sounds...

[brainhop]

I recently purchased a 951 that I got a really great deal, but there is clicking when the motor revs and sits idle, the owner said it was normal for german cars but it bothers me.

The car has 92K miles on it and besides the clicking it runs perfect nice pickup and pull from the turbo ect.

Is the clicking something thats normal with german cars or is this something I should be concerned with ? I always thought it was bad. But I dont know much about german cars and if they are setup differently from american cars.

If there is a problem could you provide a list of steps I could take to either minimize or completely get rid of the problem.

Thank you so much.

[Lawrence Coppari]

Fuel injectors make a clicking sound. This is normal

[brainhop]

Thanks for letting me know!

[nize]

it could also be the valves ?

[AaronM]

Define "a clicking". The ticking of the injectors was not audible in my 914, my 924S, my '89 944 (2.7 litre), nor in my current '86 951 save at idle, with the hood open, from outside the car.

If you can hear the ticking from inside the car it's most likely one of two things: Stuck hydraulic lash adjusters in the valvetrain or the beginnings of the infamous #2 rod bearing failure...

I have yet to be in any 944/924S/968 in which you could hear the injectors ticking from inside the car, nor even from outside the car with the hood closed.

[brainhop]

Well you cant really hear it with the hood closed but with the hood open you can, I took a look again to see if I could pin point where it was coming from, and it sounds like it is coming more from the valve cover than the injector housing to the right of the valve cover.

Any easy way to test if it is the valves ?

Is there anything preventive I can do that wont cost me thousands ?

Or is it basically a ticking bomb ?

[AaronM]

Originally posted by brainhop
Well you cant really hear it with the hood closed but with the hood open you can, I took a look again to see if I could pin point where it was coming from, and it sounds like it is coming more from the valve cover than the injector housing to the right of the valve cover.

Any easy way to test if it is the valves ?

Is there anything preventive I can do that wont cost me thousands ?

Or is it basically a ticking bomb ?

If you only hear it with the hood open and only without load, then it's almost certainly just the injectors.

It sounded from your first post as though you were hearing it from inside the car when driving, which is what made me think it might be something worse.

[brainhop]

with the hood open the click does raise and fall with the idle, If it is just the injectors the sound would be coming from the "grey" housing on the center of the engine right? and not near the valve cover ?

I read a post a while back about getting the engine cleaned because sometimes the internals get gunked up and that can cause a tick but I lost the post of what it said to use to clean out all of the engine "sludge"

any reccomendations ?

[AaronM]

Originally posted by brainhop
with the hood open the click does raise and fall with the idle, If it is just the injectors the sound would be coming from the "grey" housing on the center of the engine right? and not near the valve cover ?

I read a post a while back about getting the engine cleaned because sometimes the internals get gunked up and that can cause a tick but I lost the post of what it said to use to clean out all of the engine "sludge"

any reccomendations ?

These engines are port fuel injected. Not throttle body. The injectors are most definitely not in the intake plenum (the "grey housing" as you call it).

The injectors are just under the fuel rail, right by the head/valve cover.

The fuel rail is circled in this picture:

[brainhop]

thanks so much I will listen more closely and see.

[..P]

Here's my take on the ticking.

If a 944 sits up for a long time, the hydraulic valve lifters will hang up. The best solution I know of is to dump in a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Yes I know, it has a name that does not invoke credibility to those of you who have not used it, but it is a good product, and it's a wonderful product for un-sticking sticky hydraulic valve lifters.

Pour it in, run the car for a while but don't over rev the turbocharger because the MMO is a solvent and it may compromise the capability of the oil, I don't know, so I say take it easy.

Take a long handle screw driver, put your thumb over the end of it, and put your ear to your thumb. Then start probing around on the valve cover. If you get a uniform clicking everywhere, it's probably the injectors. If you get a pronounced clicking only at one part of the valve cover, it's a sticky valve lifter.

regards, P

[AaronM]

Originally posted by ..P
Here's my take on the ticking.

If a 944 sits up for a long time, the hydraulic valve lifters will hang up. The best solution I know of is to dump in a quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Yes I know, it has a name that does not invoke credibility to those of you who have not used it, but it is a good product, and it's a wonderful product for un-sticking sticky hydraulic valve lifters.

Pour it in, run the car for a while but don't over rev the turbocharger because the MMO is a solvent and it may compromise the capability of the oil, I don't know, so I say take it easy.

Take a long handle screw driver, put your thumb over the end of it, and put your ear to your thumb. Then start probing around on the valve cover. If you get a uniform clicking everywhere, it's probably the injectors. If you get a pronounced clicking only at one part of the valve cover, it's a sticky valve lifter.

regards, P

A sticking lifter will pump up after a few minutes of running time in almost all cases. Usually they have to completely collapse before they fail to pump up at all. A stuck lifter will also definitely be noticed all the time, not just when the hood is open and the engine is un-loaded.