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Hole in pan, engine noise, oh my...

Slykopath

New member
Location
Hampshire Illinois
Car(s)
2015 GTI
First post here. So my son has a 2015 GTI with about 45K miles. Got a call 2 weekends ago that he hit a "curb or something" and had a bunch of alarms. I don't know how long he drove it, said he shut it down within a minute of all the alarms/limp mode.

We replaced with a steel pan. Checked compression at ~200psi on all cylinders, installed new coil packs and plugs. Filled it with 5w40 and started it up. Initially I heard this hellacious rattling noise and I shut it down immediately. It almost sounded like something was caught in the belt/fan or something. After checking to make sure everything was ok and not seeing any new codes with the Cobb programmer, I started again. No noise, ran smooth. Took it around the block and got on it a few times and it seemed normal. A couple times since then, my kid starts it and he hears a rattling upon start up, then it immediately goes away and runs fine. Car has been sitting all night and all day now, I start it up multiple times, no rattle, sounds fine, no codes.

I "was" going to go after the timing chain tensioner worried that it was damaged by running it dry even for a short time. Rattling noise appears to be gone.

Question is, should I go after the tensioners in the event that they could be damaged? OR Do I wait until I hear that rattling noise consistently before doing that given what has happened?
 

gixxerfool

Autocross Champion
Location
New Jersey
Car(s)
2016 Golf R
I wouldn’t wait. It may be prudent to just get a new chain, tensioner(s) and guides. Provided all you find is a stretched chain or a broken guide, you may get away with minimal issue. I would check for signs of chain slap if nothing else seems out of place.
 
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