Author Topic: ticking noise (Read 14856 times)

christophbmw · « **Reply #15 on:** March 28, 2006, 06:48:50 PM »

mine had a slight tick to it when i bought it then i re-built the engine....it then became a LOUD tick. turns out my timing was off just a little on the intake cam. i bought the tool from BMW and alighned everything perfectly......now it is VERY quite.

you might want to check your cam timing, considering you just had the cam gears off (like 5 degres or less will make a considerable noise.). Do you have a repair manual....it explains how to do it in there. if not let me know and i will post how to align the cams properly.

kowalski · « **Reply #16 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:17:21 PM »

my cams were alligned by my friend. he build engines all day long, so i doubt he got it wrong, but i guess there's always the chance... however i think the tick wouldn't go away if it was cam timing, wouldn't it? this is an interesting idea tho, cause i didn't have the tick before i did the cams...

christophbmw · « **Reply #17 on:** March 29, 2006, 12:10:19 AM »

Quote from: kowalski

my cams were alligned by my friend. he build engines all day long, so i doubt he got it wrong, but i guess there's always the chance... however i think the tick wouldn't go away if it was cam timing, wouldn't it? this is an interesting idea tho, cause i didn't have the tick before i did the cams...

i dont build engines all day long but i work on them all day long. i have quite a few of engine re-build jobs under my belt but i still srewed mine up. im glad it was my car and not a customers. anyways i would check it W/ the BMW tool. i did mine without the first time and thats why it was screwed up.....it looked fine by the naked eye but it wasnt. also i replaced the tensioner and all the T-chain guide when i did the re-build and it still was clicking.

royalflush313 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 29, 2006, 12:15:29 AM »

Mine also ticks for a few seconds *intermittently* right after cold a start.

christophbmw · « **Reply #19 on:** March 29, 2006, 12:19:41 AM »

Quote from: royalflush313

Mine also ticks for a few seconds *intermittently* right after cold a start.

That would be the thick oil. since the hydralic lifters are operated W/ oil presure it takes a few more seconds for them to stop clicking in cold conditions because of the thick oil. next time you start it check the oil presure light, if it stays on for more than 3 seconds after you start the car that could be a sign of a worn pump (or crap stuck in the oil pickup screen.....pieces of my T-chain guide where clogging mine up when i first bought the car).

royalflush313 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 29, 2006, 12:51:15 AM »

Quote from: christophbmw

That would be the thick oil. since the hydralic lifters are operated W/ oil presure it takes a few more seconds for them to stop clicking in cold conditions because of the thick oil. next time you start it check the oil presure light, if it stays on for more than 3 seconds after you start the car that could be a sign of a worn pump (or crap stuck in the oil pickup screen.....pieces of my T-chain guide where clogging mine up when i first bought the car).

any products I can use to unclog?
Very infrequently, my check engine light will turn on after warm start up (shutting off the car and restarting the car within minutes) and engine will feel like it's going to die. Maybe they are related.

kowalski · « **Reply #21 on:** March 29, 2006, 11:05:05 AM »

oil flush will do it, other then that the only way to clear it out is to take the pan off.

christophbmw · « **Reply #22 on:** March 29, 2006, 07:52:22 PM »

i would take the pan off to clear it. Mine had BIG chunks of plastic in......just the lower pan.

GrippyDrifty · « **Reply #23 on:** March 30, 2006, 01:41:11 AM »

Ha! Tick here too! I have listened closely while the engine was on. I mean, I put my ear as close the engine as I could, without burning myself, and it sounds like the it's coming from the injectors. I'm pretty sure that my ticking is not coming from under my valve cover.

Tony · « **Reply #24 on:** March 31, 2006, 09:23:00 AM »

I bought a 1991 e30 in 2003 with 117k on it. It now has 148k. It has ticked ever since I bought it. I guess I should be happy about it since I got a really good price for a one owner car because of the noise. I thought it would go away with oil changes to syntec 5w30 but it only got a little quieter.

Changed t-chain tension spring- still no change in noise. Really bothers me. The noise is so loud- my friend asks me not pull in front of her house late at night when I bring her home because my car wakes up her roomates.

The noise comes and goes. If I let the car idle for a long time it sometimes goes away. After a hard run on the open road it comes back. Also, the oil light comes on longer than it should in the morning at first start up- maybe 10- 15 seconds. And I too have found small bits of plastic when I change the oil. I thought maybe the noise was from the exhust man gasket when I first got the car but now I am thinking oil take up is blocked or maybe the cam is out of adjustment.

Anyone fix this issue?

Tj

kowalski · « **Reply #25 on:** March 31, 2006, 02:07:17 PM »

Quote from: Tony

I bought a 1991 e30 in 2003 with 117k on it. It now has 148k. It has ticked ever since I bought it. I guess I should be happy about it since I got a really good price for a one owner car because of the noise. I thought it would go away with oil changes to syntec 5w30 but it only got a little quieter.

Changed t-chain tension spring- still no change in noise. Really bothers me. The noise is so loud- my friend asks me not pull in front of her house late at night when I bring her home because my car wakes up her roomates.

The noise comes and goes. If I let the car idle for a long time it sometimes goes away. After a hard run on the open road it comes back. Also, the oil light comes on longer than it should in the morning at first start up- maybe 10- 15 seconds. And I too have found small bits of plastic when I change the oil. I thought maybe the noise was from the exhust man gasket when I first got the car but now I am thinking oil take up is blocked or maybe the cam is out of adjustment.

Anyone fix this issue?

Tj

I'm going to say that you should replace your oil pump. i don't have my oil light come on at all... i just have a tick, if your oil light its comming on for a logn time it means your presure is low, which means the pump is wearing out. its a fairly expensive unit unfortunatly...

mrjezza · « **Reply #26 on:** May 03, 2006, 12:34:41 AM »

Mine ticks too and it definately related to the speed of the engine.

Trying to work out what the ticking was I tried to work out exactly how fast it was going... I'm a DJ so I just just beatmatched various music in my head to the tick in 1/2 time (every 2nd tick) to and it seemed to work with happy hardcore; a little faster but close enough. Therefore I put it at about 400 ticks per minute at idle, ie once every 2 revs.

So what happens once every 2 revs? not a complete list but in my limited knowledge:
An injection of fuel, the opening of a particular valve, the closing of a particular valve, an ignition spark... what else? and what is the likelihood that it is one of these?

If it was a timing chain tensioner issue, would the timing chain be "slapping" at 400 slaps per min?

GrippyDrifty · « **Reply #27 on:** May 03, 2006, 01:33:28 AM »

I vote injectors.

sheepdog · « **Reply #28 on:** May 03, 2006, 02:06:13 AM »

Mine does it in cold, however, I have found 10w30 helps, as does changing the oil as soon as I hit yellow, or it starts ticking again. If I do that it stays away. Also if you run semi or full synthetic that helps, especially you should be able to run 10w30, semi or full, year round dispite the climate you live in. I may try 5w20 soon, I am not sure yet. Last time I had 20, the engine revved and oiled up faster, however the engine sounded more raspy, probably due to my worn tensioner though. With full or semi, you can get away with thinner oil, regardless of the book. I recomend dropping at least one weight (10w40 to 10w30) for semi, probably 2 when going full synth.

Oh and a bit of warning, no matter how worn you think it is, do not even try 20w50... Engine runs REALLY smooth, but sluggish on revs, sucks down your mileage and unless it is hot, your lifters will hate you.

I currently run 10w30 Castrol Syntech (semi-synthetic), and change it as stated above, and always do a filter change anytime I mess with the oil. I know some people who do not change the filter everytime.

One last thing, the oil change interval light is not based strictly on mileage or how you drive from what I have seen. I am not sure exactly how it does it, but so far it has been pretty good at predicting about 1000 miles before my lifter starts ticking on startup, regardless of oil weight and mileage. I ried conventional, 5000 mile, and semi-synth, the semi-synth definately goes further before the lifter ticks, or the light comes on. And no I do not change oil every 3000 miles.

Use good oil.

Eurospec · « **Reply #29 on:** May 03, 2006, 05:14:03 PM »

This may be a long shot, but would techron fuel system cleaner alleviate the noise? Has anyone used it before? bf.c members swear by it, may give it a shot in the near future.