LC991.2

My 991.2 engine makes lifter tapping noise when cold started after sitting for few days. It usually taps for 10 to 15 minutes until engine warms up. Do you think this is normal? My dealer service manager and SA tells me this is not uncommon. Let me know if your 991 or 991.2 makes tapping noise after sitting for 4 to 5 days.

Jeffdehr

Mine does the same. 991.2 C4S I was going to make a video to show my SA when I bring my car in for it's one year service next month, you saved me a step.

I think it means we are not driving frequently enough!

911sTO

still waiting for my C2S but my Merc used to make the exact same noise for 10-15 minutes...love the white - see you soon on the streets!

GTSMeister

This is the noise an unfilled hydraulic tappet makes when the camshaft lobe hits it. It is normal that the oil drains out of the tappet over time and it does take some time to refill. You could go to a heavier oil perhaps a 5w-40.

Normal across all hydraulic tappet/lifter cars from VAG. The diagnostic test is to listen for noise at each tappet with a fully warmed up motor at 2K RPM.

Jeffdehr has the right answer though, don't let the car sit.

justabout

It is interesting that not all Carreras do this. So there might be some variability during manufacturing?

LC991.2

I do think that oil is draining out of lifter over time but I would disagree that this is normal.
I used to own VW with hydraulic lifter for 7 years 150K km and never experienced tapping sound even after sitting for weeks. I've heard tapping sound on aged, high mileage cars but not on a brand new cars.
Isn't one of the reasons for using hydraulic lifter is to eliminate the tapping sound and periodic gap adjustments needed on solid tappet engines?
Is that mean all or most of the Porsche have this issue? Please let me know if never heard tapping noise on your 991.

LC991.2

I was wondering if this is manufacturing defect or one of few no cost option Porsche included with these cars. More noise the better crowd would love this option.

GTSMeister

Certainly could be variation and it does depend on how thin your oil is. This kind of stuff falls into the what-is-normal for a lot of things from a manufacturer vs a customer perspective. Kinda like some engines will use a quart of oil per 500 miles, others not a drop but both are considered normal.

Since hydraulic lifters make this noise, VAG has put the diagnostic test in place so dealers can claim it is normal. The real question is is it bad for my engine?

You could look back at previous mistakes that VAG has made in materials choices for camshaft lobes and followers for high pressure fuel pumps. The early TSI engines were bad enough in this area that VAG upped the warranty for cam followers and soft camshafts. Enthusiasts pro-actively replaced the cam followers. Some research on VWVortex will find a lot of this issue if you care to read some more.

But back to us here... I would suggest you get an oil analysis to look for chrome and iron. Those would be present if the camshaft lobe or tappet is wearing. Did you wait the whole 20k km for the first oil change? It is appropriate to change early with a UOA to identify these kinds of issues early on in an engine. You will find a lot of aluminum and silicon in early tests. If you find iron and chrome, there are issues.

Your noise sounds to me like it occurs once every cam rotation in the same spot. Which would imply only one tappet or one cam follower for the HPFP. I would get a UOA and also have your dealer document that you reported the noise on a service order. "Customer states that the engine makes a tapping noise on cold starts". That way should you just happen to fall out of warranty range, you at least have some leverage.

I think without a TSB, you won't get much help from your dealer.

Also, it doesn't take a lot of free play to make this noise. And there is a lot of oil flying around in the camshaft area so there is likely no damage occurring. But a UOA is the thing to do.

Oh and I also totally missed reading you had already identified the noise in your thread starter. Sorry!

Harsany

My 991.1 S has always done this after sitting for an extended period. I have 25K miles and the car has been perfect. No oil consumption, just a beautiful powerful engine.

LC991.2

It doesn't make sense to me why i would have to go through all these tests on a brand new car with 3800 km on it. It already had oil change done at 2500 km point. I assume 0W-40 Mobil 1 as it seems be the default oil they put in at the dealer. This being my first Porsche I must be bit sensitive but I have a hard time accepting this as being normal on a Porsche when most people wouldn't accept it on $20,000 Hyundai.

GTSMeister

On doing tests...

I would view doing these tests as a low cost way to make sure your engine doesn't develop long term issues. For $20 you could sample the 1300 km oil now and find out if something is really wrong.

On this being normal...

Opinions about normal don't count including mine. What counts is that Porsche isn't going to fix anything for you with the noise complaint since they consider it normal. They do this to reduce costs. Replace an occasional failed camshaft plus other parts or attempt to resolve noise issues on many more cars.

I've been assuming you will keep the car past its warranty period. If not you just have to live with the noise until you sell it.

And I'm sure you'll find out here that some cars make the noise, others don't. You got randomly selected.

LexVan

Problem with this good idea is:

1) One UOA will tell you very little, only serve as a baseline (unless truly catastrophic....and this one is not)

2) What IF the UOA shows high wear metals???.....Porsche is NOT going to accept that test as anything conclusive.

I'm a YUGE fan of UOA's.....and do one every oil change. The cumulative data points, over several years, is insightful. Unfortunately, one test for the OP, will tell little, IMO.

GTSMeister

Exactly! Gotta start somewhere and this engine is still early life. I agree it will likely not show any issue but get that baseline.

stealthboy

I had this happen once on my 991.1 after the car sat for 12 days. Took a video of it to get the sound recorded. Service adviser said it was not uncommon to have the lifters drain out.

Macster

5w-40 is the *wrong* way to go to possibly address this tapping noise at cold start.

The better oil would be 0w-40. The "0w" representing a lower cold temperature viscosity with (probably) better cold flow characteristics.

The 0w-40 oil would thus (again probably) flow better at cold start and afterwards but the tapping noise is not really due to lack of oil flow.

It is air in one or more lifters.