VR6 Low oil and engine clicking

[pwadjo]

Hi,
Need some help asap,
Just driven from Melbourne in my VR6 Golf to Lake entrance. Noticed when I got out that the engine was making a quite loud clicking noise on idle. It gets faster as you revs (as would be expected). The noise was coming from the upper driver side on the left (as you look at the engine). I was wondering what it was so I dipped the engine for oil and there was none on the dipstick. I looked on the net to see if anyone had any similar problems and lots said it was either the timing chain or the oil in the car was the wrong viscosity and was ****ing up the lifters. I stuck in 4l of 20w/50 castrol gtx and the oil is back up where it should be. Noise is still there.
Am i safe to drive back to Melbourne?

Need help asap

[dark]

Your oil light come on? Do you have a leak? Check underneath it where it's parked and see if it's leaking.
Ticking doesn't sound good, may be the timing chain is worn. Might be something worse..
These engines need to be looked after, regular servicing, high quality and correct weight oil, 95 Ron plus fuel.
If in doubt get a mechanic to look at it in the entrance

[Tim]

timing chains are on the passenger side of the engine.

[whiteVR6]

I havent pulled one of these engines apart, but the poblems with low oil usually start from the oil pump and the next part of the engine where the oil goes too, it can be the cams, engine bearings, cam tensioner etc Seb can post up later if you want this info

[dylan8]

while that road is shocking I'm sure you would have known if you hit the sump
if your down in lakes after boxing day and need a hand with anything let me know. might be able to assist with some tools and a second set of hands
If you need a mechanic to check it out, Martin Dejong at Dejongs in Nicholson (back towards bairnsdale) is the man to see

[HaydEn]

My hydraulic tensioner was broken and made a loud ticking noise that increased with revs, but only when engine oil had heated up(being thinner)

This is located on the passenger side, but the vibrations managed to only be heard on the drivers side.

This also resulted in the oil light being on.

[pwadjo]

Thanks for the replies guys. I put some oil in it last night before bed and turned it over straight away and nothing had changed. Went out this morning and turned it over and the noise is gone. I think it may have been that there was no oil for the hydraulic lifters to work. (based on limited knowledge). The question still remains, where did the oil go? No leaks visible and no pool of oil under it this morning.

[VR28LT]

prior to this episode when did you last check the oil ?

[pwadjo]

Would have been about 3 weeks but I rarely drive it. I work away and it only gets used to go to the shops etc. Usually short trips

[whiteVR6]

My hydraulic tensioner was broken and made a loud ticking noise that increased with revs, but only when engine oil had heated up(being thinner)

This is located on the passenger side, but the vibrations managed to only be heard on the drivers side.

This also resulted in the oil light being on.

Hydraulic tensioners dont break, the spring tension just decreases against the timing chain. If it was broken you'd have the timing chain jumping teeth on the cam gear.

[The_Hawk]

According to the manual, oil use of up to 1L / 1000km is "normal". The VR6's do run hot and mine always seemed to burn off some oil so I always checked it when putting in fuel and topped up a little every now and again.

...mind you, since the whole system takes 5L to fill, 4L is on the pretty extreme side of things... (but theoretically possible after only 4,000km)...

[HaydEn]

Hydraulic tensioners dont break, the spring tension just decreases against the timing chain. If it was broken you'd have the timing chain jumping teeth on the cam gear.

I used the word break for easy understanding. It was scorched which when the oil was thinner managed to release the tension.