Interesting... A water pump certainly would follow RPMs. Maybe i'll stethescope around the water pump and see if anything is loud. I doubt it though, the tick is really audible from the driver's fenderwell, up to the cat/manifold area.

I just don't know anymore!!!!

 

I have the same issue and it seems to get worse after the engine has heated up. I heard from somewhere that it could be noisy lifters? It might get worse after the engine is heated up due to thermal expansion and all of your issues sound identical to mine.

 

Yeah, it gets a lot worse as the engine heats up. I'm still dealing with it. Actually, I learned to live with it but as of lately its gotten much clearer and more noticeable so I've started to investigate again. Embarrassing to drive anywhere like a parking lot or drive-thru...

How many miles are you at? Here is a list of things I'm suspecting....

1. Dead motor mount
2. Something in the torque converter area of tranny
3. Driver side manifold->cat converter leak
4. Lifters nearest towards driver
5. Exhaust somehow loose somewhere.

Here are things I've ruled out...

1. Electrical arcs, or similar electrical issues. This is because the one time the tick goes away is when in drive and stopped, when RPMs drop to 400rpm. The tick gets very quiet. I can still hear it off of other cars, but not nearly as bad. As soon as you start driving, or go to Park or Neutral, ticking is loud again. If it were electrical, then rpm's lowering to 400 would not quiet it down.
2. Loose spark plug, reason same as above.
3. Pulley or belt. Stethescoped them all, nothing.
4. Anything on bottom end, because the pan is so quiet with the stethescope
5. The purge valve, infamous on C32's. Our mount bracket is redesigned, these don't tick for us.

Let me know if you come up with anything.

 

Water pump replaced after a three month wait and, hey presto, rattle disappears.

Can't guarantee we are all suffering from the same symptoms, but it worked for me

Cheers

Andy G

 

I have roughly 60,000 miles on the car and purchased it just three months prior to this time. I got it for a steal and purchased an extended warranty for it which I know is a bad idea the majority of the time, but this is now my daily driver and repairs on this car are expensive. I might take it to get it fixed (use my warranty) but I try to avoid mechanics as I sadly tend to know as much if not more than many of them. If I figure it out I will let you know as I am the type of person who is driven crazy by any abnormal noise. Keep me posted if you figure it out as well. Thanks.

 

I too avoid mechanics... But, I did take my car to Chrysler about this tick and they returned it saying it was normal. Sigh. So I guess the car being quiet previously was abnormal? I filed several complaints with Chrysler but obviously wasn't expecting anything to come of it. Now I'm out of warranty.

I'll keep you updated.

 

Well I spoke to a Mercedez indie shop today over the phone. The guy was veeeerrrryy certain it was an oil delivery issue. He said the AMG-32 platform has an issue where, if a car is somewhat uncared for, carbon build up can quickly block the small oil delivery passage to the lifters area nearest the driver, which is furthest from the oil pump. He said if at any point the wrong oil was carelessly run, or allowed to get dirty, which is common in cars where the owner plans to trade it in quickly, then the issue can come up easily and quickly afterwards. This makes sense since the ticking was not there when I boguht the car, but as soon as I started putting Mobil1 0w-40 it started ticking. Since I bought mine at 25K miles, maybe the owner skimped on oil changes or ran the wrong oil.

He suggested running some ATF or Lucas oil stabilizer for a day to see if it helped the issue before going to actual parts replacement work.

I'm not saying this is official by any means but its really all I have to go on right now, so I'll try it.

 

Ok, bad news. Ticking got so loud last night that it practically broke windows of nearby buildings, and even outdid my radio with even my window up. I had to just stop the car and have it towed to a mechanic. We'll see what happens.

I'm leaning towards just getting rid of the car and getting a Civic, which I've owned 3 of and enjoyed never having to work on the car except regular oil changes. Its probably a smart move since my goal is to buy a house soon... We'll see.

On a side note... I've had a chirp when accelerating from any speed. Not to be confused with the typical s/c squeak when accelerating from a stop. I have oil on the bottom of my bellhousing suggesting a rear main seal leak, and I'm wondering if oil might be getting on something inside the bellhousing, like the flywheel, and causing the slippage whenever accelerating. Its something for all of you to consider next time you're checking things out under the car...

 

Any news on the tick?

I have an n/a and have a similar tick...

 

The tick, and chrysler's lack of help, was such a disappointment that I traded in for an Accord (Which I've ended up loving, surprisingly)

Your NA's internal engine is different than the SRT-6, so our ticks may be different, but if its the same tick then in my honest opinion, there's little hope you'll cure the tick. I spent hours and hours with a mechanics stethescope narrowing it down to somewhere in the head towards the driver. Even armed with enough info Chrysler still said it was normal. Gee no wonder they're going out of business.

I tried different oils, oil flushes, reseating spark plugs, banging on cats to find a rattle, header leak investigation.. You name it I tried it. Over time the tick got worse and worse to where it was embarrassing to drive.

I'm not trying to discourage you but I want to warn you to start saving some $$$ and visit a few small european/mercedes shops to get their opinions. If the tick is bearable then see if you can get used to it for now.