I have been getting a really light ticking noise from the engine since I bought the car a little over a year ago. The car doesn't lose any oil, performs great, and has been run on a dyno with normal results for a stock C5.

I was reading around trying to figure out what might be causing it (I revisit the issue now and again) and came across a video with a ticking noise that sounds EXACTLY like mine.

The noise is really pretty quiet, but you can hear it well enough from inside the car. It speeds up and down with engine rpm, and reminds me of a baseball card stuck in the spokes of a bicycle. As I said before, I notice absolutely nothing wrong other than this and am having NO performance issues. I've been running the car like this for a little over a year now with still no issues other than the light ticking noise, and that's with many "spirited" drives.

Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJYX2OfTRQY

What do you guys think? Should I be worried about this?

 

Well I'm not going to claim to be an expert, but that sounds like you are missing a chunk of the belt. The tick speeds up with the RPM. I had that happen on my DD, there was a 1 inch piece of the belt groove missing. Replace the belt, tick gone.

Good luck.

-KOZ

 

Belt is in absolutely perfect condition. At least that is what I have been seeing every time I've checked it. It sounds like it's coming from directly underneath the valve covers.

I'm getting a squealing noise from my belt now, but that just started a few months ago. As I mentioned, visually...the belt is in absolutely perfect condition. I believe the problem there is the tensioner. I rarely drive the car, so I haven't had a chance to address it yet.


Anyway, back to the ticking. I'm 100% certain it's not the belt, it's just like the video I showed. EXACTLY like that. It's coming from under the valve covers.

 

Mine ticks, but not nearly that loud or hollow sounding (can't think of a good way to describe). Chunked belts generally come at a lower frequency because the defect is crossing something and the belt is long. So instead of tick, tick, tick, you hear tick, pause, tick, pause etc. You might use a stethescope to narrow down the location (or long screwdriver or the like - be careful!). The frequency of that video sounds to me like a lifter or maybe noisey injector. And I have heard ignition spark that was similar (like a bad wire or poor connection between the wire and plug - the electicity jumps creating a spark and noise).

 

Sounds to me like it could possibly be an exhaust leak.

 

Injector tick.

 

Sounds like a hydraulic lifter sticking to me?

 

And this is why I've left it alone for the last year. Nobody has any clue whatsoever what could be the problem.

I could take it in to a dealer I guess, but I don't want to fork out money constantly for the tech to do some lame trial and error process because he also had no idea what was causing the noise.

What's a guy to do to actually get someone that know's what's going on or some advice on where to start?

How do I begin to narrow down what the issue may be or whether it's nothing at all?

 

That's a pretty loud tick on that Camaro recording.
If you have a stock cam, and you can hear the tick inside the car with the windows up, then it's not normal.

It is definitely 1/2 engine speed, indicating it's probably in the valve train. Sounds like a lifter, or broken spring, or bad rocker arm to me.

Another likely suspect could be piston slap,(but that should go away when the engine warms up, and the recording you attached doesn't really sound like slap I have heard).

Maybe you should isolate it further, before pulling a valve cover.
- take the belts off and run the engine for a few seconds, just to be sure it's not a belt or a pulley. A cracked pulley can really tick.
- buy a cheap stethascope and listen carefully around the valve covers, etc. Try to isolate which side it's coming from, and general location.
- If you cannot tell which valve cover it's coming from, it "might" be the infamous oil-pump o-ring. I don't have any direct experience with this sound, so I'll defer to others with more knowledge. but I would assume you should be able to press the stethascope to the pan behind the crank pulley and locate the sound if that's it.

Hopefully, you can isolate the sound to one side of the engine or the other, that just about definitely indicates valve train.
- Then, disconnect the coil packs on that entire side - if the noise stops, it could very well be an exhaust leak. Not likely though, as an exhaust leak usually gets worse over time, and often quiets down as the engine warms up and expands.
- disconnect one injector at a time on the offending side, and listen for differences. Or use the stethascope on each injector (they all click a bit).
- unhook the purge valve wire that lies along the left valve cover (I heard they sometimes tick, but have no direct experience here).

If all this fails, try your best to locate the sound in the front or the back of the valve cover, then pull the cover.
- look for obvious things, like a loose rocker or broken spring.
If you turn the engine over, you can get each rocker in the unloaded position and wiggle them around to see if there is anything unusual.
The stock rockers sometimes shell the bearings.
- If you still don't find it, and have somewhat isolated the general area where the tick is emamnating, you can get really serious:
- You can remove both rocker arms on the suspected cylinder entirely, pull the plug wires and injector wires, replace the valve cover, turn the engine a few revolutions with the starter, to move the lifter off the cam - then crank it up and listen.
That's one sure way to isolate the offending lifter or rocker.

Good luck,
DG

 

You've had this problem for a year? I would not even drive the car with a noise like that, especially if I did not know what it was. If you do not feel comfortable ( or have the expertise) to trouble shoot the problem, and do not have a mechanic you can trust, try hooking up with a local forum member who can help you.

It does make it hard to get you help when you don't fill out your sig.....

 

I'm not sure how comfortable I feel doing most of that since I have 0 experience taking most of that stuff apart, but I'll definitely see what I can do to narrow it down to one side or the other...assuming it truly is valve train noise.

I'm also going to make my own video and slap it on here. The ticking that I hear is nowhere even close to as loud as that, it just sounds similar and behaves the same way.

 

Well, that's good to hear; that Camaro was not something I would drive at all. I have a very slight tick in mine after I installed the cam, but that is very common, and we don't worry about it.
Again, if you can distinctively hear the tick at idle with the windows up, it's not normal on a stock car.
If you're not comfortable removing valve covers, you can still do the basics. go ahead and pop for a mechanic's stethascope, they are pretty cheap. Then if you can isolate the noise to one area, you can talk knowledgeably to a mechanic, and give us more to go on.

Thinking a bit more about it: if you have had it for a year, it's probably not:
- broken spring - they get worse in a hurry, and REALLY loud.
- rocker arm needle bearings - that would likely get worse also.
- exhaust leak - that would probably also get worse over a year's time.

So, ya probably have a lifter sticking a bit. You might do a search here on pour-in cleaners like Seafoam or BP. lots of the guys here have used them and reported no ill effects. Easiest thing you could try. just be sure to change the oil pretty soon after using any internal cleaning.
product.

DG

 

Piston slap?

 

I can hear it well enough with the radio off and the windows up while driving down the road. It's easily heard in that scenario, and actually quite annoying as well.

I'll see what I can do about taking a look at it this afternoon and capturing a video.

 

Still sounds like a sticking lifter to me. Some good advice from others here.

If you cannot get quick access to a Stethoscope, I used to use a short piece of garden hose to diagnose which cylinder was clicking (just make sure you don't get carried away and stick the other end in the fan belt or something).

A sticking lifter can sometimes get better and worse unless it is really stuck and then it clicks all the time. If that is all that it is, then you might try some type of flush in the oil (like Seafoam), but I would not leave it in for an extended period (personally) - you will know within a few minutes to an hour if it cleared up the issue (usually). If it is a lifter and it still does not release, then it is probably no longer rotating in the bore (and probably not sending oil up the push rod either). That needs to be fixed.

Piston slap usually sounds more like a "rattle" than a "click" to me.

 

Would I notice a decrease in power or performance if a lifter was sticking?


Didn't get a chance to make a video today, will do so when I can and update the thread.

 

Doesn't sound like piston slap. Also, if it was it would go away after the engine was up to temp. I thought piston slap when I read the post, but after hearing the vid I don't think it is.

 

It would also help if you filled out your Forum Profile (car year, mileage, etc.)

To answer your question regarding decreased power/performance... this would generally depend on the cause of the lifter sticking. If it is just some garbage stuck between the pushrod and lifter that is one thing, another problem is that the valve inside the lifter sometimes gets stuck in the down position, in the worst case either there is excessive wear on the bottom of the lifter or cam lobe causing slack in that particular valve train. Most of the time you would not "notice" a significant performance decrease with one lifter out of 16 messing up , but you may have gotten used to the reduced performance.

No matter what the cause, it needs to be looked at and fixed.

Does it click ALL THE TIME? (Startup, warmup, slow speed, acceleration, above 40 mph?)

 

How many miles does that camaro have? If it has near 100k I would pull the covers and see if ya spit the needle bearings out of a rocker. It also could be a bent pushrod. I would say pull the valve covers and you will probably find the problem

 

Early version C5s had a habit of losing needle rollers in the rocker arms. My '99 had a bad rocker that when removing the valve cover, you could see that is just wasn't "square" with the valve stem & push rod.

If you have a magnetic drain plug, you would see those little roller bearings.