The three noise I have, which one doesnt belong.

1.)"tchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtchtcht ch..."


2.)"tick------tick------tick------tick------tick------tick...."


3.)(muffled) "da da da da da da da da da"


sounds kinda like this youtube video. Chain tensioner was brought up but I havent a clue what that sounds like when it goes.
Cobalt SS Engine ticking noise. - YouTube
With the volume up kinda of loud you can kinda hear it in the background noise behind the fuel pump and oil pump noises.

I noticed it the other day jump starting someones car.. Its really not that loud and I cant hear it from inside the car, only with the hood up.

 

I listened a few times and don't hear anything weird.

 

sure its not the direct injection youre hearing.. ah f it you have 7500 posts u know about that

 

no it aint that I have a feeling its a timing chain tensioner. I was pretty sure somebody made a thread about that on here for the LNF like in that video but I cant find that thread. Was curious if it ever got fixed and if that was definately the issue.

In that video it is soo quiet that if you dont know what it sounds like in person you probably wont notice it in that video even with the volume turned up. I can hear it faintly in that video, which is what that guy was trying to point out to everyone. It is soo quiet compared to the fuel pump and oil pump noises thats for sure. its coming from inside either the valvetrain or slightly to the left near cylinder #1.

 

1st 2 sounds have to do with the DI, but I have no idea what that third one is. Can't say that mine makes that noise.

 

I will also note the car runs strong either way. With the BYT tune on it also runs strong with no "pink elephants in the room". Everything seems normal. I have some Seafoam that I will use when I get near the oil change mark. I've never seafoamed before but I dont think that has anything to do with this.

 

That sounds a LOT like a timing chain. Does it sound like it comes from that side of the engine bay? Put your hand on the valve cover (not for long lol) and see if you can feel the chain hitting the valve cover at all. Also as a good way to hear how the engine spy ds internally, gets really long socket extension, put it on different parts of the engine, and put your ear up tO the end to see how it sounds

 

This. There's a reason I've got a 24" long 3/8" extension in my toolbox.

 

fify

 

Could be the far left lash adjuster. My car seized up a lash adjuster and eventually blew the roller off the rocker. Thats what it sounds like to me...either that or your timing chain.

 

Also put your ear near the purge valve solenoid. Mine makes a ridiculously loud tick and its brand new.

 

that is the purge valve, had a problem with mine recently and it took a ****, had a hard start when filling up. but the noise itself is normal mine still makes some noise

 

i made that video ur talking about, and my noise is different from the one in this vid. mine is still not fixed, my car is slowly going back to stock and giving it time so dealer forgets he say meth i used to have in there, even though i used like one tank, they were still scared to work on it due to trying to avoid voiding my warrenty cause of it.

 

completely normal. all of our cars do that when it idles. i believe its the direct injection or something but either way you are fine nothing to worry about.
Or at least i hope its normal because my car ticks as well at idle lol

 

this isn't that noise, it's something completely different. He's been around long enough to know what the engine is SUPPOSED to sound like

 

I had a slight tick like that. it got worse over time. Ended up being the chain guide on the intake side. I guess when the noise was faint, the guide had barely come loose(small stress fracture) and over time it finally snapped and I could def tell that there was an issue LOL

I just replaced it this weekend and I had to modify my tensioner as the oring thats in there to hold hydraulic pressure(oil) was torn allowing the oil to seep causing chain slap on cold start sometimes, which I think is what caused the guide to fracture and over time snap as it did.

 

sorry man, it was hard to tell in the video. i didnt know this was an ongoing issue. i thought he was just talking about the normal small ticking noise
actually...i just turned the volume way up on the vid and can hear that weird noise. in that case...not normal lol

 

This is exactly what I was thinking. Whats the easiest way to get in there and check it out? Just start taking stuff off? lol. is there anything I need to be careful with? does that timing chain cover come off fairly easily? I think based on some schematics of ecotec motors I looked at, the tensioner is located towards the exhaust cam side on the passenger side of the motor (obviously) and it looks like a small metal *****. Its above the chain guide right?

My next question is, what could be the possible root cause for this to happen? Tune? I wouldnt think so.

If this breaks, the consequences maybe the chain skipping teeth and causing valves to be moving at the wrong intervals resulting in bent valves and damaged pistons so it is a serious issue.

 

I just got mine replaced under warranty not too long ago. It doesnt sound like its coming from there. More like a noise under the valve cover. I was worried it was a lash adjuster/rocker issue. but it kinda feels like its a chain guide/tensioner by the way the sound is.

Will also note that I dont keep the tune on the car all the time. I leave the factory tune on always unless going to an event or with some car folk. The car is babied always. no high rpm **** taking tire smoking happening here. Its a DD and is treated as such. Im at 60,000 miles.

 

at 60,000 miles this might just be something that happened. I've seen cars with less miles have the same issue. It's probably not your tune the part probably just wore out prematurely.

 

Yeah, mine is only at 41k and this happened. The root cause, if this is your issue as it was mine, is the tensioner. The seal inside tears, aleading to the failure I described above.

The timing cover is not easy to mess with. You have to remove the belt, the belt tensioner, engine mount and the engine mount bracket, the passenger wheel, the plastic that covers the area in front of the timing cover and the balancer. Ive done it enough times already to where I have it apart in a few hours. But, the easy way to check is pop the VC off and use a flashlight to check down in there. Its hard to see if the guide is broken, unless it was like mine....in pieces LOL

Here you go. Exploded view of the area:
http://www.crateenginedepot.com/stor..._Tensioner.pdf
My tensioner:


Piston from inside the tensioner:


Carnage:


Now, this is just what happened to me. Is this your issue? I dont know, just sharing my experience. For some reason, my engine is killing tensioners. Is it just bad luck that Ive had three tensioners all go bad like this in the past year? I have no clue. After taking this one apart and seeing the torn seal, I checked the other two and they both were the same. Why do my seals break? Its a mystery to me. What I did is I replaced that seal with a thicker o-ring from a metric o-ring kit and used a tiny bit of RTV to make sure that **** stays sealed this time and prevent another issue from happening. Oh, I still use M1 5w30 although this last time around I was on the new RP HPS also 5w30.

 

that first sound in the first 6 seconds sounds like my car, but 100 times louder. then after the 6 second mark. sounds like my car. nothing strange that i hear.

 

I think there might be alot of people with this issue and they dont know it I will see if I can get it warrantied. I will take the K&N intake off and put the stocker back on and visit my local dealership. The only other parts I will leave in cause I dont think they should care or point out as the probable cause is the ZZP upper CP, the catted DP (dont even think they will notice it), TR8 intercooler, Forge BPV (dont think they will notice that either). Also the Short throw shifter and Aeroforce interceptor guage, if they try and tell me thats the problem, im going to stop by a nursery and pick up some babys and throw them at the shop manager.

 

That might be just a tad drastic

 

Fixed!