noisy injectors???

[nicholaswgmay]

Hi all, I have an 89 S2 with 140,000 on the clock and it has just started to make a rather alarming ticking sound which increases with the revs and is coming from the fuel injectors, a local garage has had a look and confirmed that mixture, timing etc is all good but has no idea why or how to stop the terrible noise!! Has anyone ever come across this before??? All help and advice gratefully received!

 

[zcacogp]

It could well be the injectors - they are noisy on some cars!

I also have an S2, and it has slightly ticky injectors. I took it into my indie once to ask about this, thinking it was the tappets. He confirmed that there was one tappet that was slightly tickier than the others (which I knew anyway), but that injectors can sometimes make a hell of a din (which I didn't know.)

The answer is to replace them. With new ones. And it's pricey.

So I thanked him warmly and drove away ... it works fine, and I have a volume control on the radio for when the ticking gets annoying ...


Oli.

 

[Guest]

I had the exact same on my S2 & assumed it was tappets. My mechanic has assured me that all injectors can become noisy with time. I have not noticed any problems with running or performance so I too have fixed it with the volume knob!

 

[homesea]

Some VW's had covers over the injectors to cut the noise, think I have seen some last week on a mates polo gt. Dont know if you can retro fit them.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: homesea

Some VW's had covers over the injectors to cut the noise, think I have seen some last week on a mates polo gt. Dont know if you can retro fit them.

wot like this one !..
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p261/peanutNboo/s2engine.jpg

 

[homesea]

No, they have little ones for each injector, should fit under the porsche fuel rail cover.

 

[Christopher I Ralph]

Since the noise has only recently atarted and is quite an 'alarming ticking' I would be far more inclined to suspect a noisy tappet.

If my car has been left for a few weeks without use, when I am perhaps away on holiday, it does, sometimes, have a ticking tappet. By running the car for a couple of minutes and then turning it off, again for a few minutes, the noise disappears as the oil presumably returns to the tappets which are of course, hydraulically operated. If I drive the car straightaway, without the above procedure, it takes a lot longer for the ticking to stop.

 

[zcacogp]

In fairness, you should be able to tell the difference between an injector and a tappet by careful listening. The tappet will be heard above the cam cover, the injector just above the injector itself.

If in doubt, use a stethoscope or (if you don't have one of those handy!) put the end of a screwdriver on the rocker box cover and rest the other end of it on the bit of bone around your ear. Sounds odd, but will give almost the same effect as a stethoscope, and allow you to pinpoint the noise pretty well.

If it's a noisy tappet, I think there are threads on here about it, but again it probably isn't anything much to worry about (unless it gets dire ... )


Oli.

 

[nicholaswgmay]

Thankyou all for your replies, the volume on the CD seemed a good idea and it had occured to me that the noise may well have been there for a longer than I thought but it was not until I was in the car on my own that I noticed it, thats not to say that my girlfriend talks a lot but... Anyhow it is definitley the injectors as we have done the stethoscope thing, I let the tank run to almost empty and then threw a £10 bottle of Slick 50 injector cleaner through and touch wood it seems a lot better, shame I spent £100 having it investigated!