Need a little help here...noticed a little tapping noise coming from the engine lately...attached a video. Been looking around the forum and have seen things from an issue with the timing chain or the lifters. Cars been running Mobil 1 5w-30 Syn from 1st oil change out the showroom; car has about 75k now.


I did notice at the last oil change that the oil was a lower than normal as typically it's still at the high mark when changing it but outside of that sound the car still runs great with no issue. Seems like there are a few people that have jumped on the various threads saying they had the issue but didn't see much on the solutions. Is it something that i'll have to live with or should I start taking apart the engine. Those that did nothing did you experience problems later one and I guess those that fixed what did it run you. I imagine most of the cost goes to labor for having to take apart the engine.

Thanks

 

I don't really hear it over all the white noise. If its the slight tick at higher rpms, I think all of our cars do that, and its usually when yer missing a bit of oil. Usually it will go away for me as long as the oil is full. If its at idle (or anywhere below 4k rpms), that could mean chain rattle. May need to replace that.

 

@ScraggleRock ...thanks. It's there at idle with the tic speeding up slightly at 1-3k RPMs.. Past that I can't hear it over the sound of my intake and exhaust. Doesn't seem to go away after driving session as it's still there. Honestly don't recall the sound being there before but don't think I'm imagining it lol.

 

Could be either excessive valve clearance or the timing chain. A good mechanic with a stethoscope may be able to tell you which. It may not justify a repair unless it gets worse.

 

Thx Gary... Yea I dropped it off with my mechanic yesterday to look into it. Fingers crossed on the extent of the potential damage.

 

Did you ever get a resolution to the tapping sound? I've got an 04 G35x which makes a rather loud tapping noise at idle (Hot or Cold) and doesn't ever go away. When driving, it's harder to hear over all the road noise, but you can hear it. at idle, you press the gas and the tapping noise is the same, just a little faster.

I noticed the noise after I did my last oil change (use Mobil 1, 5w30). Just to make sure my new oil filter wasn't bad, I changed the oil again.

Like the OP, I've heard timing chain guide or valves?

 

@kdroyer92 The problem turned out to be one of the lifters unfortunately; since I plan on keeping the car for a while I decided to have the repairs made. I also used 5w30 Mobil One but think I'll be switching after this.