Ticking time bomb or not!

[Timbo2]

Hi everyone, have seen a few posts about ticking Boxsters but can't remember the outcomes. Mine has recently started ticking on the drivers side, now I always new they made a slight tick due to injectors etc but this is a little louder and sounds like a hydraulic tappet. I had the noise once on a BMW 3 series but it cleared itself. Has any one experience of this, could I be lucky? If I'm not what does it take to fix the problem, can the cam cover be removed with engine in car?what's the likely cost. Car has done 70K and is running well.

 

[gdavison]

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/fb.asp?m=656850

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=630155

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=625253

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=252654

http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=80780

 

[Timbo2]

Ok thanks gdavison, perhaps no need to worry yet, however mine has been making the ticking for a week or so.

 

[EXY27]

They all tick as you have already stated.

However if your car has just recently started making a louder/different tick then that doesn't sound normal to me get it checked out[]

 

[Buddy]

It often is a dry hydraulic tappet, where you get an airlock inside the cup or a gummed up oil feed hole it usually clears after a couple of minutes or at worst a few miles of fully warmed up running. I've heard of them taking a while to clear but the longest I've known personally was a couple of miles. Do you drive far? Does the car get fully warmed up?

Other things can cause tapping noises from something loose in the engine bay to a broken/corroded stud in the exhaust system, that's if it's just noticeable on the one side.

 

[Timbo2]

Yeh, I do a 40 mile round trip each week day so it gets fully warmed up.

 

[Buddy]

If it was a tappet it should have cleared, if as you say its on the one bank then a good chance of something on the exhaust or in the cam cover.

Best get it checked out.

 

[Timbo2]

Update... Ive just returned from a visit to local Porsche specialist and he doesn't think its a tappet, says its not loud enough. One suggestion was an injector, anyone heard of this happening before? Would the engine management system throw a CEL if I disconnected an injector while it was running? Does anyone have any other ideas? The timing of the 'tick' seems to coincide with a single cylinder.

 

[Buddy]

Timbo, as you said in an earlier post it is louder than an injector ( which open/close every other rev ) but now quieter than a tappet so I'd think that maybe a coil pack breaking down as it tracks to the cylinder head. That would be the right timing and about the right volume of sound if it was underneath within the tube through the head, outside it would have a "crack" type of sound.

 

[Timbo2]

Hi Buddy, not quite the right sound, its louder than a normal injector sound, sounds like a loud injector! if that makes any sense, I recognise the tracking sound of HT voltage thats too harsh, this is a tick!

 

[Timbo2]

Update, got the cover off at the weekend, no noise on the top of the engine, got underneath and the noise seems to be coming from the cam cover, done about 500 miles and its still the same.

 

[bluenote909]

I swear buy

Forte Gas Treatment

Forte Injector Treatment

Google Paul French Porsche you can get some from him. He is very helpful in all things Porsche.

It could help.

Best regards

Paul Lowe

 

[Buddy]

ORIGINAL: Timbo2

Update, got the cover off at the weekend, no noise on the top of the engine, got underneath and the noise seems to be coming from the cam cover, done about 500 miles and its still the same.

I take it you were listening using a screwdriver?

Did it give you an impression of how heavy the sound was? Exactly where is was? Middle cylinder, front or rear?

There are several items inside the camchest which can give such sounds, gummed up oil feed to a tappet is most likely but there is also the possibility of a broken valve spring. Springs are usually duplex, one within another but other things such as actuators to change valve operation are used on some of the engines, not sure about on yours.

Best to get it stripped asap.

Obviously someone on the spot should be better able to assess the sound but I'd suggest it be checked properly.

I hope you get it figured out soon.

 

[minny]

My 996 ticked when I first got it and it sounded like someone tapping the cam cover lightly with a screwdriver. It rose with revs. Turned out to be a loose spark plug.

 

[Timbo2]

Now thats interesting, had the plugs replaced about a year ago so its a possibility, although having had a close listen to the noise I'm still thinking hydraulic tappet. Thanks for your replies.
Come to think of it I had the spark plug tubes replaced 6 months ago, would they have removed the plugs to do this?

 

[Timbo2]

Anyone got any opinions regarding products purporting to solve lifter noise?

 

[Timbo2]

Update....Minny you were spot on. Just been investigating a misfire due to cracked coil packs and found a loose spark plug...... I'm over the moon with joy! My only worry is whether there is likely to be any permanent damage to the threads as I have done a few hundred miles since the noise began.

 

[minny]

Good news that was all it was. I felt the same when I found out the cause of the noise. I did a couple of thousand miles with the noise. No sequalae after. No problems after another 20k miles and another set of new plugs later.

 

[Timbo2]

That's very reassuring Minny, thanks.