I have this annoying tapping noise that's comes and goes when the car is idling. My independent has said that he will need to take the engine apart and it could be something big or small. Does anyone think it could be worth trying a different oil from the 0w-40 I'm currently using?
Thanks

 

Sound like this water pump. Take the belt off and see if it goes away.
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...rings-por.html

 

Hi no it doesn't sound anything like that. Thanks for posting the video. I will take a video tomorrow and post it up

 

Does the tapping go away above 1,500 - 2000 rpm?
Scored bores in the 3.6 l engines seem to exhibit similar sounds coupled with higher than average oil consumption. Hydraulic lifters can also be the culprit.
Use the search function for more details re bore scoring......

 

Thanks for this info I appreciate it. sorry for the late reply
Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and get some one to investigate the problem

 

How fresh is the oil?

A tapping noise that comes and goes could be normal. I mean the engine makes all kinds of noises as it runs.

We need to hear an audio clip. Be sure to keep the camera still rather than moving it all around all the time.

Before I had the engine opened up I'd want to know where the noise was coming from. Knowing this as best as one can goes a ways into helping one know what the noise might be.

Without any clip to go by, the noise could be gear box rattle, a dual mass flywheel problem, a water pump or other accessory drive with excessive bearing play, an exhaust leak, a converter brick loose in the manifold, or a number of other things many of which do not require the engine be opened up to fix.

 

If it's VT noise then you should at least try JG DT40. You realize it's summer, right?

 

Hi
when you say it summer, does that mean I should be using different oil?

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this out, I am away at the moment when I get back I will try and post up a video of the car running.I would appreciate getting your feedback. Thanks again

 

0w-40 has proven just fine for my cars even in exceptionally high ambient temperatures, up to 116F and even 118F heat.

One thing I would advise is avoid running the oil for big miles unless your driving consists solely of driving cross country at highway speeds. (I've changed the oil in my cars then driven 4K+ miles in a week's time, and when back home added enough miles -- my commute can have my driving 300 miles a week -- to reach the 5K mark and changed the oil and had the oil come out with a bit of amber to its color, with still a bit of translucence, but 5K miles is 5K miles as far as I'm concerned.)

Now here in inland area of northern CA where summertime temps break 100F once in a while (earlier this week I think it got up to 105F) I decided a few years back to switch to running Mobil 5w-50 oil vs. 0w-40. Winter temps are mild here seldom getting to freezing and almost never any colder so I can run this oil year 'round.

But my 996 Turbo had 0w-40 in it since the 1st week of Jan. of this year when I had the oil change done at a mid-west dealer. The engine was fine though I noticed a bit more clatter at cold engine start even though I didn't let the car sit too long between uses. With "fresh" 0w-40 oil I could let the car sit nearly a week unused and no real engine clatter at startup. But as 5K miles came (and went) even sitting over night the engine manifested a bit of valve noise upon cold start. Clearly a sign of some kind to change the oil, as if I needed any sign.

But I know from experience as the 5w-50 oil accumulates miles the engine will generate a bit more noise at engine start after sitting unused a few (3 or 4) days.

But at no time with either oil even after 5K miles (and once when I lost track of the miles 10K miles with the Turbo) has either engine continued with any valve or chain noise after the initial burst of noise at cold engine start. At all other times the engines are quiet, well, as quiet as these engines can ever be. Even yesterday evening after some slow driving in a parking lot when the coolant temperature reached 212F+ in my Turbo and the fans kicked on the engine's noise was just normal. No clatter at all beyond what is normal for the engine.

 

Hi taken me a while to get a vid sorted but if you could take a listen to this. That would be great

 

 

The noise has me on the fence. One second I'm thinking it sounds ok the next not so ok.

Since I like to err on the side of caution I'll say this.

Oh, because I did not go back and read every post some of this may have already been covered.

I assume the oil's reasonably fresh and of the right viscosity? No 5w-30 in the engine, right?

If a manual equipped car does depressing the clutch pedal then releasing it affect the noise?

Ideally the car needs to be put on a lift and listened to. On a lift with the proper equipment -- mechanics stethoscope -- the tech can pinpoint the source of the noise. For instance up high -- so to speak -- under a camshaft cover this can be a noisy lifter or even a broken valve spring.

At the end of the head where the cam chain drive is this can be a bad chain guide/tensioner rail.

If the noise is coming from down lower towards the crankcase it can be a noisy piston.

Closer still to the crankcase at the crankcase a bearing.

Or the noise could be found to be coming from an accessory drive item. It sort of sounded like it could be coming from a water pump but further into the clip the noise was too regular I believe to be water pump generated. However, I could be wrong.

I'm not saying it is any of the above, just giving you an idea of how where the noise is coming from helps in some way determining what might be going on.

However, unless the noise is from up high directly under the camshaft cover the chances are the engine will have to come out of the car to determine the cause of the noise and then of course address the cause of the noise. That is if the professional tech believes the noise is something that needs to be addressed, is worthy of concern. (I am leaning towards this being the case -- the noise is worthy of concern -- but I'm not the professional tech.)

Just to be safe(er) before you do much more engine running if you are feeling up to it you can remove the oil filter housing and the filter element and dump all into a *clean* drain pan and then look to see what is in the oil and the filter element.

What you find or don't find determines what you do next.

 

Sounds like a noisy evap regen valve. It's a black round valve right above the alternator mounted high on the left intake manifold.

The tapping doesn't change its frequency with rev, right?

Now I hear the vid again on my ipad, I could hear a knocking noise, which could be valve or cylinder and that should change with the rev.

 

Hi

No the noise doesn't change its frequency with Rev. The car runs well idles well it's just that noise comes and goes.

Thanks for your input seems like your suggestion will be worth investigating.