i had a z28 when i was in high school , and i broke a Rod Cap now that thing did not make a sound when i was going down the road ....
but if i stopped hell far that thing sounded like a thrashing machine

not saying that is an issue have ... keep a still upper lip a solution is near

 

I had a friend w/a ford that had a lose bolt on the flywheel that was touching on the bell housing lucky we figured it out. . .coulda been bad!!!!

 

Guys, thanks for your help.

Heres the update.... I've narrowed down the rpm-based tick tick tick to the driver's side cat converter. I unplugged the O2 sensor to rule out some kind of an electrical arc. Still ticked.

I used an infrared thermo after a drive and the manifold->cat flange mounting point was a whopping 255 degrees. This isn't even the cat area yet, just the flange in front of it. The passenger side flange was only 145 degrees.

**Maybe thats celsius. I'm not sure what it was set at, F or C. Either way, the driver's flange was much hotter

So if my cat is dead/clogged, could it really give off a perfect symetrical tick tick tick?

It sort of makes sense since the tick gets worse as the car gets hotter, unlike ticks that come from within the engine.

Anyways, thanks. Anymore info is mucho appreciated. Hey, could I unplug the actual O2 sensor to allow a new place for exhaust to escape, before the cat, to see if theres less of a tick? Just for testing purposes. Or is that a bad thing to do?

 

I know you guys aren't responding because you've probably given me all of the legit ideas you could, but I'll keep updating just in case....

This morning I started up from DEAD cold and there was no tick at all. Within a few minutes of heating up the tick was audible, and at full operating temp the tick was insanely loud, again.

Also car backfires and pops a bit. Im really leaning towards a dead cat but the tick doesn't seem like a dead cat, more like a manifold/cat flange leak?

Just wanted to share more info. Who knows, I could be completely wrong and the entire engine is about to shatter to pieces.

 

well i hope thats not that case!

 

Oh yeah, I'm taking the car to chrysler tomorrow. I hate letting the monkeys touch my car but theres no other option with this one.

 

I took the O2 sensor out and started the car to see if the extra hole to relieve pressure would cause the tick to be reduced, but the god awful scream out of the hole drowned out any chance of hearing the tick anyways. And i almost passed out from the carbon monoxide after about 10 seconds. Sooooo, failed test.

Car is at dealer now. We'll see.

 

You have noted that it occures at an engine speed. Is it at the engine speed though? I.E. at idle its turning over at 600 RPM which would be occuring at 10 ticks per second??

I will wager that the noise is a much slower rate, like once a second or so. Vacuum noises can occure, I have one on my truck which at my age confused me. I would have bet $100 to anyone that it was a bad cam lobe or big end rod knock. It was a rubber hose, split.

Do my old school garden hose 'hearing aid' to localize it to see if it is seeping out of one area and making you think that it is somewhere else. It happens.

Record it and or tell us the periodicity of this noise. Also what is the tone, Metallic clank, Odd thump, Heavy thud, Light tick, Tinny tap, or malevolent bump?

Woody ENJOY

 

Woody, thats some info I keep wanting to tell you guys and I keep forgetting. Thanks for bringing it up.

Yes, its much slower than true engine speed. I'd say 2 ticks per second. It increases as the RPMs increase, but like you said its not actually an extreme amount of ticks.

I can't record the sound. I only have a laptop, and theres no way its going to pick up the audio cleanly. I can say the tick definately is metallic sounding BUT is no different than other strange exhaust metallic or belt metallic sounds that I've heard on youtube. I wouldn't at all say its DEFINATELY in the engine, or in a cat. All I can say is its not a tick with a PSS at the beginning and end, like many exhaust leaks are. its a solid tick sound. But like I said, I cannot at all say its any different than some of the strange ticks I've researched on youtube that ended up not being in the engine.

I'm definately going to look around at hoses and things because this tick became extremely bad after I installed the needswings intake, and who knows what I may have knocked loose from being too rough.

 

Now it sounds like an interference hit noise. Can you get someone to torque the engine up to about 1800 to see if it stops with the engine shifted? 2 per rev might be a frame member hitting some part. Noise moves around and can sound deadly when its not. WOODY Enjoy

 

Dealer came back saying they couldn't isolate the sound but that it was just normal for these cars. Insane eh considering it only popped up maybe a month ago and has only gotten worse. Either way, I think they're blowing it off because, like myself, they couldn't find the tick in the engine itself and so they figured it wasn't important. (They were proactive on checking my tranny for other issues and discovered my tranny overfilled which is my fault after a tranny fluid change and I appreciate that, I'll post on that seperately.)

Woody, if I can't hear this tick in the valve covers or the oil pan, is it most likely not in the engine?

Also, I unplugged (and was generally rough) with a vacuum line during my spark plug change a few weeks ago so I'll check that too.

I might have some high-flow cats installed not only for better sound but to eliminate my suspician of a clogged driver-side cat.

Anyways I'll report back what I might find when I try to find it again.

 

is it the metal cooling down ? tinging/ pinging


i worked for arvin meritor ie maremont who founded the cherry bombs.
we use to get calls in when dealers / people ie installers would report a ting or ping .. this was when the metal used on the exhaust / cats would cool down .. the cats can reach about 1500 degrees

The average light off temperature at which the catalytic converter begins to function ranges from 400 to 600 degrees F. The normal operating temperature can range up to 1,200 to 1,600 degrees F. But as the amount of pollutants in the exhaust go up, so does the converter's operating temperature. If the temperature gets up around 2,000 degrees F or higher, several things happen. The aluminum oxide honeycomb begins to degrade and weaken. The platinum and palladium coating on the honeycomb also starts to melt and sink into the ceramic substrate reducing its effect on the exhaust. This accelerates the aging process and causes the converter to lose efficiency.

 

According to your description, its not in the motor, i.e. not in valve cover, pan etc.

Id use the mechanics stethoscope to touch the cat area(s) Sounds like a cracked CAT core, cyclinders fire every-other rev, thus a slower noise source and if it is one cyclinder then it could occure even slower. Dealer is telling you that he cant and you should listen to him.

I was chasing a clogged intercooler and core and had codes all over the place couple of months ago, they had no idea, put it on their alert site.........nothing, they could not get their hands around it. I started getting into the cooling system and learned lots since then or at least I think I did hee hee.

Youll get it, just think logically, be systematic.

Woody ENJOY.

 

Ok, back from dealer. Woody, thanks for the advice. Something had to have changed because when I bought the car used it was quiet and fancy and within 3 months its got a loud tick. Something I touched or was too rough with is loose, who knows. I'm going to put in a little time each day to trying to fix this so I'll keep you all informed.

 

Well this stinks.

I spent a long time today trying to narrow it down and i did. I guess I wasn't thorough enough before.

The ticking is loudy loud loud in/around the cylinder closest to the driver. I can hear it in the plug wire, valve cover bolts, and manifold right around that cylinder, as well as the fuel injector above. I can also hear it in the same components on the next cylinder, but it seems louder in this cylinder.

This is the same cylinder that I said was creaking and making dripping noises after the car was shutoff.

I tightened the spark plugs in this cylinder, and swapped plug wires, no help. I was hoping thats all it was. Oh well.

I feel defeated.

Ok something interesting I noticed is the sound gets more rapid as RPMs increased, but, once aboe around 40mph I can't hear the tick, even if the RPMs are low. I tested driving a curb and speeding up, slowing down, stopping, etc. I can hear the tick at idle, loud, and it speeds up with RPM. And it slows down when the car shifts to a higher gear and the RPMs drop. And even at 30mph I still hear it against the curb based on RPMs. But once over 40-45mph, it doesn't matter what RPM I'm at. Either something strange is going on, or my car is going faster than the speed of sound.

Anyways. This stinks.

 

Id pull the valve cover and see it there is any play in or on any valve assembly. you could have a valve tick. Previously you said that the motor was not the source.

Personally Id also pop the oil and change it and the filter INTO A VERY CLEAN OIL PAN TO LOOK FOR TRAMP METAL. Dissassemble the oil filter to see if there is any shiney stuf. It has to drain for a while to get the oil off the filter, but use sunlight to examine the folds for particles.

Check the drain pan and use a good magnetic pickup to search for tiny steel stuff. This is easy and if there is any lube issue it could only help.

I have not studied the valve train to see if there are hydraulic followers or not. My daytona is overhead cam but had a hydraulic support on the rocker, and if they wore, they would tap oddly.

Keep up the fight, Woody

 

Thanks Woody. Yes previously I said it wasn't engine related but yesterday I got very specific with my stethescope and found this area around this cylinder had the loud ticking.

I've never taken off a valve cover on a newer sophisticated car so I've been reluctant but I know there is a DIY out there on the oil seepage fix for the valve cover so I'll just use that as a guide. If I find play in a lifter when whats the next course in your opinion?

Also, I plan to do an oil change today. My oil is only 3500 miles old, but its also my first oil since buying the car used at 26K miles. I wonder if the person before used dino oil or something, who knows, and my synthetic change knocked crud loose. Also, I will fill to halfway up the fill line with my oil change, since right now Im at the top of the fill line. Who knows if that can be a problem.

And last question...... I can hear the tick at startup, faintly. It gets loud as the car gets hotter. Does that sound normal for a lifter issue? Not really since I thought they quieted down as oil started moving, but does it make sense at all?

 

Ok guys...

I did an oil change, did not help. 3 days later I changed plug wires to the magnecors, didn't help. Later that night I banged on the exhaust with a mallet, played with the heat shield on the driver's side near manifold, and doused the pulley belt in belt conditioner as well as sprayed liberally around the supercharger pulley area.

Surprisingly, the tick is actually considerably fainter after those last few things I did. Maybe its something in the pulley system then? Maybe the oil change from several days ago finally cleaned things up? Maybe playing with the heat shield made a difference?

Maybe removing the splash shield caused dirt to get into the pulley system and the belt conditioner helped wash something away or smooth things out? (I put the shield back on today)

I dont know. But the faint tick I have on cold start now only turns into an slightly more annoying tick, instead of an all-out tick of hell out of the fender well.

I'll keep monitoring.

 

Hello, I was wondering if you were able track down the engine "tick" on your srt-6?I took in my crossfire to the dealer because of an annoying tick that just came up about a week and a half ago. Ofourse the first thing they said was that it was normal, but like your case I had never heard that tick before. My car only has 14,000 miles on it. I explained to them how the tick couldn't really be heard at start up first thing in the morning, but as soon as it would get hotter it would come back and not go away. To cut this story short, the dealer went ahead and replaced all six fuel injectors, I didn't think that was problem but I let them go ahead and do their thing. Today I picked up my car and I did not hear it on start up, as soon as I got home and parked in the garage the TICK was there!!! I was so p***ed off.

The car runs fine, accelerates fine, but the tick is just so annoying and does not sound healthy at all. Just thought I'd let everyone know, any input would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Frank

 

I think u have a cracked exhaust manifold or one of the mounting bolts is loose, have seen and heard this many times before, bolt loose on mostly on cars without exhaust manofold gaskets,, cracked manifold on others check it and let us all know,, because i want to win the prize,, jim