Maybe bullet resistant. Bullet proof is usually reserved for the turbo models.

 

This is interesting. The car has only done 2k in the last 2 years. However, last week I needed to drive it daily as my other daily driver car had some work done. But again I am not sure Porscheforever what you trying to say. Do low mileage cars get sticky valves?

 

I went to Porsche yesterday and here is what happened:

Before i went to Porsche I left the engine idle while I was washing the car. No noise even when engine temp was reached. HOWEVER, I left the engine on for more time (till I have a shower ). Now the engine has been on for an hour and noise is back on. Took the car to Porsche, sound dissappeared when I arrived. They kept the engine running and listened with the stethoscope but they couldn't hear anything! They said I should keep an eye on it and be in communication with them.

Just an observation I think the noise is more towards the passenger's side of the engine UK specification (driver side in USA specification).

 

Have you had your yearly oil changes done? Should have done at least 2 already; one at the end of your first year of ownership, and again after year two.

Once this current issue is resolved/finalized/what-ever.......stop these prolonged "I let the car idle to warm up" instances. We've seen examples of bore scoring in the 996 and 997 from daily drives, in cold climates, who like to do the extended ideling to warm up the cars. Not good. Start it, and drive off, keep the rpms below 4k until oil has hit 180.

 

Thank you, Lexvan.

A) UK recommendation is 2 yearly oil change. so just had one oil change so far (April 2016). next one is due (with major service) in April 2018. As I said earlier, Porsche UK didn't recommend me changing the oil after the "break in" period.

B) as for "idle", yes i agree with you. I don't usually do it. It was the first time for me to do it yesterday, just to get the car up to the temp before going to the dealer.

 

It's hard to tell from the audio but is the clicking different when PSE is on versus off? I have no idea what the problem is but if it changes depending on PSE on/off, knowing how PSE impacts the engine operation may be a good starting point in a diagnosis.

 

That's isn't a click, that's a "clack.....clack clack." Not minor.

Question, how old is your fuel?

Also, old oil causing sticky lifters sounds more like:

 

A local friend had his 2012 4gts in for a mechanical noise happening behind drivers rear seat area. They removed the heads and what was visible is that all the cams were scored. Instead of just replacing the heads only Porsche replaced the whole engine. Luckily the noise started just inside of his warranty. He had 20k km. Stored every Winter. Not a daily driver. Very well looked after car, Porsche maintained.

 

- PSE on or off makes no difference to the noise

- Oil changed in April this year (less than 1 K miles driven since the oil changed). Fuel may be 6-8 weeks old.

- The noise in the Boxter video above is a regular tapping. Mine is "irregular". (More or less like: click.... click click click......... click click........ then gap then click click click...... click ...... click click.....)

 

Curious if you played your audio clips for them. Seemed like that would have caused a bit more concern for them and seemingly gotten a response better than monitor it and stay in touch.

 

He listened to the engine for a little while then said all the sound are normal. But after he heard my recorded audio he said he would need to left the car up and listen with the stethoscope.

 

That almost sounds like a high-voltage arc. Might be as simple as a bad coil pack or spark plug connector. Next time it happens, you might tune a portable AM radio between stations and hold it in your rear wheel wells. Try various orientations, and listen for coincident bursts of static when the sound occurs.

This quick and dirty test isn't necessarily sensitive, but it'll be 100% specific if you do hear the noise on the radio. (Your car's own AM radio antenna is probably too far from the engine to pick it up.)

 

If it is a valve or piston/cylinder (major) issue, is that something that can reliably be discovered through non-extraordinary means while still under warranty?

 

In my case the dealership used listening instruments to narrow the location then used a boroscope (camera) to look inside the cylinder which showed scoring.

 

Car25:

My engine noise actually best described with what you said on your thread: "small piece of metal being randomly bounced around inside the engine"

Was your noise also coming from the left hand side of the engine (Passenger's side in UK specification car and Driver's side in USA specification)? is this the side cylinder # 1 ? When you did your search in August and found the other car who had a similar issue and was bought back by porsche, are you aware if it was also cylinder # 1 issue?