Worrying engine noise

[ians]

I know this will be difficult to describe/diagnose, but I would appreciate any thoughts and suggestions.

My 944 has been in the garage over winter - I have run it up for a few minutes every now and then and kept the battery on conditioner.

I started it the other day - started first thing as normal - ran for a couple of minutes and then a clicking noise started.
One minute not there , the next quite distinct - not a gradual transition. Thought it was an HT lead arcing for a minute - that kind of sound /frequency, but its not.
It appears to be coming from towards the rear of the camcover - definitely not the front belt tensioner area.
The engine otherwise seemed to be running as normal - not rough in any way.

I had the belts, all tensioners and the camshaft chain all changed last year - my worry is its something to do with the chain - its certainly coming from around that area.

I'm not really happy driving it to the specialist who did the work - its about 25 miles (apart from having no MOT). I wonder about whipping off the camcover for a look, but not sure if I then need replacement gaskets and indeed what I would be looking for etc.

Anyway, I would really welcome any ideas on what it might be, and also what best to do. I am reasonably competent spannerwise but not really touched the Porsche yet.

Cheers
Ian

 

[JamesO]

Maybe valve lifter gone a bit soft, prob needs a good run. but then again if its got a chain is it an s or s2 don't know if they hve hydraulic lifters/tappets

 

[zcacogp]

S2 certainly has hydraulic lifters, and I think the S does as well.

If it's the rear of the camcover, this would probably be my bet as well. The chain is pretty much in the middle (between cyls 2 and 3 - you'll see the moulding for it on the camcover) so if you can more accurately pinpoint the noise then that will help. (One trick is to hold the point of a screwdriver on the camcover and rest the other end - plastic handle - on your head, somewhere near the ear. This will allow a fairly good transfer of very localised noise to your eardrum and you can 'hear' what's going on just under the point of the screwdriver and thus work out where the noise is coming from. But you will look a right lemon doing this.)

If it is just a hydraulic tappet, then you will be fine for quite a lot of driving to come - a good flushing with some clean oil may well cure it. If it is a cam chain then be more careful ... mind you, you said that it was changed last year and it's been standing over the winter so it can't have done that many miles on the new chain.


Oli.

ETA: Competent spanner-wise? The S2 engine is pretty simple and easy to work on. You can take the camcover off without needing new gaskets - they are rubber. If you do this and look at the chain, look for obvious things like broken sprocket teeth and damaged idler surfaces - and this is probably worth doing if you are uncertain. I am told that the chains can also stretch and the cam teeth wear out, but I think that spotting these requires careful measuring with a micrometer, and specialist inspection respectively.

 

[morris944s2john]

My 944S2 does the same thing itf its been standing without running for a few weeks, then after a drive the noise stops. Go for a gentle run and if the noise goes away then it was probably, as suggested above a dry valve lifter.

 

[ians]

Thanks chaps. I will try the screwdriver trick (in the privacy of my garage[]) and go from there.
Cheers
Ian

 

[Wigeon Incognito]

This happened to my S2 after it had been sitting in the bodyshop for 6 weeks (and it's about to return, hopefully just for a day).

After 5 minutes of driving the ticking stopped and hasn't returned.

 

[appletonn]

ORIGINAL: Wigeon Incognito

This happened to my S2 after it had been sitting in the bodyshop for 6 weeks (and it's about to return, hopefully just for a day).

After 5 minutes of driving the ticking stopped and hasn't returned.

Matt, still not yet back?

I'm sure the wait will be worth it in the end[]

 

[Wigeon Incognito]

Back, but the day after I collected it was straight to Mike Bainbridge then as I said in the other thread I picked it up on Monday and I'm hoping that tonight/tomorrow I'll be able to drop it back off at the bodyshop to fix a couple of niggles I'm not happy with by the weekend.

They've done a fantastic job but there was so much to do that there were bound to be a couple of oversights - they really are slight and easily carried out.