zooyorker

Hi guys,




Unfortunately my 997.1tt is making strange clicking/ticking noises from the engine on driver's side (LHD car) and it is driving me nuts. You can hear it when it is idling and it progressively gets faster as you drive. It kind of sounds like a pulley is not centered right or something. I know that these Mezgers sound like a can full of screws&bolts but you can clearly hear that it is not normal. My friend's car with 3x the mileage does not emit any of these clicking/ticking sounds at all (my car has 17k miles!). As Zurich has the highest Porsche density in the world, I constantly hear other 997.1 Turbos on the street and none seem to be making this strange puttering/clicking/ticking noise.




It makes the car sound a lot more like an old VW beetle (which it kind of is...) and I don't like it. It makes it sound cheap/broken. It could be mistaken for flywheel chatter but the clutch assembly is stock. The sound does not go away if I depress the clutch pedal.




I have been to 2 Porsche dealers and they did not know what it is but did concur that it is not normal. An independent garage specialized in all things Porsche (works on many race cars) said that it could be that a chain inside is loose (chain tensioner?), but basically have no clue at all.




I have attached the 3 videos below, where you can hear the noise in the background. It's the noise that kind of sounds like cicadas and it goes "tic tic tic tictictic":



















Has any of you ever encountered such an issue and found a fix? Any help would be amazing.




Best regards from Switzerland,

YH

Kevin

How much monies do you want to spend to eliminate the engine noise? That's the real question. It's not a simple fix or cheap fix. What were the quotes to go into your engine?

The first thing that I would do is to increase your oil weight and maybe change oil brands.

I would then ask your dealer or indy for the camshaft timing deviation. My point is.. the valvetrain can get noisy when the camshaft sleeve begins to move.

Post your DME overrev report. You could have a failed inlet lifter/the center pin could have sheared. Do you have any CEL's?

zooyorker

Hey Kevin thanks for your quick answer!

Well... They told me it would be pricey either way (labor is $250 per hour here). They suggested changing the chain tensioner and that that would be somewhere around $4500-$5000. Is that something that could be emitting that sound, what do you think?

I don't really care what it costs, I just want my car to sound like it should to be perfectly honest. Again, I don't mind the Mezger clatter and chatter at all but this specific noise just sounds terrible!

The car just received a big service including spark plugs & coils etc... The oil they used is the standard 0W-40, if I am not mistaken. What would you recommend on that front?

I will try to find out the cam timing deviation this week. In terms of overrev report, the car has only ever had a stage 4 overrev but that was literally over 4 years ago. Ever since it has been driven bearing in mind that it should not touch the rev limiter! No CELs at all by the way!

Thanks so much in advance,
Yannick

nuclearfishin

I had that exact noise on a BMW that had a fuel injector going bad. The clicking is the sound of the mechanical part of the injector trying to open and close. As the rpms speed up the clicking also speeds up as the injector tries to keep up with the fueling. New injectors fixed the issue. That's a relatively cheap fix on a Porsche. Looking at data won't necessarily help because the fueling was still normal, the injector was just noisy. Once the injector dies you'll know right away.

ble2011

If it helps at all, mine makes a similar noise and it’s had it ever since I bought it at 19k miles. I’ve had it checked at 3 different shops and they all say there’s nothing wrong. Mine seems to go away as the revs increase.

nzskater

Record a video with the deck lid open - does it sound similar to this?
I replaced the purge valve which is what you can hear making the clicking noise on the left. I should have checked to see how much vacuum it was holding (old and new) but I didn't, but I can say that it quietened down a fair bit when I replaced it.

Tmistry

What weight oil are you currently using?

Based on the videos you posted, it doesn't sound terribly different from mine. These engines are clattery beasts.

Ruskiy

Mine makes all sorts of noises and it’s annoying.

Yours sounds like an exhaust leak for some odd reason (to me.) why not get under there and look for obvious signs just in case it’s something silly.

Edit:
Can we get a DIY checklist going for zooyorker before he loses his mind like I almost did and almost started tearing apart the block lol.

1) What’s the suggested oil brand & oil weight for quietest operation?
2) Purge Valve
3) Exhaust and/or exhaust manifolds leak

atcbi5

I agree! Take the easy steps first.

jeebus31

Totally in to hear people’s opinions about (1). I have a 117k motor. Not exactly sure what oil the PO used but I changed to 5W40 Motul Xcess and it’s def a noisier engine now here in sweaty Houston!

saabin

The purge valve that nzskater shows is def a clickty-click sound, but it's frequency changes on it's own without respect to engine RPM, at least it does on my car. It will even stop after a while. I replaced mine as well (was leaking internally and causing a CEL)

You can actually "feel" the click if you grab the black handle-looking section..you could actually eliminate this as your noise source by doing this..

Kevin

Mixing 5W50 with your current 0W40 or 5W40 does work.. Motul fans should look at the Motul 5W50 Sport oil It is a "better" more premium oil vs the Xcess formulation. It is closer to 300V with more detergent..

Using a 50/50 blend does work. If you have "more" valve train/chain noise using 80 to 100% 5W50 does work in these HOT summer months.

I am running Redline 0W40/5W50 blend in my car.

For the OP, spend some time looking up 996TT chain/idle rattle noise>some cars are just noisy and normal. I would thicken up your oil>>you can drain the oil out of your engine case>>measure it and replenish with 5W50

nzskater

Thanks Kevin. If you're using Motul 5W50, which oil would you recommend to mix with it to get to the 2.5W45 blend?

Kevin

300V 0W40.. But what are you ambient temps now? 5W50 shines in the extreme heat. 90 to 110F(I'd leave the 5W50 in and change it before 3K miles and have your oil tested for viscosity at 3K)

lliejk

Sounds like a sticky lifter, but my only experience with that noise is on Audis.

Ed