I have had a, 'tick tick tick tick tick tick' coming from my engine ever since i baught this car in december and I cannot figure out what it is! I thought it was maybe the valves since i have a 92 (Pre-VANOS) m50 engine... but people have told me that I still dont need to adjust my valves? is this accurate? Another person told me to use a really heavy weight oil, What do you guys suggest? I think it may be a lifter, if so what methods are used to cure this? I have heard of a method with auto tranny fluid being poured in with the oil, let run, then drain..but I'm not sure if that is correct and I wouldn't want to fuck anything up..

is it a loud tick or really subtle? you know your injectors do some ticking too?

Your engine has hydraulic cam followers so there is no manual adjustment available. You could have a collapsed follower that will require replacement.

Is the noise a solid knock or a lighter tick?

The ATF thing is meant to be a cleanup thing. ATF has a lot of detergent/anti varnish agents in it. I wouldn't hurt anything. Assuming that the lifter is ticking due to poor oil supply that may help. You could also try different weights of oil to see if it helps. If none of those help then try an engine flush. If that still does not work then you will have to replace the lifter.

Is an engine flush safe to do on a high mileage engine? I have 146k miles on it...

It's a fairly heavy tick... I cannot hear it when driving, but as soon as i park i can hear it.. so it's not TOOOOO loud...

Mine does the same...

I have the same but its really loud. Mine is a bent valve tho :(

Are you sure its not your flywheel making that noise, if your cars a manual next time you check for the noise and its making the noise push in the clutch and then release to see if you can hear stop and then come back.

I have that ticking to... mine is really light, and I can't figure out where it is comming from. I wan't to get rid of it

I seem to remember reading a thread awhile back about an additive for your bimmer's oil which silenced the ticking of the vanos/injectors. Try doing a search for it -- I remember the product the guy was talking about was purchased at pet boys. I can seem to find it, but I'm sure it is there.

That thread can be found at:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148562

I have that problem too, ill pick up a bottle of that stuff when I get my car back, thx for the help.

My car started doing that on Sunday after I Auto X raced it. One of the guys there who does this a lot said to hold the RPM's steady at 2500-3000 till it goes away. I did this and it went away. He told me what happens is the oil pump gets air in it and pumps air into the lifter. You can first let the car sit and idle till it goes away and if it doesn't then you do what i said above. He said sometimes the oil pump doesn't have enough pressure at idle to force the air out and that is why you have to hold the RPM's steady up around the 2500-3000 range. He said to prevent it run an extra 1/2 qt. of oil in your car. I ran my car 4 times on the track and it did it after every run and this fixed it after every run also.

my car started ticking like this a few weeks ago. i brought it in for the routine oil change and it was gone. when i asked them about it they said it was jsut from the dirty oil...

There are many causes for ticking noises - could be injectors, valves, lifters, timing chain, exhaust leak, plug wires (if your car has them), coils, loose plug, rattling heat shield, something loose on the engine, etc., etc., etc. First thing to do is to try to isolate the noise. Stick your head under the hood, listen to the left side of the engine, the right side, the front, and the back. Try to figure out which quadrant the noise is coming from. Get a mechanic's stethescope (or you can use a long screwdriver with the handle against your head) and start poking around in that quadrant until you find the place where the noise is the loudest. Naturally, be careful not to poke into anything that's moving - having your stethescope caught by a fan belt can ruin your day. Try to figure out the frequency of the noise - is it erratic or regular? How many times per second? How does it vary with RPM?

Once you do this, you should be able to get a fairly good clue about what's actually making the noise. Then, you can either figure out the fix, or ask the right questions. Shotgunning problems like this by just randomly trying whatever people suggest is rarely the right solution....

Jim

My car started doing that on Sunday after I Auto X raced it. One of the guys there who does this a lot said to hold the RPM's steady at 2500-3000 till it goes away. I did this and it went away. He told me what happens is the oil pump gets air in it and pumps air into the lifter. You can first let the car sit and idle till it goes away and if it doesn't then you do what i said above. He said sometimes the oil pump doesn't have enough pressure at idle to force the air out and that is why you have to hold the RPM's steady up around the 2500-3000 range. He said to prevent it run an extra 1/2 qt. of oil in your car. I ran my car 4 times on the track and it did it after every run and this fixed it after every run also.

I'm going to try this! I have a 97 M3 as well. I took a huge trip from Orange County up to silicon valley and back. PCH all the way back - 12 and 1/2 hours. Anyway I drove that poor bastard HARD. Got it up to 120 mph a couple times, lots of downshifting on big hills, hard breaking.... you know drove it like the M3 it is! and it's been tick-tick-tick-ticking ever since. I tried the CD-2 stuff and..... nothing. But it's about 500 miles overdue for an oil change, so maybe just doing that would take care of it too! It wasn't doing this when I bought it (10,000 miles ago)

Does it vary with RPM's? If not, check your charcoal canister. Mine was faulty and since replacing it the tick noise has gone away.
-Strapp

Mine does the same, when rpm gets higher the ticking is faster.
I did my oil change 4 000 miles ago, should I change it again and put thicker oil ? I'm probably gonna try to put 1/2 of a quart of oil today.

What is strange is that sometime the engine doesn't tick and sometime it comes back.

if i had to guess, if it stops when you press in the clutch, its probably the throwout bearing...thats a common one

I just recently used the AMSoil engine flush for my car, I switched to 0W-30 and thought the engine flush did a good job. Put a new filter in it when you do the flush as it will clean a lot out. Drain it, put another new filter in with the oil. Should help with a problem.

wayne

most e36's(the 6 cyl. versions) are known to have this problem. Sometimes just adding a bit more oil does the trick. The constant rev at 2500 also works.

I just recently used the AMSoil engine flush for my car, I switched to 0W-30 and thought the engine flush did a good job. Put a new filter in it when you do the flush as it will clean a lot out. Drain it, put another new filter in with the oil. Should help with a problem.

wayne

Synthetic oil is not necessary after flush is it?

And where can it be purchased?

I'm going to try this! I have a 97 M3 as well. I took a huge trip from Orange County up to silicon valley and back. PCH all the way back - 12 and 1/2 hours. Anyway I drove that poor bastard HARD. Got it up to 120 mph a couple times, lots of downshifting on big hills, hard breaking.... you know drove it like the M3 it is! and it's been tick-tick-tick-ticking ever since. I tried the CD-2 stuff and..... nothing. But it's about 500 miles overdue for an oil change, so maybe just doing that would take care of it too! It wasn't doing this when I bought it (10,000 miles ago)

Turns out the CD-2 did work. I just hadn't left it in long enough. After about 200 - 250 miles the ticking completely stopped. Good stuff!

Turns out the CD-2 did work. I just hadn't left it in long enough. After about 200 - 250 miles the ticking completely stopped. Good stuff!

Do you need to put the cd2 and then drive it for like 500 miles and then do an oil change or just put it in without changing the oil (in other words use it like a additive) ?

I would like to try that, but I think it's one of my lifters that sticks.