Hey guys,

Just noticed my engine has a very loud ticking noise coming from the engine bay till the cars warms up.

It usually has a "quiet" tick when cold but noticed it was pretty loud when i started it up and could hear it when driving down the street....


Any idea what could be the cause of this?

Stop motor and restart 20 seconds later. If tick is gone is pre tensioner

Tick is still there after trying, with engine slightly warm

Checked your oil recently?

Possibly Hydraulic Tappets are either getting a bit wide in the gap, your oil is low or needs a change, or your engine just doesn't like the oil in it.

The Gap - when replacing the timing belt in my old car I turned the cam the wrong way - just like they say not to in the manual - and forever after that had a tap tap tap on startup on 10/40 oil.

Low or Bad oil - if the oil isn't thick enough (or not there if oil is low) it won't hold pressure and metal on metal will tick tick tick

And oil grade - I think most cars had 10/40 oil when new but I found after 300,000Km I needed 20/50 or even 20/60 or Tick Tick from the valve at cold start.