I have a 99 a4 Quattro 1.8t that has a loud ticking sound I've been unable to diagnose. It seems to be coming from the rear of the engine somewhere and increase with the revs of the engine. I checked my oil pressure with a gauge and got 70psi at cold idle and 80 at cold 1k. I have no fault codes and no misfires engine runs well except for the loud ticking. I thought the CCT may be bad but that is usually attributed to low oil pressures which I don't think I have. Any info would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

Ugh, that sounds terrible. My money is on the CCT though.

 

do yourself a fovar and take the valve over off soon. thats pretty terrible. it could be something benign, or at least not as critical, but check out underneath the valve cover soon.

after that, check everything that rotates with the engine. maybe pick up a stethoscope to help narrow in on the sound

 

^Agreed, I'd pop that valve cover ASAP. Tensioner could have lost its pads.

 

I took the valve cover off today and everything looked okay. No grooves or gouges in the pad and the cam looked clean no streaks or wore parts. I left the cover and coil packs off and turned it over. My spotter told me the tensioner moved up and down smoothly. I'm thinking my next move is to drop the pan to check for sludge but after that idk.

 

if you don't mind a small mess, try setting up plastic around the head and run the engine without the valve cover on. you should be able to hear it loud and clear if it is under the vc. again, be prepared for a little mess if you carry it out

 

I ended up getting a stethoscope and found the noise wasn't in the valve train. The ticking was coming from between the engine and transmission. I'm now thinking I may have a crack in my AT flywheel and will be taking out the transmission here in the next couple off days.

 

i'll take credit for that one

mostly likely it is not in the flywheel, but rather the torque converter. did you have any issues with acceleration at all?

on second thought, do yourself a favor and check out the starter before you pull the tranny. I had a similar issue with my truck. the gear on the starter wasn't getting held in place, and it bounced off the ring gear and made a noise. it was nothing like your noise, but check anyways. it could save you a ton of work