Mk5 Gti rattle when idling

[Mickymurf]

Hi recently bought a 06 gti with 86k and full history but when idling there is a faint tapping/rattling sound, had it in for a full service at a specialist and 1st off said possible charcoal filter? What ever that is? Lol but it's still persisting and very annoying and also worrying as not long owned the car and don't have much experience in vw's, service history is saying all major belts etc done 10k ago but specials says they may need doing again? It's going back in on Wednesday for another look?? Any help or information would be greatly appreciated,
Micky
Manchester

[gman]

When I got mine at 78k it turned out to be the infamous fuel line rattle, various threads about it on the forum. IIRC its the foam piece under the drivers side of the car that is supposed to insulate the fuel line vibrating from the cabin, gotta remove the undertray type piece of plastic to check. Should be simple enough. Could be anything though tbh - I'm no mechanic 

[skard]

Does it go away with the slightest amount of throttle? If so check your alternator clutch pulley.
Very easy to temporarily remove your aux belt to check if it is that or the tensioner etc.

[aaronk.juju]

I had a really annoying rattle on my Ed30 that seemed to only start occurring when the engine was warm, and dissappeared with the slightest touch on the accelerator. The rattle got quite loud when idling and was coming from under the dash on the drivers side. I found a loose screw above the driver side fuse panel (mentioned as a possible cause on this forum) and also the same screw was loose under the trim on the passenger side of the dash. I tightened these but the rattle remained. I decided it may be my engine cover as the noise seemed to only start occurring in the days after I removed it and put it back on following some maintenance. Anyway I have removed my engine cover permanently and haven't heard the rattle for over a month. I would add however that due to having an induction kit, my engine cover was sawn (the original intake ducting section) so that it would fit with the aftermarket induction kit, and had a couple of "loose" sections, so this may be quite a specific fix to my car. However you could check that all parts of your engine cover are tight and not tapping on anything as mine was. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of causes of annoying rattles so can be hard to pin point the culprit 

[f00glee]

If, when standing in front of the car looking at the engine, this rattling seems to be coming from the right hand side of the engine block, and it also seems to be more prevelant when warm, it could be timing chain/tensioner issue. Have a search here and google for more info and you may be able to rule it out, but worth considering I'd imagine.