Should you be worried about a ticking noise in your engine? It’s possible, or maybe it’s not. There are a few reasons for that noise.
It can be natural or down to failed car parts associated with the engine. An engine works together with other parts and can make clicking noises.
Some noises should be of great concern to you but others, shouldn’t bother you. You will mostly hear the clicking noises rolling on the road, during acceleration, when idling or starting up the vehicle.
So let me walk you through some of the causes and fixes of clicking noise in the engine.
Why My Car Engine Makes A Ticking Or Clicking Noise?
First things first – be sure you know there are reciprocating and rotating engine parts. And that the reciprocating parts might be the culprit of the clicking sound you’re hearing in most occasions.
The rotating parts such as bad bearings and other bad accessories might also be the source. This is because they produce whining sounds since they keep on rotating.
Reciprocating engine parts on the other hand usually make the clicking, clunking or ratcheting sounds as they move. Rods, pistons, valves, rocker arm, and pushrods may be mentioned examples of reciprocating parts.
Another thing that takes a large part in the role of causing the noise is the engine oil. It works with many of the reciprocating and rotating parts. So, in most situations, if at anything goes wrong with it, it has a larger tendency of affecting some of the engine accessories it drives. Since these components are affected, the whole engine is equally affected too.
Now that we know which components are likely to make such sounds, it’s left for our thoughts to lead us to where to check first.
Knowing where the noise is coming from will guide us on how to get rid tick noise in the engine. But you can do well to check the rotating parts to be sure of where the sound emanates from.
Causes Of Engine Ticking Noise
Here are some reasons why your engine is ticking.
#1. Normally Ticking Sound.
Apart from the ticks from your engine, it could be a normal part of its design, or the wear that comes with usage. Below are some examples of ticking that should not worry you.
- If your car uses fuel injectors, there might be ticks that sound like the injectors firing. Fuel injectors are movable electric valves. They open and close quickly to allow the right quantity of fuel into the combustion chamber.
In a lot of vehicles, you will hear a noise when as the injectors open and close when the engine is idle. The sound is like that from a pointed pencil hitting on a table in a melodious way. You wouldn’t hear this kind of sound if you have faulty fuel injectors.
- A tick you shouldn’t worry about could be from your exhaust manifold leak. A click or a tick is heard as high fume leaves the crack in the manifold, or leak from the exhaust.
- This mostly happen when the engine is idling or the engine is at low rpm. While this tick is not dangerous, you should fix it in good time. This is in order to keep the exhaust fume where it is meant to be.
- The ticking noise could be from your purge valve. The job of the purge valve is to release fume that is stuck in the intake system of the engine to burn off. You feel the affirmation of this function as it could tick on doing so.
- The sound could also be from PCV valve, especially if the valves are old. So change your old PCV valve to avoid this kind of noise.
- Fuel pumps tend to make a clicking noise each time it comes on like electrical fuel pumps when it starts. A bad fuel pump is when it doesn’t engage each time you’re starting the car.
- You might hear a tick sound in the engine when starting up cold. It could be from valves, piston, or clearance from the cylinder wall. As you continue driving, the engine warms up and the noise disappears.
#2. Misadjusted Valves.
The valve could be misadjust too, and cause valve ticking noise in engine. An engine comes with an intake and exhaust that helps brings air in and out of the combustion chambers.
There’s a component called a rocker arm that aids in opening and closing the valves. The rocker arm is then controlled by the camshaft pushrods, which need to be at a precise distance from the valves.
The valves open and close twice as your engine turns and moves at a short distance and time. You will hear a clicking sound if the valves do not open and close at the appropriate time and distance
#3. Faulty Lifters.
The cylinder head of your engine makes use of different lifters to open and close the throttling engine valves. In the course of time, they wear out, thus causing a ticking noise in engine when idle and accelerating.
#4. Filter Spacing issues.
The filter goes in between your pushrod and a camshaft. There will be problems if the space between the three components is too loose or tight. If the space is too loose, the components will not make sufficient contact, that would make the ticking noise.
As your car runs, engine heat causes valve stem to expand. If the space is too tight, the lifter would not have enough space to open it out to accommodate stem expansion. Therefore, it’ll make the engine tick.
#5. Low Engine Fluid.
Sometimes, you could hear ticking noise in engine when starting, idling, or accelerating. That could be due to some parts of your engine not being lubricated properly due to low engine oil.
Improper lubrication of an engine valve train components could also lead to engine ticking noise, and the engine experiencing loss of power.
#6. Not Using the Right Oil.
Your car comes up with oil recommendation that’s best for that specific model. Some car oils are good for summer, while some are for winter; as such, you must know which to use.
If you, therefore, use the wrong engine oil, that will make your engine a ticking time bomb!
#7. Oil Filter Issues.
Filters ensure that dirt and others do not enter the engine oil. Should your oil filter become bad, then dirt will be in there and contaminate it and cause a clicking sound.
#8. Contaminated Engine Oil.
When using your vehicle, dirt sometimes enters your engine oil due to wear or tear (this is why the oil must be done regularly).
If this is not the case, the dirt will pile up and block the engine filters rather causing it to click.
#9. Rod Knock.
If your engine is ticking slowly together with engine RPM, say once as your engine revolts, then a knocked rod is indicated. The con rod will knock if the engine bearings have deteriorated, hence causing spacing/wiggling between the main bearing cap.
So as always, the bearing deteriorating allows that movement of the head that plays as a tap or clunk sound. This depends on how much damage is done to the bearing.
If the rod knocks the RPM changes according to the sound of the engine but as for the load or temperature sound, it remains subtle.
The only thing you can do is rebuild your motor so that knocking rod goes away. Unfortunately, this do not come cheap but you would need it later on anyway.
#10. Damaged Spark Plugs.
In vehicles with high mileage, probably old or bad spark plugs cause that clicking noise from the engine.
In some other cases a mis aligned spark plug causes this noise, as it seems that a spark plug which is not seated properly, enables some exhaust to bypass and make the engine tick.
#11. Faulty Drive Pulleys.
Just like the skateboard wheels have bearings turning them, same with the drive pulleys. And like always, over time they get worn out.
So, whenever that happens, it causes a noise that grates you as a person when idling or accelerating.
#12. Poor Maintenance.
You get for free what you don’t pay for and so will your car whenever it is not being well taken care of. One thing is maintaining your car, another is who does it; by also using the right tools.
Not using the right tools and persons, makes you worse off and causes the ticking noise in the engine as a result.
How Do I Fix A Ticking Noise In My Engine?
How to fix ticking noise in engine will depend on what’s making the ticking noise or cause the noise. Thus, different steps shall need to be taken in solving this issue.
#1. Change Or Top Your Engine oil.
Some are ticks from engine oil. If it’s dirty, then change. If it’s low, try topping with recommended oil additives.
Low level of oil could be as a result of a leak due to worn-out gaskets or seals. So, you can use additives like blue devil oil to stop the leaks. An engine with no leaks will always have enough oil in it. Thus, kill that ticking noise and keep your engine component lubricated always.
#2. Use Oil Additives To Clean Oil, Engine parts.
Oil additives are special fluids used to clean out engine oil. This fluid does not affect the viscosity (thickness or lightness) of the oil.
Aside from cleaning the oil it cleans engine parts such as lifters, rocker arms, valves etc.
Using oil additives to clean your engine oil regularly will boost your car’s performance. For oil additives suitable for your vehicle, kindly check your owner’s manual for recommended oil additives.
#3. Change Damaged Spark plugs.
Spark plug seat on the head of the internal combustion engine. If worn out, they won’t seat well properly thus causing fume to bypass, thus the engine clicks.
To eliminate this licking noise, you should replace bad spark plugs.
#4. Adjust Valves.
The push rods must be at a spec distance from the valves. If they are not properly aligned, the valves will not open and close at the right time.
If this happens, there will be an engine clicking noise, thus ensure they are well-adjusted so that they’ll open and closed at the right timing. This is especially true, more so for cars that have higher mileage.
#5. Adjust Lifter Spacing.
When the lifter is too loose or too tight, it will make a clicking noise on your engine. So, ensure it’s balanced to eliminate this noise.
Lifter adjust could be tedious thus you may need an expert mechanic to adjust it for you, however, you could check your cars owner’s manual for specific detail on how to adjust lifters.
#6. Replace Engine Pushrods.
Pushrods work hand in glove with the valves and lifters. If they are bent or worn out, they’ll affect the lifters and other parts in the engine and cause an engine clicking noise. Eliminate the latter and change your engine pushrods.
# 7. Replace Bad Oil Filters.
Oil filters are designed to sieve out dirt so it does not get into the engine oil. Bad oil filters will allow dirt into the engine oil in turn causing a clicking noise in the engine. Ensure you change faulty oil filters to avoid this.
#8. Change Faulty or Worn-out Pulley Drives.
Pulleys that are faulty or worn out will not turn as they should together with bearings. So long they don’t, you will hear a ticking noise in your engine when you accelerate or you let it idle.
Get to the mechanic and change the pulley drives.
#9. Change Bad Bearings.
These ones are the bad bearings that are connected to the rods. They make the rods knock and produce engine noise. Change bad bearing so they do not affect the rods.
If your rod knocks because of a bad bearing, you will need to build the whole engine to stop that noise. That is an expensive thing to do, please avoid it.
#10. Fix Exhaust Manifold leaks.
Except for the engine clicking noise, exhaust manifold leaks will release dangerous fumes that contain carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.
This will slow down the time you take to warm up as well and cause in increase instead of reducing fuel consumption. Ensure you replace the exhaust manifold in time.
FAQs.
Q: Is A Ticking Engine Bad?
Engine ticks because of many reasons. It might be because of engine operations or faulty engine parts. If the reason for the tick is because of engine operation, as the movement of fuel injectors, it is not bad.
But if it’s those caused by faulty engine components, then it is bad. It would help if you learned how to stop ticking noise in the engine that is dangerous to prevent engine problems.
Q: What Is Clicking Noise Under the Hood?
Clicking Sound under the hood can be a result of lifters. Bad lifters, contaminated oil, and bent pushrods will cause the lifter to click and make an irritating sound.
Q: What Does It Mean When Your Car Starts Ticking?
If your car won’t start yet; it keeps ticking, it could be that of faulty electrical parts such as the alternator, battery, spark plugs, etc. If it ticks once and stops when you turn the ignition on,” this could be a faulty starter.
Q: How Long Can You Drive with A Ticking Lifter?
A ticking lifter means its forever on tics. If it’s ticking don’t drive but 100miles.
If you drive far with a ticking lifter it will wreck a costly part of your engine and damage the engine. You will spend thousands of dollars to have this damage repaired.
Q: Can A Bad Spark Plug Cause a Ticking Sound?
Bad spark plugs can cause a ticking sound. Why? Because they are supposed to site properly on the head and if they are bad, they can resonate because they cannot sit properly.
Q: Why Is My Engine Ticking After An Oil Change?
Engine ticking after changing your oil could be as a result of:
Engine oil level: It’s possible that after changing your oil, it didn’t get to its required level. What you should do is to top up with the recommended oil until it its full operating volume.
Leaks: After changing your oil, there can be leaks. This leak can reduce the oil level and cause a ticking sound. Ensure you properly inspect the oil filter and plugs for escaping fluid.
To check for leaks: Place cardboard under your car engine while it runs. Leave it there for some time once and see if oil drops on it.
Loosed Drain Plug Or Oil Filter: These two components may get partially loose during oil change and cause leaks hence a ticking noise.
Q: Can A Bad Catalytic Converter Cause A Ticking Noise?
Yes, a bad or clogged cat can cause a ticking noise. When a cat is failing, it tends to make a rattling sound. To know for sure that it is your cat, bang on each side with a heavy rubber mallet.
If you hear a rattling sound, it means your cat is failing. Ensure you have an unclog catalyst converter by cleaning it up and changing bad ones.
Q: Why Does My Engine Make A Clicking Sound When I Turn It Off?
Mainly, the exhaust system is made of a rocker arm, catalytic converter, muffler, heat shield, exhaust pipes and exhaust manifold.
You will hear a clicking sound because most exhaust and engine components are cooling down. As they cool, heat expansion takes place and causes a clicking sound.
Cooling down the contraction process of these components also tends to cause metallic noise as the metal shrinks.
Q: What Would Cause A Ticking In Engine When Accelerating?
A ticking noise from the engine when you accelerate could emanate from the motor top or axle shaft while the car is running.
In the engine, if the motor top is poorly lubricated, the ticking sound can occur. And sometimes, loose valve trains like lifters or due to engine knocking pertaining to engine misfire can produce the sound as well.
In the axle area, bad CV joints and even warped brake rotors can produce this kind of noise.
Q: What is the cost to fix ticking engine?
Fixing ticking engine takes depends on what the tick come from and your car model.
If from the lifter, it is mostly oil issues. changing oil is not costly. It will cost you around $25 to $50. But if the damage is complicated, you can spend somewhere between $1000 – $1500 to swap lift.
A whole lift will cost around $300 to $400 and the rest will go for labor cost. This is because changing lifters is somewhat a tedious and quite complicated process that an expert need to do.
If the problem comes from the pushrods, you will spend $600-$1000 replacing them. This process is also complicated and takes time, thus, need an expert to do it.
Problems causing knock rods connected to the rod and prompted by bad bearings, is costly to fix. This is because, you will have to rebuild your entire engine by changing quite a number of them features. This should cost you $900-$1500, depending on the type of engine.
Majorly, to fix this engine clicking noise. Have any mechanic diagnose what is the cause of the sound first. Then verify if it is costly to fix the components.
Final Words
Ticking noise in engine could be caused faulty engine or exhaust components like pushrods, valves, mufflers etc.
Or normal operation that goes on in the engine. first inspect and know what is causing that ticking noise and when you experience it.
If it is coming from component like fuel injectors, PCV valves, purge valves etc. you shouldn’t worry. They tend to have such clicking sound by the way their work is done.
But if the noise cause from lifters, bearings, pulley drives etc., have them be checked and replaced accordingly. Else, more expensive engine parts will be destroyed.