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I own a VW Golf Mk5 1.9 TDI year 2005.

There is a strange ticking noise coming somewhere from under the hood and as it seems it starts and is mostly noticeable when I press on the clutch. This noise was definitely not there before. It seems as something is stuck and is constantly hitting on something else.

I went to a local mechanic, he took a look at the car a little bit and his initial guess was that it is something connected with the transmission and he will have to break it apart to find out what exacly the problem is.

I'm a complete noob when it comes to mechanics and i would like some tips from the community at what might be the problem.

UPDATE:

I think I did not bring up plenty of information when it comes to the operation of the car.

  • First of all I don't feel any change in terms of gear shifting
  • Another thing is that the sound is not turned on/off when I press/release the clutch pedal, rather it appears/disappears on random occasions. Sometimes it is not present at all, sometimes it is barely noticeable and sometimes it is loud enough and you simply cannot miss it
  • There is no difference when it comes to where the biting point of the clutch is
  • I don't feel any pulsing or vibration through the clutch pedal as @WeakMech points out
  • The car does not seem to have lost its power, I guess that is something that I would definitely feel especially for example when climbing up a steeper hill

Okay so I did a little bit of research and watched a few YouTube videos trying to locate someone with the similar noise as mine. I think the noise in this video is as close as it can get when it comes to the noise that I'm hearing on my car. The noise in the video is coming from the clutch release fork. There is this other video where a somewhat different noise is occurring from the video and from what I'm experiencing on my car. The fix for the noise they are suggesting in that video is doing some lubrication in the area between the pivot ball and the release fork.

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    clutch failing either centre plate or pressure plate.. Taking it apart is the only way to see.
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Apr 29, 2018 at 19:23
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    @JordanJordanovski I took a look at the video you posted, and the noise is actually exactly what I'm experiencing with my own car! (2007 Subaru Outback). That is certainly release bearing beginning to wear and causing vibration/cricket noises. I tried the lubrication fix but it didn't help. Took it to my mechanic and I'm getting it replaced along with the clutch and the flywheel in a couple of weeks.
    – WeakMech
    Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 0:23
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    @JordanJordanovski I mean this video youtube.com/watch?v=64O6aZjZ524 but both are approximately the same
    – WeakMech
    Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 0:46
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    @JordanJordanovski unfortunately those questions are quite hard to answer. "how long will it last" is like asking "how long is a piece of string". In my case, I was comfortable driving with it for about a month. Will it do more damage... maybe. It could fail and crack the gearbox casing, or it could fail and do no other damage. Cost of replacing is very dependent on your country.
    – WeakMech
    Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 0:50
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    @WeakMech thanks for the help, I will use this knowledge and go to a mechanic again and follow up later with what ended up fixing it.
    – Jordan Jordanovski
    Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 0:59

1 Answer 1

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A rhythmic knocking or ticking sound that is dependent on the clutch pedal generally points to a failing release/throwout bearing or failing dual mass flywheel. You'd generally be able to feel a pulsing or vibration through the clutch pedal as well.

The fix would definitely be replacing clutch, flywheel, release bearing, release fork etc.

You may have some time before you have to fix it as cars can tend to go for quite a while with a noise like this, but if you wait too long, the system may completely fail and cause extra damage to the gearbox.

On another note, I'd avoid that mechanic. This is a pretty common noise to diagnose, so I'm a little wary that he's "guessing" and "needs to break apart the transmission" to find the issue, sounds like he's setting you up for more cost than what is necessary. Just my two cents.

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  • Thanks for the heads up, I'm afraid it might end up even worse than that. He can say that he has changed some part, he will find a part from a different car that he has there laying around and he will show it to me telling me that was my old part. Who would know the difference. I hear these types of warnings about mechanics all the time.
    – Jordan Jordanovski
    Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 0:05

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