"Ticking" sound from engine

[papasmurf]

67k on 2000 base. At idle you can hear the ticking sound but it goes away if you rev the engine to 1200-1500 and hold it there briefly. If you let off the gas and let it idle for a moment again, the sound comes back....most noticeable under really light throttle application like when I leave a stop or am backing out of the drive. I am pretty sure it is the lifters. They are hydraulically actuated. I am not sure what to do to fix the problem as the car has always been this way since I have had it. Perhaps changing to a different grade of oil may help some...I am still running 0W40 M1.

[stateofidleness]

You know, I thought about oil AS I WAS FILLING IT WITH $70 worth of new oil!! ugh..

The whole time I was wondering If I should have gone with a higher valued viscosity like a 40w or even 50w. I'm running 5w30 Mobil 1 Extended Performance.

[Jake D]

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

You know, I thought about oil AS I WAS FILLING IT WITH $70 worth of new oil!! ugh..

The whole time I was wondering If I should have gone with a higher valued viscosity like a 40w or even 50w. I'm running 5w30 Mobil 1 Extended Performance.

Do a search on the oils that are recommended, but I'm pretty sure you aren't suppose to run 30 weight. I believe I've read that 30 doesn't provide enough protection, and that you should always run 40 weight

[jmatta]

I am certainly no expert, but I would put money on an oil change to a different weight, such as 5W40 or 10W40, will solve your issues. 0W40 is too thin, let alone 5W30. I've run 10W40 Castrol Syntec for the last few years and 5W40 Royal Purple before that...no ticking from my lifters.

[thstone]

A hydraulic lifter takes the place of the older valve tappet where a small space was left between the valve and the camshaft (or rocker arm). The tappets were noisy and required adjustment to maintain the correct clearance due to temperature and wear.

A hydraulic lifter works by filling the space between the valve and lifter with pressurized oil. This provides zero valve clearance which is quiter and performs like a solid lifter because the oil is incompressible.

Drawbacks are that the oil can drain down while the engine is off and then the lifters rattle for a few seconds at startup until the oil fills the space and the pressure comes up. This normally isn't an issue but a permanently rattling lifter typically indicates that the oil passage is blocked or there is some other mechcanical problem with the lifter and should be investigated.

Wayne over at Pelican Parts has a very nice write up on what it takes to get to those noisy lifters and Fig. 13 shows a very nice picture of the lifters:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/16-ENGINE-Camshaft_Swap_and_Chain_Tensioner/16-ENGINE-Camshaft_Swap_and_Chain_Tensioner.htm

[JFP in PA]

First of all, get that 5W-30 oil out of your engine; at a minimum you should be running a 5W-40, and preferably 10W-40 oil not from either Mobil or Exxon as they are the same company. That alone tends to address a lot of start up noises.

Secondly, these engines are well known for having noisy injectors. Get a good stethoscope (any drug store) and try listening to the injectors along the fuel rail at the side of the manifold. We sometimes find one injector that is just carrying on, but it can often be cured by running some Techron with the gas. If that doesn't help, replace the injector.

[insite]

i have a similar issue on my 3.4L, and had the same thing on my 2.5L. i have developed a theory.........

the boxster actually has an oil pressure regulator that is dependent upon temperature, of all things. it consits of a spring and piston that install into the oil pump under the car. the design is supposed to DRAMATICALLY increase oil pressure on cold start (100+ psi) and then back it off to around 20psi at idle when warm. my theory is that these actually go bad pretty quickly. the result is that it backs of the oil pressure at idle too much and can't keep the lifters pumped up.

i plan to replace mine at the next oil change interval. it's like $35 worth of parts. i'll try to post a pic later; my PC here won't let 'print screen' do its thing.

[tuanle16]

interesting. i have too noticed the ticking, but only when my engine compartment was open and i had the motor running. i don't think i hear it when i am actually driving, but then again, i have have just become attuned to the "ticking". never thought anything about it since the car seems to be running fine. i fiddled with it one day, but just gave up when i couldn't find the source.

at next oil change, i'll go with higher viscosity and see if it improves.

ps. i love this forum.

[stateofidleness]

mannnnn.... seriously... ugh... guess i should've read the manual/forums a little better first. That's an expensive lesson to stomach. It's good oil too. What should I do with it?

guess i'll head back to auto-zone tomorrow and look for some 10w40. if they have an even higher number, would that be better? (like a 10w50)?

Do I need to worry about taking the filter back off and dumping what little oil is in there too or should it be fine?

Did I read that correctly that I should NOT use Mobil 1 or Exxon? I've looked for Royal Purple, but it's pricey! I saw they had a sale on both Valvoline and Castrol full synthetic yesterday.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by insite

i have a similar issue on my 3.4L, and had the same thing on my 2.5L. i have developed a theory.........

the boxster actually has an oil pressure regulator that is dependent upon temperature, of all things. it consits of a spring and piston that install into the oil pump under the car. the design is supposed to DRAMATICALLY increase oil pressure on cold start.

How does the current design or the pump’s pressure regulator supposedly respond to changes in temperature? Just wondering……………..