Ticking sound on engine

[Tahirh121]

Hi Guys - recently I have noticed that my engine makes a ticking noise when I start it up. This usually happens first thing in the morning or after the car has been standing still (switched off) for a long while.

Its the type of sound you get when you have no oil in your car. Tappet sound? not sure but doesnt sound good.
It normally ticks for a around 3-4 seconds and then goes quiet.
But this morning it lasted about 5 mintues....and then went quiet again.

Funny thing is that it doesnt do it when the car is warm ...only on a cold start.

I use GTX Magnatec and the car was last serviced about 2 months ago - oil / oil filter etc.
The car has the correct amount of oil as well.

The engine is the 2 litre 6 cylinder 24v engine with only 85k on the clock. I have checked with a few friends who have the same engine and they can confirm that they dont have this problem.


HELP!

[Jeron]

This could be caused by oil draining from the oil filter housing back into the pan. There is a small o-ring at the bottom of the oil filter cap bolt that should be replaced during every oil change. This o-ring comes with the filter kit and is a seal at the bottom of the oil filter housing. The reason you get the noise is that the housing has to fill with oil before it reaches the engine. You should notice that your oil pressure light is on while it is making noise.

You can verify drain back by the following:

Run the engine with the hood up . The oil should be hot.
Turn it off and immediately get out and pull the dip stick and note the level.
Wait at least 5 minutes and check it again.
When I had a drain back problem I think the difference was about 3/4 to 1 qt.
Now that it is fixed I think my drain back is less than 1/4 qt which is normal.

My drain back problem was actually caused by a broken bypass valve. At the bottom of the oil filter housing there are two bypass valves about the size of a quarter.and one of mine bad snapped off.

Once the problem is fixed it should take less than 1.5 seconds for the oil pressure light to go out.

[Wayne 962]

Good advice. The ticking is the lifters - they make that sound if they don't have enough oil. Generally, it's not a problem - some people have sticky lifters that make that sound all of the time. It's not great, but it's not going to blow up your engine either...

-Wayne