Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 11:23 am
my old 1.0l sounded a bit like a diesel on start up sometimes! never thought too much in2 it!!
Its either hydraulic tappets not working properly, or its piston slap (piston twisting in the bore).
I have to admit I have a 16V and it is so quiet that you can hardly hear it running.
In some cases, if its the tappets, you can quieten down the engine by using a good engine flush.
To prevent noise in the future, its essential to change the oil every 5,000 miles or 6 months, more often if you do short journeys. Forget the service shedule, you must religiously change the oil, every year or so you should also use a flush.
Ensure that you are using the right oil. From experiance, it doesn't like anything other than the VW oil.
Also don't rev when its cold, avoid loading it up until the engine is at least off the 70C mark.
Hope this helps, but its mostly common sense.