Long story short - I have been experiencing a "tick tick tick tick" when the car is cold, regardless of outside temperature. It has been an ongoing problem but I have ignored it for a while, however, it has recently begun to bug me because I know it isn't normal.

It will happen right when I start the car and whilst the car is still idling cold, my exhaust note sounds like I have a cam, or a constant misfire, sort of like a Subaru motor. When it is warmed up, great, no noise that I can hear, exhaust note is fine, even when accelerating, everything is great. No power loss, nor MPG loss.

I know lash adjusters go out when you rev high and the car has 85,000 miles on the dot, so I think this may be the problem.

Timing chain tensioner is the new revised version
SC coupler is the ZZP one
Plugs are 1-step colder NGK Iridium

Basically this is not the common timing chain noise which has a different sound.. And likewise comes from the passenger side where the chain is located. This is coming from the driver's side - No doubt about it.

How do I check if any lash adjusters are fubar'd? I'll be going into the garage to tinker with it and if I find some which are broken I'll post back and take it from there. I just need to know how to diagnose a bad one, or one on it's way out.

Thanks

 

That is the EXACT noise. Not my car.

Cobalt Ticking - YouTube

 

have you sea foamed?

 

Yep. Half in the tank, half in the vacuum line straight to the manifold.

Didn't do a damn thing. It's more complex than that I am assuming.

 

Just trying to rule out buildup! Sounds like it's the lash adjuster, but the vid is hard to tell exatcly as it's outside the engine bay with the hood closed!

 

Upon valve cover removal, nothing is broken, out of place, etc.. Damn..

The sound in the video is 100% dead on with my car. Well, I guess I can rule out lash adjusters.

 

I found out what the problem is!!!!!! You must re-torque the exhaust manifold nuts! That is all. It is an exhaust leak. I guess GM under torqued the manifold nuts on our cars. I re-torqued them to about 130in/lbs, and no more ticking!!!! Took care of it and increased the power!!! Much nicer now.

 

I to have been experiencing this noise. I will try to re-torque the bolts and see what happens.

 

You're sh^*ing me right..?

I think I'm about to cry.. I'll try that tomorrow. I know the 2 at the end on the driver's side are a complete bitch to get to.

How in the hell did you get a torque wrench in there lol??

 

Hey dude, I remember us talking about timing stuff a while back. Well turns out all my stuff was ok! It was my rod bearings!

.... yeah.... mine was a healthy "tick" though.

Not implying that's what yours is. Just thought I would share. Words of advice: try all accessories and suggestions as above before tearing apart the front end of your motor, replacing all timing components, and taking the whole valvetrain apart.

Good luck!

 

I tightened all of the exhaust manifold bolts in sequence minus the 2 on the driver's side that are a complete bitch to get to from above and my jack is at my buddy's house so I'll get those later today.


Oddly enough I didn't hear it when I started the car this morning.. Maybe that's what it was because some of them weren't as tight as I would have liked..

 

It was not easy getting to all of them. However, It solved my problem!

 

yup i was gonna suggest that cuz i had the same problem and thought it was noisy lifters or something, and goes away when car is warm

 

Sub'd for later, my car has been making this noice for as long as I can remember on cold starts, I just began to think it was normal. That video is bang on how my car starts, Icould swear someone recorded my car and put in on youtube lol

 

Exactly I saw it and was like holy ****...

Still haven't tightened the last 2 manifold bolts on the driver's side, I need a swivel and I can't seem to find mine..... To be continued tomorrow......

 

dude, there is no way this is my problem, but this is exactly my situation, sounds exactly like a bad lifter, but i recently switched exhaust manifolds, ill have to go bad and retorque see if this fixes it. xxxsh4dowxxx please let us know if this fixes the problem

 

seafoam isent going to do ****

 

Any updates? I wanna know if this fixed it!

 

It fixed mine....

 

i dunno that doesnt sound like an exhaust tick to me, does it change with rpms?

 

my car has had a small noise like that since she had four miles on the odometer. Could be an exhaust leak, but gm motors are known for having a noise like that on cold startup. Its when your car is at operating temp that i would worry about it. hydraulic lifters sometimes need to prime a bit before they quiet down

 

^^^this. I have one just like that, it comes and goes, its the lifter, sucks but doesnt hurt anything. If I cared I would either put in my spare engine or/ take the car apart to figure out which of the 16 lifters is the clicky one.Thats about the same amount of work... I may try some GM EOS additive and see what difference it makes....

 

My tick isnt going away an stays with the rpms ... an idea?

 

That was it, it fixed my problem, one of my manifold bolts was finger tight, I torqued them all back down and gone

 

Perfect, gonna do this up on saturday then! Got nothing to lose.. even if it doesn't work, at least I'll know my exhaust mani is on tight lol