Alright title pretty much says it all. Just started today, whenever I accelerate it makes this weird ticking noise. I looked through the forums and saw that changing to premium could fix it. But is this really a combustion problem? If so, Im thinking maybe its time to change the spark plugs right? Alright and as for the burning smell, I saw that this is probably oil leaking and stuff, and I know it does leak. But I just got my O-ring replaced by the dealer, so I don't know. The engine shaking is another thing Im worried about, I know this is a lot of dense reading but any help will be appreciated, Thanks.

 

well ...
You have leaking, knocking, shaking, and a burning smell? This is going to be impossible to diagnose. Take one thing at a time.

1.)Fix the leak ( The oil burning on the exhaust etc could cause a smell)
2.)Put premium in if your running lower octane because it will cause knocking when your car pings out in higher rpms.
Is the car smoking? if so what color? what does it smell like?
The engine shaking is perplexing. Is it struggling shaking? Or just a shake ( bad motor mounts maybe?)

The ticking could be it cooling if your referring to when it turns off. Also maybe plugs, coils, or slop from something internal.

 

Thanks for the response Heist. 1. the leak I am going to go take care of it tomorrow at the dealer, but i dont think its leaking on the exhaust because the smell is coming from the engine area. 2. Damn, looks like gas is going to be more expensive for me...but its all good. It does smoke very lightly and occasionally and smells almost like burnt rubber/carbon. As far as the engine, it does seem like its struggling now that i think about it.

 

What year, transmission, bodystyle? Any mods?

You mentioned the car was recently at the dealership for work; how long after the repairs did these problems begin? What exactly did they do?

The shaking could be a misfire. Is the check engine light on?

Here are some ideas:
1) Bad coil(s)
2) Bad valve cover gasket(s), oil could pool in the spark plug hole(s) and potentially disrupt the connection between the coil and the spark plug
3) Vaccum leak
4) Oil smell could be b/c your dipstick isn't all the way in, so it could squirt out oil under heavy throttle. The oil will leak down to your cats and get burned off.
5) Bad MAF sensor
6) Bad O2 sensor
7) Bad cam position sensor(s)

Try those, and if your CEL is on, go to Autozone and get the codes read for free.

 

Is it a "burnt oil" smell or just a "Hot" smell? You say it's shaking (misfire) and pinging (**** poor gas or bad timing), if it's missing, it's sending raw gas to the cat. If that's happening, your cat is getting WAY too hot and could start a fire. Get it checked ASAP!
If it's burnt oil leaking, you may have the "oil in the sparkplug well" problem and you need to have the valve cover gaskets and plugs replaced.

 

Its an 04mt coupe. No mods. Its been about a month since it left the shop. They replaced: front compression rod and businh, axle, wheel hub bearing/assembly, toe links and arms, spring buckets and o-ring. What i did notice is that someone broke the hinge on my air filter box for some reason. And no, the cel is not on. Thanks for all the input, i saw all these around in some places but wasn't sure, definitely going to take care of it asap. And Texasscout, its def a burning smell...