UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all,
I have just signed up as have recently bought a 2013 1.2 polo for my son.

I’d have liked to have signed up for positive reasons however I’m a little concerned about a noise it made today when starting up.

The noise, I can only assume it was slight chain clatter for a split second and then was fine… but it hadn’t done this before.

Typically we’ve only had the car for a week! I wasn’t particularly keen on this engine after reading about cam chain issues but I was overruled by the mrs as I’m known for being overly cautious!

It’s a 2013 non tsi with just under 80k on the clock and good service history.
I test drove it a couple of times over a week when viewing it, all started from cold and never heard this noise then or in the first week of owning it until today.

Oddly The manual actually states the engine can be noisy for a few seconds when started from cold??.. never known a manual state that before so are they known to have a slight clatter in the cooler months or is this possibly the start of an expensive journey of polo ownership!!??

Any advice greatly appreciated
Cheers all

Slight update on this.
I found the oil was over filled on the car (which is great when it was last service was at a garage!) so I did an oil and filter change using Castrol edge 5w30 LL (504.00 507.00 spec)
Must say, oil capacity is a bit confusing as some sites state 2.8l and others I’ve seen 3.8l, not that that’s an excuse for a mechanic to over fill!..
It’s 2.8l for anyone interested.

The noise was there on first start which isn’t nice but I’m guessing inevitable being that the oil has been drained??

Following that the car ran fine, left it over night and it’s not made the noise in a 2 cold starts now?

I’m just telling my lad to listen for noises on start up and take it easy when driving from cold for a few minutes..
See how it goes.

Hi.
Everything you've described is normal, nothing to worry about. Cold starts in these small-displacement gasoline engines are often a bit rough and slightly noisy for the driver (a couple of minutes on average, depending on the outside temperature), but they're necessary for the systems to reach the proper operating temperature and lubrication, especially the ABS system.

With the manufacturer's recommended maintenance, which isn't anything special for this vehicle, that engine can run smoothly for a long time (decades). It's always been a good engine in terms of efficiency and durability.

You did the right thing by getting the oil changed. This marks the beginning of a new service cycle for that vehicle. Previous service history is merely a guide when buying a used vehicle. It's not particularly relevant who performed the previous services or how many signatures are in the service book, ... you already noticed the oil level was above the MAX mark on the dipstick... it should never be exceeded.