So I have a couple of questions for all of you.

First, for as long as I can remember, my driver's side bank of ignition coils (or something around it) has always made a sparking noise and I don't know if this is normal or not. I've never actually seen another Crossfire up close, so I've never been able to study how other owner's cars run. Anyways, it's fairly loud and only comes from one side of the engine. I'm curious if this is normal or not. It's never caused me any troubles and it's always done it for the 3 and a half years I've had the car (I'm the original owner).

Here's a video I took of it yesterday. Tell me what you think and yes I know the engine is quite dirty : YouTube - Crossfire 3.2L V6 engine Noise


Second, my Xfire has been sitting for about a week or two while I've been searching for tires to replace my bald (and one flat) ones. Finally got some from tirerack, two are here, two are on the way. I started the car yesterday just to let it run for a little bit and to check and make sure everything is still running correctly. We've had a few winter storms come through here and lately it's been a bit wet out with temps going above then below freezing day-to-day. While I was letting it warm up a little and run, I noticed a small stream of smoke coming from the engine (I had the hood open). Panicked (obviously) and went to check. Turns out it was coming from one the exhaust outlets. I thought I was leaking exhaust until I noticed something was burning off of it (which smelled terrible). By the amount of time it took to burn off, I'm guessing oil. Didn't look like there was a huge amount, but I'm thinking it might be a gasket leak from the intake. I took pictures of each side. The side in question is the passenger side (first and third pictures I think).

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...ket_53641_.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...ket_53638_.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...ket_53639_.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/i...ket_53640_.jpg

My questions are: 1. what do you think it could be? 2. If I was looking to clean off the engine a little so I could tell if it was leaking, what do I use?

Thanks.

 

its a breather cover leak. no gaskets there. use super rtv and remake your own gasket. the small bolts will most likely break so replace them with grade 5 allen bolts from home depot, cost 2$

 

Should I bother taking it to a dealer? I have an extended warranty and the Lifetime Powertrain warranty.

 

cant answer that question because i dont know your abilitys. if you like to wrench then its a diy. if you dont then its a dealer repair

 

Any idea if the ticking is normal?

 

not so much normal as common on the 3.2 engine. sounds like the lifters. does it go away after the engine warms up?

 

Nope. Always there. Doesn't sound so much like a ticking as it does a sparking. Like if you rub your feet on carpet while wearing socks then try to touch a metal doorknob, except a lot louder. Doesn't seem to affect the performance of the engine at all. All the ignition coils seem to be on correctly and none of the wires seem to loose.

Like I said, it's always been there whenever the car is running, even if it's been warmed up.

 

If you truely suspect sparking/arcing as a source of trouble, try this.

In the dark of night with no outside light source, open the hood and look closely at the ignition wiring and around the plugs.

If arcing is an issue, you will see a nice arc with a blue/white glow as it shoots to ground. With leather/rubber gloves on, you can move the wires to see if theres action in places you can't see (like the underside of the wiring).

I don't believe this is the case, cause if ignition wire arcing was at issue, it usually manifests itself with a rough idle and running.

(Don't touch those wires with the engine running without insulated gloves, or you might be in for a surprise. If there is any faulty insulation, you don't want the arcing going to ground thru you)...

 

Yeah, I tried to hold the camera steady at the end of that video just to show how the car was idling, just in case someone noticed it was a little rough. From what I've noticed from videos of other people's Xfire's, they all seem to idle just as rough and as noisy as mine. I'll try your advice next time I go out to my car, which probably won't be until the rear tires get delivered.