No its not the coilpacks working. This is something bad.

As the car gets warm there is a mechanically repetitive VERY loud clicking right by the 4th cylinder injector/fuel rail. it gets faster as you hit the gas in neutral so its for sure throttle related. when the car is completely hot it almost starts sounding like a TDI. LAAAME!

Is this what happens when injectors start breaking down? i have had a chip, intake, and exhaust system on the car for about a year and never upgraded the injectors. I dont race the thing but i punch it pretty often and cruise at 80 on the highways whenever possible.

She's in pain and i dont know what to do.

 

It does it when they get old, If you get new ones it wont be as bad. Mine has been developing a tick too not as bad as yours though

 

it is the injector and clicking is what you wanna hear but that loud is not good as you said. it could just be high resisteance on that injector foring it to use more juice with a harsher engagement. try cleaning the connection. after that get a bottle of cheveron techron and run it through the intake vacuum (best injector cleaner ive seen)

if those dont work then go with new ones(stock) you dont need higher flowing one unless you have more air. intake and exhaust is not enough for high flow. if it is not knocking on pump gas with a chip then your good. if anything a fpr ajustable if you want.

what was your gain with the mods?

 

if its somewhat loud it could be sticky lifters. no idea what engine you have since you didnt say but il assume its a 1.8t (because they are better ) if your starting to have some oil sludge buildup restricting oil flow to the top of the head it would sound like you describe. most often you would hear sticky lifters on startup, then once it warmed up and oil can flow more easily it gets quieter.

if it doesnt get quieter it could be a cam chain tensioner on the way out. most poeple describe the sound of a chain tensioner failing as sounding like a diesel. i would put half a can of seafoam in the oil for 50 miles then change it with some nice synthetic and see if the sound goes away.

 

i would lean more towards the cam chain/tensioner.
It is on the rear of the head, near cylinder #4.
I dont think injector ticking is that loud, or that it would be just that one injector, but thats just my guess...
you could use screwdriver or a steth to listen to all the injectors, see if that one is really loud i guess, that would be a real easy check

 

Thanks guys. Im gunna run some seafoam through the thing and see if that helps.

sorry i didnt but it is the 1.8t I also notice that right at startup there is a different type of loud clicking that only lasts for about 3 seconds. Maybe thats the lifters? i have used Sythetic the entire time and change withing 3000-4000 miles. I have also been using K&N oil filters since i drive it kind of hard on occasion.

Like i said i will run some cleaner through the system and see if that helps. Im hoping i dont have to start messing with the CAM. i am totally broke.

 

k&n oil filters are garbage. i unfortunately have one on my car right now because autozone was out of my mobil1 filters and my order from ECS for some Mann filters just got here today, 3 weeks too late. im definately not going to run more then 3k miles on this little piece of crap k&n, its only a step up from a purolator filter.

the loud clicking on startup is probably the lifters because it takes about 2 seconds for the oil to get pumped all the way thru the engine on a cold start. i wouldnt be too worried about that noise unless its getting worse.

 

Ok so i ran the seafoam through the manifold and put some in the with the oil (i was so happy to also discover that the little yellow dipstick collar snapped off and chunks of plastic fell into my engine) It has made a really big difference but it still clicks slightly at certain times. Im thinking maybe after i finish off the octane booster and get my oil done everything should be 100% again.

Thanks again guys.

 

.......yeah

 

This would be my assumption. I had to replace my cam chain tensioner and it did sound like a diesel. It would sound fine when cold, but after getting warmed up it was really bad. For my '01 the part was not cheap at all but I've heard that w/o vvt its somewhat cheaper. Also pretty sure that its at the back of the engine so could explain why it sounds like its coming from the 4th cylinder. Good luck.