Kiko and others,

I could never isolate the tick, but I did other things and I've either quieted it or I just made it blend in with other sounds...

I drenched the belt and s/c pulley in belt dressing, not a good idea. At the same moment, I bent the heat shield that is near the driver's side exhaust manifold.

Now I can still hear a faint tick, but its a 'dirtier' sound now and not a crisp tick tick tick. Dirtier = less noticeable when on the street so I'm satisfied enough.

I have a new s/c pulley and a s/c idler pulley coming, as well as a new belt, so that installation will tell alot about if the sound was coming from the belt drive system.

If I had to guess, I'd say the tick was coming from the driver's side exhaust manifold, whether it be a leak or just tapping the heat shield, who knows. But mine was always quiet at startup and loud when hot, so it suggests that as metal was expanding it started something would start to touch something.

I'm going to mess with it more but not until after I install the s/c pulley, s/c idler pulley and new belt this weekend. We'll see.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys!,
Once the weekend comes around I am going to take a closer look the manifold, remove the air box etc... Other than discoloration or a visible crack, what other signs can I look for on the exhaust manifold? This morning when I got to work the tick was not as loud, but it was still there. Then turned off the car and opened the hood, and I heard a similar tick on the driver's side of the engine compartmentk, though not as fast, I'd say a tick every 3-5seconds. The tick was similar to when the exhaust is cooling down, but it was weird because it was only ticking on the driver's side not on the pax side. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, while the engine is running the tick is louder on the driver's side though it could be heard on the pax side as well, just not as loud. Well, that's it for now I'll check back in if I have any news.

thanks,
Frank

 

It's weird how both of us have a similar tick on the same side. When you shut down your car is the "exhaust cooling tick" heard on both sides or just on the driver's side? On a previous thread I believe you mentioned you also heard a sort of dripping sound on the driver's side, do you still hear that?

Are you using an aftermarker s/c pulley or an oe?

Frank

 

Yup, thats exactly what I have on cool down. A dripping sound from the top of the driver's valve cover, towards the driver's seat. Of course its probably not a drip, but thats the best way to describe it. Unless more people chime in saying they get this sound too but do not get ticking during driving, then I'd suspect you and I could be having identical problems.

This cool-down tick, combined with the fact that the driving tick gets worse with heat, made me think its a dead cat converter. You can find some posts on here with people who had a dead cat, as well as on the benz forums. A dead cat converter will heat up and the damaged area will melt and starting banging around again. The converter, since its clogged, will get absurdly hot, and the manifold in front of the converter will get much hotter too because of the clogged converter. All of this hotness combines for a loud tick on cool-down, and the damaged cat causes a hot tick during driving.

It all makes sense, but I could never isolate the sound. Also, the tick is so perfectly synchronous that a piece of cat clanging around didn't make complete sense.

I also notice my driver's side cat has a small bump in it. Maybe its normal, but maybe it got so hot at that small point that it slightly melted?

Does your car backfire when you rev it in park? If I rev it slightly, to maybe 3000rpms, I get pops when I left off the pedal. I'm just curious, I'm not saying its pointing to anything... Yet.

I wonder if my heat shield bending simply helped muffle a clanging cat?

If you stethescope the running hot tick, you'll hear it loudest at the cylinder closest the driver's seat. This again can point to a cat problem since thats the closest cylinder to the cat.

Two more things to point to a dead cat: An infrared shot of the area around the O2 sensor shows like 300 degrees celsius. Now thats hot, and its not even at the cat yet. You still have 5 inches to go before the cat. The other side's cat and surrounding area doesn't nearly show those temps. And also, you can't put your hand behind the engine after it gets hot because the air alone could burn you. Its that hot back there. Seems strange to get that hot.

I'm considering having some high-flow cats installed to help eliminate this as the problem.

I have no leak markings around the manifold->head area, and I don't seem to have cracks on the manifold anywhere.

I've replaced crankshaft sensor and plug wires to eliminate electrical arch possibilites in that area.

I have my stock pulley, and it definately has some 'play' in it that could cause ticking. I'm putting on a code3 pulley once it arrives so I think that, a new belt, and new s/c idler pulley, will help eliminate the belt drive system all together.

Throw any more findings you have at me, maybe we can combine for some real heroics here.

 

Dude, I think we have the same exact problem? Now we need to find a fix!! And, yes I do get a bit of a backfire while reving and letting go of the gas pedal (in park), I forgot to mention that in my earlier post. The weird thing is the car idles fine and seems to be accelerating with not problem, though I think I'm starting to expierence the dreaded "IC PUMP" failure. At times when I am on the highway crusing at around 60mph and I floor it, I feel like it surges and doesn't not take off. Then the next time I do it, it pulls hard and I stick to the seat!

I even took off my NEESWINGS intake, so that maybe I could isolate the tick better, no luck, but...This morning I rolled my windows up and turned off the radio to see if I could hear anything strange in the cabin while accelarating at different rates, and I heard sort of a light tick/click at a very fast rate. It might be the same tick just at a faster rate or an exhaust leak, it almost sounds like a quiter version of a hot rod sound, don't know it this helps or confuses you even more but its hard to explain. One thing I'm sure of is this sound was not there before. As of now I'm leaning towards(hoping for) some sort of exhaust leak, and not an internal engine issue. Now I have to try and convince the dealer to take a look at it again, and fight of the "its normal" bs.

Have you noticed any increased engine vibration? I don't know what to think anymore, its like the more I look more issues I find, or maybe I'm just becoming a bit paranoid.

I love this car but all these issues are just killing me, plus everytime I go to the dealer I have to wait 2 weeks to a month before parts come in. On a bit of a side note, currently I am waiting for a steering gearbox to come in by the end of the month, then another trip to the dealer. Well, that's it for know, I'll keep updating.

thanks,
Frank

 

Hello,

I just uploaded a video, more of a sound clip of the "tick" I keep hearing, its constant and does not go away. Any input will be greatly appreciated!

Here is the link to the youtube file:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9X2I7R3ZKo

thanks,
frank

 

It sounds like the supercharger pulley assembly. Take the belt off and see if the pulley bracket has left/right play.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehxL0JaYM9A check this sound see if this is it. Though I would think different temps in the cats would indicate one of the cats is collapsing inside.

 

Ok, a few things here....

Kiko, that video is exactly the sound I have/had. Identical. LIke I said, I've quieted it down, or 'dirtied' it. But the sound is identical.

Bulldogger suggested its the supercharger backing plate. The video he posted was from a forum member here who ended up solving it by showing us the backing plate to his s/c pulley was loose. I don't have a sound as major as that s/c video, and neither do you kiko, but I can confirm that my backing plate on my s/c pulley does have play in it. I can flex it with my finger pushing it. After receiving my Code3 pulley and inspecting it today I can see that these backing plates probably shouldnt flex or move at all. So Kiko, its possible we have the same pulley problems as Bulldog's video, just not as pronounced yet.

Or, we have a different problem. I can't deny that our sound is definately coming towards the corner nearest the driver, but a supercharger pulley problem can bounce its sounds anywhere. I hope my belt, idler pulley and code3 install will solve the problem, and if not then it will rule out the belt system as our problem.

But like I said, your vid clip is identical to my sound. Audible loudly under the car, but if you stethescope the oil pan you don't hear it. If you stethescope the top manifold or cylinders, you do hear it. And you hear it in the driver's cat. You do not hear it in the passenger cat.

And then theres that fact that you can't even put your hand behind the engine after driving because the hot air alone will burn you.

I'm still leaning towards us having a dead driver's side cat, but this weekend's belt system changes will help rule that out, or make it even more likely.

 

I agree, the ticking sound from our cars is heard more towards the left rear of the engine and underneath the car. Though the supercharger sound is similar, just a little faster, thanks for the video Bulldogger. Ohnoesaz, I'm starting to think its not the cat or the manifold, today when I got home I removed the air box to a closer view, then turned the car off and the "cool down ticking like noise" seemed to be coming from inside the engine rather than from the manifold back, but I might be wrong. I called my dealer today and explained to them how the noise was still there and I'm taking it in on Tuesday. I also advised them that my valve cover gaskets/seals were lieaking a bit, so they could replace that as well. As of now I'm still usnsure of were the tick is coming from. Its weird because I almost want to say its related to an exhaust valve, bacause of the similarity in sound, but doubt it because it only comes up when the engine gets hot.

When you accelerate, do you hear like a high speed tick/click/hiss?, I hear a combination of those which would lead me to think its an exhaust leak.

thanks,

Frank

 

Just throwing this out there.....not sure if it makes sense or not....
Would a clogged/collapsed/defective cat cause the exhaust valve to move up/down slightly right after the car is turned off, meaning some kind of trapped/back pressure? The reason I ask is because when I turned off my car today, it almost sounded like an exhause valve was still moving up/down.

thanks,
Frank

 

I doubt it... I thought the valves were completely in sync with the lifters and cam, so everything would have to move slightly for a valve to move slightly.

But something is definately up, its no coincedence we have identical running ticks while hot and identical 'drip' tick sounds from the same cylinder area on shutdown.

If a cat is clogged it can cause such great heat that something in the cylinder, or around it, or in the exhaust next to the cylinder, can tick on cool down. Keep in mind ticking on cool down is well-known for cars in general, but it takes a lot of heat to get something hot enough to tick on cool down. So yeah, a clogged/damaged cat could cause that further up in the engine.

Hopefully I have good news after the belt drive changes though.

 

Hey Kiko... just an update. My new belt, s/c pulley and idler pulley did not help at all. And now 1 week later the tick is louder than ever. I'm going to do an oil change because my oil now has 3K miles on it and thats about the mileage the tick popped up at last time when it was really bad.

Anyways, I think i may just live with it and be thankful the car seems fine otherwise....

Oh and I was curious, did you by chance mess with your tranny before your tick started? Like a fluid change/ Or did you have a fluid leak?

 

Are your cars out of the 3/36 warranty?

 

mine will be up soon.. but i already took my car in for this and they claimed it was normal. They're pretty clueless. In fact, I dont think they were lieing about thinking it was normal, they just don't know any better.

 

Ohno,

No I have not messed with the transmission at all since my car just hit 15,000 miles. I just picked up my car from the dealer a few days ago, and like I expected, the dealer said they could not find anything wrong with the car and there weren't any codes present. I was so p****d off the morning I took the car in, it was not making the tick as loud as it had been. I think the cold temperature has affected the tick somehow, its been between 30 and 45 degrees here in Chicago, the last few days its been really hard to hear the tick, at times I hear it but its very faint. I am about to put it away for the winter in the next few weeks, just in case we get some early snow or freezing weather.

Regarding the other question about the warranty, I have a 1 1/2 years left on the 3/36 and after that I have the 8/80 powertrain extended warranty, so atleast I now I'll be covered if something is to go wrong. The service rep at the dealer saw how concerned I was and said that everything was documented as far as me bringing in my crossfire regarding the tick 3 times, so if anything is to go wrong in the future they can't tell me it was because of abuse or anything to that extent.

If I find out anything else I'll keep everyone updated, once again thanks for the feedback.

thanks,
Frank

 

Well, why not update? Here goes... The ticking is loud loud louder than it ever has been. Its embarrassing to drive through a parking lot in fact... I wonder if theres some kind of an exhaust hanger there on the right fenderish area, or something like that? Strange...

Frustrated... I also have a constant rattle when I accelerate that used to only happen on hard acceleration, I'm sure its related to my idle tick. Maybe the same thing. Who knows, exhaust or something, a hanger? I'm giving up.

The rattle on acceleration sounds identical to detonation (pebbles in a can) but I'm sure thats not it since its ALWAYS there on acceleration, hot or cold, hard accel or not, any and all times, and my plugs always look good when I pull them.

I know you guys have nothing left for me but I figure i'll keep this thread updated.

 

Even though I have nothing to offer you I would like you to know I appreciate the time you are taking to tell us about your problem tick so that everyone can learn from your experience. Please keep us updated when you learn anything more.

 

I had a recent problem with an oil leak, which required a new sump. Whilst at the delaers they said there was a slight clatter from the water pump. I'd not noticed before but it sounds just like the ticking you are experiencing.

The pump is on order, Dealer said it was OK to drive on the exisiting one for now. I'll let you know when work is complete and if it makes a difference.

Cheers

Andy G

 

The backfire in neutral is normal burning of the fuel rich spent gasses from the motor. If you rev up and slowly rev down you will probably not hear it. Mine is running very rich as seen on the data logger in this condition, leans out TERRIBLY on 18psig + boost so its going to have the ECU sent back to the Doll Hospital for a tune shortly. Currently apart for gauge pod installation due to the lousy cold weather.

Enjoy, W DY

 

As soon as the weather gets better, I'm taking mine (which has the same problem) to an exhaust shop for a diagnosis. I will let you know what I find out.