishes)

Edit: reread your post – are you saying that the DI noise has changed, and it now is making a clattering noise?

pman6

yeah. the DI noise seems to have changed. Like there's a rattling noise along with the piston slap

I'll post a video later.

SILENTM

Does it go away after a certain rpm

Sodium

The only recall maintenance I've had done was the fuel pressure sensor recall, and there was no noticeable difference after the work was done. The car had 50,000 on the clock when it bought it though, so it's possible some other recall work was done before I bought it.

That is a bit worrying though – the DI fuel pressure is ~1800psi, so if you suspect something is loose, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to take it back to the dealer.

pman6

ok, here's a recording of the noise. It's not piston slap. It sounds like it's coming from the pulleys in front of the engine block. A sort of rattling vibration noise. Like if you shook dice in a plastic cup really fast. It definitely didn't sound like this before, or when it was new.
Would the water pump make this kind of noise?

(I wrapped the camera in paper to shield from wind noise) This is the best quality audio I could make.

Sodium

Thanks for the video, it helps immensely! It doesn't sound like the water pump to me, so unless you're seeing evidence of a coolant leak, I wouldn't suspect that.

Have you checked your oil recently? I happened upon this video a few days ago where Fifth Gear ran a car with no oil until it seized, and your engine noise sounds a bit like that (but to a much lesser degree). Could also be that they didn't fully tighten one of the piston rods to the crankshaft at the last recall and it's rattling around.

pman6

Actually my coolant reservoir level was a tad below the LOW line.

searched some youtube videos. It might actually be the water pump rattling due to faulty bearing inside, too much play.
My car is just shy of 50k miles. Seems early to have the pump fail.
I hate spending money to fix my car. This one is gonna cost me a grand at least.


almost sounds like this

Sodium

Yep that sounds right, the low coolant is a fairly good indication of where the problem is.

Yeah I know how you feel, it is a pain in the ***, but it is a wear and tear item. If you're at all mechanically inclined though, the water pump is a fairly simple DIY and the parts are only like $180, it just takes a while.

Do you notice any pink crystals on/under the water pump or on the underbody panels?

SILENTM

You could also try removing the belt for a short time to see if noise goes away. Also sound like maybe timing chain tensioner getting loose

pman6

added coolant yesterday, reservoir level decreased again this morning.
dried coolant all over engine bay floor.
private mechanic confirmed bad water pump.

so if your engine sounds like mine, it's probably the water pump. crappy part

Sodium

Lol I was way off on my diagnosis – should've remembered House's diagnostic rule (hoofbeats usually = horses, not zebras). Glad you caught it early though. When mine failed, the only indication was a bit of belt slippage, and then a lake of coolant on the garage floor on Sunday morning.