Engine tapping noise - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

2003beater986 · 01-13-2026, 07:15 PM

Hi, I decided to post on here about my engine problems with my Boxster. full disclosure I bought the car at 17 (I'm 19 now) so money is tight to repair it. a few months ago my car began having oil pressure issues which were solved with an oil change (no glitter in the oil) and a new filter. a week after this however due to a lose connecter by the ignition switch. upon starting it back up it began making a knocking/ tapping sound from the engine which increases with the rpms. the car has high miles 160k but has a mountain of service records dating back to when it was new with all the typical Boxster issues like the ims, water pump and rms all being done. The car has sat ever since because of college but I'm ready to start getting into the issues. any help would be a life saver

Hayabusa3 · 01-14-2026, 08:57 PM

Tapping suggests lifters failing to pump up.. this would be an engine out situation for most people. What weight / type of oil did you use?

2003beater986 · 01-16-2026, 06:31 PM

I use 0w40 in the winter and 5w40 in the summer. I'm pretty sure at that point I had went to 5w40.

2003beater986 · 02-02-2026, 01:53 PM

I should probably add some details about the car for clarity. My car is a 2003 base model 2.7 with a 5-speed manual. It has very high mileage but a good service history (162k), and all the major fixes have been done. The m96.23 is difficult to find used or at a price that doesn't cost more than the car's value. Any help in self-diagnosing what's going on with the car would be very helpful.

boxwrench · Yesterday, 02:03 PM

Is the tapping at engine speed or slower? This can help determine whether it's the bottom end or piston slap, or valvetrain noise.

If you try to make a recording of the sound, that might give folks here a better sense of what's going on. Try recording from the side vents, under the middle of the block, and towards the sides under each head. That can help point you to the source. Even get farther back under the transmission, too, which can help isolate those weird sounds as well.

alexc0814 · Today, 09:49 PM

Were you getting the oil pressure light? Your oil pressure has to be pretty low to trigger that if so, and if you used the car for a while like that its possible oil starvation led to engine damage. Also, how did an oil change fix that? Was the previous oil super old and gunky? Seems like oil pressure might still be the issue here