Clacking noise from `52 TD4

Hi all
Got a `52 TD4 with 114.000 miles on the clock, well serviced and looked after. I noticed the other day, when I started the car shortly after the wife had left it outside the house, so warm engine, a clacking noise which at first I thought was the plate underneath the sump that had come loose or similar. Starting the engine this morning from cold it sounded perfectly normal initially, but as the engine started to get warm the clacking noise slowly started. It is not like a constant noise, but sort of intermittent. Sorry, one of those things that has got to be heard. The clacking noise does not affect the performance of the engine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I should say that the noise comes from the left hand side of the engine when you stand at the front of the car looking at the engine.

Many thanks in advance

Hi, when i had a clacking noise from underneath, similar to the one you describe, with similar miles on the clock, it was my crankshaft pulley - the rubber damper on it had given way causing initially intermittent and eventually continuous clacking.

with the right tools it can be replaced at home and the part is about 100 pounds if i recall correctly.

:mil88: Oh no get ready its ggggggg going to gooooooooooo booom!

the big one, !!!!! on left, just done mine.

That's the one...it's easy enough to check - get front wheels on full right lock and take off the three (i think) bolts holding the splash shield on. Once that's off, it's usually pretty clear by eye (like mine) or with a bit of wiggling if the crankshaft pulley damper is fecked.

iT'S no good fixing the problem if you don't repair the cause so it will probably reoccur.I suggest a good check on the dual mass flywheel which is probablyshot.Cheers Grunty.

In my case, the cause was wear & tear after 120,000 miles....no other problem. From the other instances i've read about on here, most happened around the same mileage and were also not cause by a specific problem.

Fantastic. Great site, thankyou everybody for all your help.