I know this has been covered but I've not been able to find an answer quite describing my noise. I've read a lot about our oil pumps being very noisy, like a box of rocks, etc. Mine is definitely like that. From what I can tell, noise has been the same since I got the car about 16k miles ago.

For those that know what's "normal" or "not normal", any opinion on what is normal or not?

My car has about 60k miles

 

Oil pump is just two gears that mesh together, should be smooth. Likely a different problem. Is there material in your oil filter?

 

Checked filter the other day and it's clean.

Maybe loose IMS gear?

 

Is the noise in rhythm or is it variable? Someone on here who is rebuilding now had a noise that seemed like a rod. Turned out his car had been money shifted and his chain tensioner was jammed inward and the loose chain was causing the noise. I think his valves were bent too.

 

Seems rhythm, not variable.

I know it wasn’t money shifted in the last 20k miles but before that, could have been.

 

Yes but it sounds like other things and travels through the shaft so you never know. Tough to diagnose without being there but I would be surprised if your oil pump was failing somehow with no metal in the oil.

 

Is it not the Mezger rattle? When i first got my 02 I spent a bunch of time with it on the hoist using a stethoscope because the noise bothered me. My "mezger rattle is concentrated in the oil pump area of the engine cases. Took it to Shark Werks the owner said it sounded normal. Now its a badge of honor.

 

What are your mods? was there any mods on it before you bought the car? I have seen loose ims bolts, also have seen bent rods touching the cheek of the crank and making a tapping sound. Does the noise change with a fresh oil change?

Tim

 

I believe the car has a modified ECU done by a prior owner. Fresh oil change doesn’t matter, just did one to thicker oil and sound doesn’t change. Checked my filter with my last change which was about 3k-5k miles and it was clean, no metal or plastic or debris

 

FWIW, this thread describes the noise

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-turb...e-noise-3.html

And this video is the similar to the noise I have.


He said he records 3 times a year and it hasn’t changed

 

My car sound exactly like that since 2007!!!! Oil is send to Blackstone every year and come out normal!!! Filter always clean.... I tried Mobil, Shell, Castrol, LiquiMoly and also different grade no luck...Cannot found the magic sound reducer combination ;-(

 

My engine was "quietish" before recent rebuild, now loud as hell, sounds like in those posted videos. Only mechanical difference is oil pump, being now the GT3 one. Oil's Mobil 5w-50, but I might try 0w or 5w-40 next.

 

I think it is the chain that rattles but the noise comes through the IMS.

 

Put a louder exhaust on...

 

Pretty much all the Turbo Mezgers I've heard have the rattle. I believe this is caused by the harmonics of these engines that use the heavier single oiled TT crank and the heavy multi piece bolted IMS gear. The rattle is exaggerated with hot engine oil when it thins out. My previous 3.8L used the GT3 crank along with the GT3 oil pump and it had a very faint rattle, significantly less than a stock 3.6 TT motor. My current 4.0L Turbo Mezger uses the latest generation double oiled Motorsport RSR crank along with single piece lightweight billet RSR IMS, and again the GT3 oil pump. In this motor, we are also using 997Cup timing chains along with the "997" part number Cup chain tensioners instead of the "959" part number chain tensioners used on the TT. The Cup tensioners are noticeably stiffer than the 959 tensioners when compared side by side. This current engine has zero rattle during operation, at idle, or on start up. Even if the car sits for a month or two, it's perfectly quiet on start up with zero chain rattle or when I come off track with the oil temp at +260F. I have over 20 hard track hours on this motor and it sounds exactly the same now as it did on the initial run. It does not sound anything like a typical TT Mezger and both the engine and gearbox are hard mounted to the chassis. I have always used M1 5W50 on all my Mezgers.

I believe the better balanced internals play a large part in the amount of noise the engine makes. The stiffer tensioners also help. Just my $0.02....