And the tapping has stopped. I would like to thank Craig for his write up. And especially Bryan who emailed me the vid of another Max with the VTC failure. And that was the icing on the cake, and confirmed the problem. No more diesel 3rd gen *cough*Brandon*cough*

 

Have you noticed any changes in the performance of your car since disabling the VTC's? I've been hearing conflicting reports and wanted to get a better sense...

 

I really didnt notice much, it actually feels smoother. Like I have more on the take off. I thought I would loose my pull at 4k rpm+. But it is still there. I get the tick for about 4 secs on start up, just when the motor is turning over. And then it goes right away, I am talking 1,2,3,4 Goooone