Chris Greenfield

1999 Porsche 911 Carrera - engine tick and 2K rpm's at cold start. otherwise the car runs excellently. any ideas? stuck lifter? how do you fix a stuck lifter? thanks

Jake Raby

Thats not a lifter. Its not at the right rhythm and it has oscillation. When did this start, and has it progressed? Does this happen cold and hot? Does it go away when driving?

Ahsai

Water pump, cat, or idle pulleys? Could also be a loose spark plug. Should be easy to diagnose with a mechanics stethoscope. May also want to remove the serpentine belt and hand spin all the pulleys and accesories, then start engine briefly to check for noise.

Cuda911

Does it go away after a few minutes? If so, likely a chain tensioner.

dporto

#1 - very difficult to hear much of anything with that sound file, but I digress...
#2 - I don't hear a "tick" per se' - at least not a valve/lifter tick like I've ever heard before.
#3 - I do hear what sounds more like a "knock" or a diesel motor sound, but it's at a very low level and buried beneath all the other engine noise(s) (belt, idlers, sai, etc. ?)... i.e. lot's of variables

I'm interested to hear the diagnosis/outcome of this - please do post when you find out more! Good luck

rwiii

The RPM's are apparently typical having seen a post or two in the last few years. Mine does it. Also when really cold there's often a second gear crunch the first time it goes into second. Thought I was ready for a look at the transmission but there was a flood of posters that said that was normal. There's a thread on it somewhere.

Chris Greenfield

thanks for all the comments - this happens only at cold start and lasts for about 10 seconds - I've had this issue since I got the car in October. I guess it is more of a knock than a tick.

996_North

I think this is very common. I hear about the cold start tick a lot with the 996.

Schnell Gelb

Chris,
I thought Jake was going to chime in but in his absence, I'll try to give very amateurish to help you focus on likely/unlikely issues.
Have you replaced any parts recently ?
Have you examined the oil filter pleats or sump plate?
Chain tensioners tired ? Durametric numbers are erratic ?
Are you using peculiar oil ?
Use a stethoscope to pinpoint where the noise is loudest.
Low oil pressure warning ?
Exhaust manifold leak ?

Cuda911

Can we place bets? I'll put down $20 that its the tensioner. This is common and not significant at the point you are at, IMHO.

Macster

The brief jump to 2K after engine start is normal.

The noise? Put me down for a water pump or possibly something else with the accessory drive system, like an idler roller bearing or tensioner roller bearing.

Since the noise is present at cold start you can remove the serpentine belt -- carefully note how it is routed and its direction of travel so you can replace it exactly as it was before -- and start the engine.

If the noise is gone then replace the belt and start the engine again and confirm the noise is back.

If the noise is still present with the belt removed then possibly the noise is internal and you should have a professional tech make the diagnosis.

BTW, if the noise is absent with the belt removed check all accessory drives for any drive with bearing play. Go around several times to get a feel for what no play feels like vs. play. My experience with a bad water pump was while it had play it was not very much. It was only because the other drives had less (essentially no play) that I settled on the water pump and had it replaced. My diagnosis proved to be the right one.

Also, check the belt for sharp edges. If you find one or both sharp this is a sign the belt is rubbing and it is rubbing because it is not tracking properly and it is not tracking properly because of an accessory drive with bearing play which allows the pulley to move out of position.

Last but not least, the noise while maybe not from the accessory drive, doesn't have to be from inside the engine either. My 2002 Boxster had a similar noise at cold start and the cause was a loose converter brick. Warm it didn't knock. The exhaust buzzed quite a bit though when everything was warmed up and I suspected (at least hoped) it was a loose heat shield but when I had the tech look into this he confirmed my fear and diagnosed the converter was the source of the noise. This proved to be the case for I replaced the OE converters with a pair sourced from a salvage yard and the knocking/buzzing was gone.

Schnell Gelb

While you are in there -a simple pulley alignment check.
Place a straight-edge across the face of any pulley - so the straight-edge touches both edges of the chosen pulley.Adjust the straight-edge so it crosses over the faces of an adjacent pulley. You may be surprised to find a misalignment.
Mine had this issue and it had caused the serpentine belt to fray on one edge.

Chris Greenfield

sound is coming from the left side of the engine; I just had the water pump replaced; would the sound be coming from the water pump due to bad install or due to whatever the water pump is connect to? Maybe the water pump broke for an undiagnosed problem I still have? I don't have experience with tensioners, the belts I can see are in good shape. no oil pressure problem, using W0-40, or W05-40, whatever Porsche recommends. had the car checked by Porsche dealer when I got the car in Oct. Started at ticking at cold start and seems to have gotten a little louder and now lasts a little longer. thanks.

Macster

A water pump can fail at any time. Do I think it a water pump? Not really. (I hope I'm wrong and it is a water pump unless it can be something even less serious and there are less serious explanations.)

You need to get the car flat bedded to a qualified/experienced Porsche tech and fill him in and let him make a diagnosis. At this stage the less the engine is run the better and really it should only be run under the supervision of the tech.

However, to ease your concerns some that the noise has been present since October and the engine is I take it still running and running ok suggests (?) the noise is not a sign of pending doom.

But I prefer to be conservative and that is why I advise you to get the car to a tech and let him make the diagnosis.

He'll probably drop the oil filter housing and check the oil and the filter element for anything scary.

He can check the water pump and other accessory drives.

If he finds nothing in the oil filter housing oil and filter element and the accessory drives prove to be ok and the plugs are not loose the exhaust is not leaking and so on, then he can start the engine and give a listen with a stethoscope and pinpoint the source of the noise. From this then he can offer his professional opinion as to what it means.

twitchett

Was this ever diagnosed? I would love to know what the problem ended up being.