tnsrflw

Hi

First of all thanks for reading about the issue I am facing, any help or pointers appreciated!

I am hearing a ticking or clicking sound on my 2013 911 C2S that was under CPO until May 2022. I have owned the car for two years and it’s the first time I heard this sound.


The car was sitting in my garage for 2 weeks while I was traveling and after starting the car today, it immediately started making this noise. With increased RPM, the click seemed to get faster but not louder.

After driving at low speed for 10 minutes, the sound went away.

Could this be the tensioner sound or belt wearing out?

Sharing here in case any fellow member had similar issue.

Thank you so much for reading this!

asellus

shorten your oil change interval, that's your valvetrain not pumping up fast enough. it went away because the oil warmed up and thinned out and was able to get into the buckets easier.

it's practically harmless, just drive more.

BSO

This sound has been attributed to the hydraulic lifters. At times the oil settles out of the lifters and become noisy until pressure fills them back up.

My ‘19 C4S has done this several times particularly if the car has been sitting for a few days. The oil viscosity may play a part.

I’m not happy when this noise occurs as it has been documented that engine wear is greatest at cold start. So when this happens I drive the car slowly keeping the RPMs as low as possibly and short shift (manual).

As you noted the clatter goes away after a mile or so.

tnsrflw

Omg! Thank you so much for such a quick response and the suggestion. Will take it for oil change this weekend!

I will update here how it goes! I can’t tell you enough how relieved I am to hear this 😀 Really appreciate the help!

asellus

The oil change interval thing is more of an over time remedy...

If the car is undriven and/or the oil change interval is too long, the oil passages into the hydraulic lifters can get restricted with mild sludging. An appropriate oil change interval with a quality oil will prevent (and slowly fix, if applicable) this problem.

An oil change won't immediately fix this. If you're overdue, yeah, for sure go get an oil change.

justabout

I had this happen at low miles a few times at cold start. When it happened I gently drove and it resolved after a mike or so. It hasn’t happened in years. Was it caused by dirty oil or low viscosity, who knows.

Guards_Red_991

OP, what type of oil are you using?

barncobob

NF4710

It’s not necessarily an old oil issue. Many people have had these tapping sounds when the car isn’t used for a few days to weeks. It’s unclear if this represents a problem or not: the dealers usually brush it off as normal. If you read too much about it you’ll become worried about bore scoring which is rare but not unheard of in these engines. The sound seems to go away once the engine is warm.

NF.

asellus

it has pretty much nothing to do with bore scoring, being worried that your engine is going to explode or be irreparably damaged from lifter tick is not required.

as far as being unclear if it represents a problem or not.. it doesn't, beyond the health of the oil and the lifters themselves. it's a function of both the viscosity of the oil and the (very small) orifice the oil needs to flow through to pump up the hydraulic lifters. your lifters can be clattering around with still having great oil pressure and the engine being otherwise completely healthy and well lubricated. the only damage happening here beyond the 2-3 seconds of relying on oil film before oil pressure is achieved (you know, standard cold start stuff) is very slightly increased wear on the valve stems as the lifters hammer on them, just like going too long between valve adjustments on an older car.

if the oil is too viscous, or if the orifice is obstructed in any way, the lifter will fail to pump up sufficiently and it will tick every time the valve is actuated, since there's a tiny amount of play between the bucket and the valve stem. the spring inside the lifter bucket usually isn't strong enough to overcome this fast enough. regular oil change intervals help to prevent and clear up small amounts of sludging, which cause the obstruction issue.

this is a potential issue with any engine that uses hydraulic lifters. it's a very well known issue with first generation miatas for example, as they use hydraulic lifters and are of an age where the internal springs are outright failing on top of having blocked oiling orifices.

CSK 911 C4S

I think most of the time the slight ticking we all hear could be the fuel injectors.

If you ever open up the hood of an Audi you would swear the valves are hitting something all the time but it's just the fuel injectors going at it.

asellus

DI injectors have a more distinct "crack" when they fire versus the slapping of a deflated lifter, at least to my ears. The rhythm is usually different too, since lifter tick isn't going to be every lifter!

James88

This might be leaking headers, once it warms up the metal expands reducing the sound.
worth having a look at.

Levy

agree 100% (and so did my *very experienced* Indy when i asked him about it). I've got the exact same car (2013 C2S) and run into this once in a while when i let it sit. usually drive it daily except in the winter so i seldom/almost never hear the tick in the summer months. if i do hear it during summer and regular use, it's usually way less pronounced and noticeable. but during winter, the car can sit for weeks without being started/driven and that's when i hear the tick loud and clear (like OP's car). usually goes away very quickly.....like a few minutes tops.

do as others have suggested. change your oil per P car recommendations or sooner and take it easy driving for a few minutes when you hear the tick. should be fine