Engine Ticking Noise

[johnnyk_6]

Hello - I have an '05 that's been making a ticking noise at idle after my engine warms up. I can't remember when I started hearing the noise but I've been noticing it more lately. I just changed the oil (Mobil 1 0W-40) and confirmed that the oil level is okay.

I know that these engines tend to make a lot of valvetrain & fuel injector noise so I wanted to see if this level of noise is normal or not. I watched a handful of videos of other Gen IIIs idling and did not hear the same ticking noise so I'm a little worried.

Here is a video my engine idling:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/H73iuXsaWho

Could anyone please advise if this is just regular valve clatter I'm hearing, or if there may be a problem?

Thanks in advance.

[13COBRA]

Sounds like an exhaust leak maybe? Hard to tell from a video.

[GTS Dean]

I can't really tell too much from your video except it seems louder on the passenger side.

I've been doing short drives in my car lately with the hood off while doing steering rack and front motor work. You want to talk about ticking? Man, I can't believe how loud the top end of these engines are at speed without the hood on - and I have the Gen 3 rocker arms on mine too which are louder than the stamped rockers.

[Ramtuff]

Gen 3 manifolds can and will crack. You may not be able to see it behind the heat shielding. If your motor mounts are shot it puts a lot of stress on the manifolds with the engine shifting.

[Steve-Indy]

In a few of the Gen III's owned by local friends, this same question arose. As Nick has pointed out, small cracks in the exhaust manifolds accounted for the ticking sounds. As the engine/manifolds heated up, the sound often disappeard. A couple decided to go with aftermarket headers which cured the problem.

At this point, my hearing is such that I often cannot detect a more subtle sound...or localize it if I do hear it. An automotive stethoscope can be a very valuable tool...and, they are inexpensive.

[johnnyk_6]

In a few of the Gen III's owned by local friends, this same question arose. As Nick has pointed out, small cracks in the exhaust manifolds accounted for the ticking sounds. As the engine/manifolds heated up, the sound often disappeard. A couple decided to go with aftermarket headers which cured the problem.

At this point, my hearing is such that I often cannot detect a more subtle sound...or localize it if I do hear it. An automotive stethoscope can be a very valuable tool...and, they are inexpensive.

It seems that the opposite is happening for me - as the engine heats up, the ticking seems to get louder. I don't hear it on cold start, only after having driven around for a little while.

[johnnyk_6]

I can't really tell too much from your video except it seems louder on the passenger side.

I've been doing short drives in my car lately with the hood off while doing steering rack and front motor work. You want to talk about ticking? Man, I can't believe how loud the top end of these engines are at speed without the hood on - and I have the Gen 3 rocker arms on mine too which are louder than the stamped rockers.

You're right, it does seem to be coming from the passenger side. I'm probably going to take off the valve cover and check all the lifters just to be safe.

[proedge]

if it gets louder as the engine warms up, it's probably a cracked manifold. Metal expands as it warms up and the crack opens up.

[Old School]

That sounds normal to me.

Exhaust leaks get much louder if you crack the throttle.

[johnnyk_6]

That sounds normal to me.

Exhaust leaks get much louder if you crack the throttle.

That's good to hear. I am hoping it's not an exhaust leak or bad lifter.

[Viper98]

Hey johnnyk, we are having a Venom Extraction Party this weekend at Kurt’s. He has a lift. The guys might be able to help locate the tick.

Contact Cheryl or Coppercrazy for time.

Sure hope it’s something simple.

Hope to see you this weekend.

Jer

[johnnyk_6]

Hey johnnyk, we are having a Venom Extraction Party this weekend at Kurt’s. He has a lift. The guys might be able to help locate the tick.

Contact Cheryl or Coppercrazy for time.

Sure hope it’s something simple.

Hope to see you this weekend.

Jer

Great point and thanks for the reminder, I will be there!

[efnfast]

That sounds normal to me.

Exhaust leaks get much louder if you crack the throttle.

sounds pretty normal to me too

[TheMadMachinist]

It dose sound mechanical are you sure it's just not the fuel injectors they can be very loud on these cars.

[Fredrik Eriksson]

Sounds like normal to me. I changed the oil to a 5W40 weight and that quieted the engine down quite a lot.

[johnnyk_6]

sounds pretty normal to me too

Glad to hear that, thanks for your input.


It dose sound mechanical are you sure it's just not the fuel injectors they can be very loud on these cars.

The ticking doesn't sound consistent with the other fuel injectors. However I did notice one of the injectors on the passenger side may be bad. When I put my finger on each injector while running I could feel a pulse on all of them except for one. I'm not sure if that would cause MORE noise though?


Sounds like normal to me. I changed the oil to a 5W40 weight and that quieted the engine down quite a lot.

I will give that a shot and see if that improves the noise next time I need an oil change - thanks for the suggestion.

[Viper98]

PM sent

[johnnyk_6]

Old thread, but I wanted to post an update for anyone having a similar issue who might find this thread.

I finally got around to taking off the valve covers to check for anything obvious causing the excessive valvetrain noise/ticking. Thankfully everything seemed fine and there were no collapsed lifters or bent push rods.

However, a few of the the valve cover bolts were loose to the point I could unscrew them by hand. The loose bolts were near the spot where I was hearing the ticking noise. Once the valve covers were back on with new gaskets installed and all bolts torqued down properly, I stopped hearing the excessive valvetrain/ticking noise.

So I'm wondering if I was just hearing normal valvetrain noise the entire time? Maybe loose valve covers & old gaskets were causing noise to leak? Who knows, but either way I'm not noticing the noise anymore. Maybe I just need to drive more and worry less :)

[SA Heat]

The noise these motors make can definitely be disconcerting until you get used to it and realize it's normal. I've found running 15w50 oil makes a huge difference to quiet the valve train noise, especially in the ~1,500-2,300 rpm range under load.

[Dan Cragin]

The high bleed lifters used on the Gen 3 motors can be quite noisy with a warm engine and 0-40 oil.
A change to 10w40 or 15w50 should quiet the engine down. Mobil 1 10w40 high mileage synthetic is
recommended by the engineer who designed that engine.