Ticking Sound on top of engine...
 

Being new to Nissan engines...is this normal? I can really hear it going through drive-throughs and stuff. Sorry for the noob question :) First car I own that sounds like that.

You mean after you turn the car off you can hear it from the outside and not from the cockpit? It's normal, there is a LOT of heat under the hood. Nothing to worry about, my g37 did it too.

Nope, while its running.

Its not very loud. Almost sounds like lifters. Just curious.

injectors?
tick tick tick tick? really fast?

very normal. You mentioned drive thru so I'm assuming after driving for a while when you stop, it's normal to hear the ticking. Previous Z did it as well.

Ever figure out what it is?

throttle body?

Yep.

I just noticed this sound two days ago!
 

I don't think it came from the top of the engine(at least not my Z). Mine came from the underside of the car (around cat area-both side). It's a constant ticking noise (exactly the same noise you get when you park your car after driving). You CANNOT hear this noise while driving or even in intersections but when you idle the car in your garage or a quiet area (after driving for at least half an hour), you will notice the sound. Not sure what it is. Doesn't affect the performance of the car in any way. I'll take a video tomorrow.

NO. :(

My previous LS1 and my new VQ37VHR are both a little noisy, and both became even moreso with aftermarket intakes that get rid of the factory sound baffling. You're probably hearing 'normal' valvetrain noise. Slight ticking/clicking, frequency changes with engine RPMs. Normally don't notice it driving, but you'll hear it in a garage or drive-through because it echoes off the nearby wall back into your window.

I agree with the people who said its probably the injectors, they do make an audible ticking noise. My 300Zx does it, my 350Z did it. haven't noticed it on my 370 but probably does it too.

Yeah what I'm referring to as valvetrain noise above could easily be injectors too. I don't know what it is honestly, but I hear it and it's normal :)

Injectors
 

Injectors for sure. Have had the same noise with every Nissan I have owned. The only car I didnt here it in had an RB26 bored to 2.8 ltr with huge cams. The rugged idle of the car covered the injector noise.

So its very significant. If the noise changes for you without any moderate or high powerplant mods...........check it out before something expensive goes wrong. Drive your car every once in a while with no stereo on so you can get used to the normal noises of the car. Helps you in the long run with early troubleshooting to diagnose what may end up being costly repairs.

I have NO ticking noise from engine area. But, after driving more than half hour (meaning cats are fully warmed up), I get a little ticking noise. I am certain it's NOT engine or injector related. It's coming from cat or exhaust area. Camera was placed RIGHT under left cat, car idling.

VIDEO
YouTube - MOV01759

popcorn?

Wow, I don't know wtf that is. Can you hear that just standing next to the car, without shoving a camera up by the cat?

The sounds I've been talking about are just subtle repetitive ticks, like a metronome synchronized click-track, that are completely stable (at a given rpm). What you've recorded is something very scratchy and erratic...

:icon17:

It's the EXACT ticking sound you get when you park your car in the garage after driving for a while (engine off). But this one is audible with the engine on, right under the cats. if it helps, tomorrow I can take two videos at the same time with one camera under Left and one under right cat. Next time drive your car for a while. When you come home, instead of turning the car off, go outside and look under the cats. See if you hear anything and report back please. thanks.

To answer your question, YES you can hear it up to 2 feet away from car(if it's really quiet out) . Am I overreacting?

Re: after the car is turned off, you're talking about the usual ticking from metal contracting as the car cools off? That video doesn't sound anything like that to me. But metal contracting/expanding and making that characteristic sound is normal even when the engine is running as the temps of the components change.

the only thing i can think of is when you let the engine idle it starts to cool down the converter due to less exaust passing through(obviously lol) and then maybe the components inside and the heat sheild maybe contracting a bit, i don't get how this would make the sound on your video but thats the only explanation i could come up with, i did a search on google and wikipedia and other sites and read some stuff of catalytic converters (i'm kinda bored at the moment) but came up empty handed other than a thread on a cadillac forum of a guy describing the exact same thign as you and they seemed to think it was just the cooling off of the components as well but no one could say for sure so who knows.

edit: wstar beat me to it and said basically the same thing lol :rolleyes:

Thank you both. I think it makes sense. It's probably cats cooling down as there's less hot air passing through them. BTW, I just realized this thread is for ticking noise from the engine. Sorry OP if I cluttered this thread up :o.

That sounds more like something is rattling or something metalic rubbing against something, not ticking.

My cousins g37 does it. My 08 altima 3.5 does it. My sister in laws maxima does it.
So I just think its most likely a VQ characteristic.

If it makes you feel any better, I have exactly the same sound coming from the under side of my Z. I'm going to have it checked at my next service along with my intermittent trunk not opening and condensation in the tail light.

Rudi.

Those are normal sounds AK. My car does it as well. Don't worry about it.

heatshield from headers maybe? lol it's just a guess

Nothing to worry about its either the lifters ticking or the injectors and if you hear it after you have driven it and parked it is the exhaust cooling and contracting.

Wow that is weird, it could be anything, I would take it in to your dealer ASAP.

My opinion would be, it sounds like leaky exhaust system, because my old 280zx
made similar sounds, I had it check out & the muffler guy found a small hole in exhaust pipe after the cat. In you case it could be either defective seals or if you ran over something it may have puncture a small hole somewhere in the syst.
Let us know the updates,

Znism11

time bomb?
call the bomb squad!

:iagree: it's most likely exhaust/cat converter cooling and contracting.

I get the exact same sound after the car has warmed up and it is clearly audible from inside the Z while driving if you listen for it.

Its the injectors. Every car does it, nissan is just a lot louder then others.

I've heard the same sound from my 370 in the garage. I've only owned it for a week and it has 4.5K on it.

Gotta be the injectors. While at the track after each session I would pop the hood and let the car run for awhile and you could really hear it when you put your head close to the windshield outside the car. Thing was ticking like a time bomb lol

Hey guys,

I'm getting a ticking sound too. I've only really notice it since the berk HFC's

Happens when my car is at idle.

It sounds like it's coming from the HFC area.

It happens like this. Tick tick tick tick normal normal normal normal tick tick tick.

However the hotter the engine gets the faster and less loud the ticks are.

My car has only done 900km.

I'm not sure if theres a issue with the cat's or its the VVL system ticking over.

I'm with EVL370. The VVL system, or just the valvetrain in general. My '09 FX35 doesn't make the noise, so I'm thinking it's something with the infinitely variable system on the VQ37 vs. VQ35HR. I really believe that's why Nissan would like us using the Nissan Ester Oil. It must diminish that sound, though I've been using it since day 1, have 16,300 miles, and I still hear it at idle. Tick tick tick tick... One tick per revolution. It's a little noisy from the outside, but she runs just fine. I'm not worried.

I believe this is what the OP could be talking about. AK, I have the ticking cats as well. The 370 is a machine of its own. With all of the noises, everything still works the way it was designed from what I have gathered so far.

I don't ever hear this ticking noise, no matter how hard I drive my Benz. I don't hear it when I drive Bimmers either.

Well my car hasn't had its first service yet. So its got the factory Ester oil in it.

I might pull off the right side cat and have a look. Atleast the ticking sound goes away as the revs climb.

Just the ticking comes from a weird spot. Between the right side cat and the transmission.

I have 1600 miles on my 2010. I am getting a ticking sound when I go over 4KRPM.

It's only between 4K and 5K RPM.. Anyone have this? It's coming from top of the Engine

hey guys since i got my car in 2009, i have been researching this issue all over the planet because the noise really bugs me sometimes. its the LIFTERS by the way. here is the best answer that makes sense an expert told me:

""This is not normal, but it does happen. It's the lifters, 100 % positive on that one. You will distinctively tell the difference between a rod knock and a lifter. A rod knock will most definitely cause your car to run like sh*t as well.

Anyhow, let's go about ways to solve the issue if you want the noise to go away.

A: Run the car at 2000 rpm's for 10 minutes. This acts as a "bleeding" method to the lifters to get the air out of them. This should have been done right when the engine was started the first time.

B: Most of the time, in your case, people who run the car for as long as it has without bleeding them will have to literally take the lifters out of the car, take them apart and soak it in fresh oil. Putting them back together and making sure they don't flip upside-down to let air in and reinstall them will ensure the noise to go away after they are bled using method A once the engine is first started up after re-installation.

Again, this is NOT normal, it just so happens the fallacy of people countlessly repeating it's normal has stuck. I'm not saying you have to do this or your engine will fail from a valve seizing from a failed lifter, because lifters ticking like yours is not a big deal.

Sometimes you just can't do anything about it as they will always tick no matter what you do, but most of the time this is solvable using the above methods, but people are lazy/don't want to take the engine apart (or know how to).

So if it bugs you enough, it's time to take those rocker covers off. Good luck.""

ps... im not going to take my engine apart just for this bull crap noise! ill just deal with it since it doesnt mess with the performance! i wonder if the GT-R has the same problem...

OP: can you take it to the dealer?