308 1.6 petrol engine rattle

[Richie Daniels]

Hi guys , my son has a pug 308 1.6 petrol
When it’s cold the engine rattles like hell
When it warms up it gets much quieter to the point where it almost disappears
The dealers have quoted nearly a grand for complete timing chain assembly
A friend of mine said just replace the tensioner on the outside of the engine after a flush and oil change
The car is four year old with 24 thousand mile on it
What do you think ?
Many thanks
Richie .

[xantia_v6]

Please post your VIN, so that we can see exactly which engine variant you have, and the manufacturing date. The timing chains and tensioners on these engines were very troublesome and there were several design changes to improve the reliability. Most of the common issues were however sorted by the time your car was built.

Does the car have a full service history of oil and filter changes?

[moizeau]

With correct oil?

[Richie Daniels]

VF3**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]
This rattle is not present at idle or constant engine speed , only present when revving and engine speed running back down to idle
Hope this helps

[moizeau]

Sounds like a tensioner.

[Richie Daniels]

Was the tensioner
Got one from dealers , over a hundred quid.
The old one appeared to work but on closer inspection the oil galleries were blocked
Happy days , thanks for all the advice .