Annoying metallic ticking noise
 

Hi all,

I have a 2002 Porsche Boxster 2.7 which has developed an annoying ticking sound under acceleration. It only appears to tick when using the accelerator and when Im moving. When the car is idle and I rev the sound is not noticeable/sounds normal. I thought it might of been injectors but I tried some injector cleaner and i've been using premium fuel.

The only other thing that I think it could be is an exhaust leak as you only hear it getting louder when im moving it and giving it some power.

CV joints? Try grabbing the axle shaft and rotating it by hand - if the sound gets better (temporarily at least) after doing this, that's probably your issue.

Simple test Is the frequency solely dependent on speed, or RPM. Of its speed I agree with the above, CV joints. If its RPM there can be a whole slew of causes ranging from disintegrating timing belt to lifters and a zillion things in between.

In the 1970s I bought a really hot car, a Simca Ti, which had the engine from a Matra. Unfortunately the engine was too powerful for the axles and on a vacation in Austria we got the dreaded ticking noise from the front CV joints. We spent 3 days and nights in a campground without a car before they had the car fixed.

Its a very distinctive noise and is dependent on the load on the joints, so my bet is on the above.

It could be a loose spark plug. They make weird noises when they are just a little loose.