Bad ticking sound from my M44
 

Hey everybody,

For the past few days, my 318ti has been making this bad ticking sound. Lifting up the hood and looking in, it sounds like the ticking if coming from somewhere where the belts and pulleys are.
The last time the water pump and the belts were changed was August 2007.
The car does not overheat, the temperature stays at the middle, where it supposed to be.



I'm GUESSING that it could be a loose or misaligned pulley. I know that a loose belt would make a squeaking noise.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance guys.

-Randy

Chain guide and/or tensioner. Try not to rev it too much, you dont want to skip a tooth or break anything into the engine. Remove your valve cover and see whats broken and/or seized.

Yeah, if you're lucky it may be a failed chain tensioner- and the sound may be the timing chain slapping against the chain guide. The tensioner is easy to replace, and not terribly expensive (maybe $50). But I would avoid running the engine- it is not a healthy sound. If the timing chain is slapping around, it could do more damage- and that gets harder and more expensive to repair....

If you put your hand on the front of the engine (maybe just above the thermostat), can you feel the rattle? Be careful of the electric fan.

when the car is running like on the video remove the oil cap and if the sound goes away is the pcv valve, so just replace that and ur good to go

I don't think it's the pcv valve since I replaced that when I replaced my water pump and belts too. (It was making this loud whistling sound if I remember correctly)
man...looks like I have to go open it up and remove the valve cover.
MPWR, If/when I move the car into the garage tomorrow I'll feel the front of the motor and see if I can feel the rattling.

Anybody know of a DIY anywhere on the internet for the chain tensioner? (I haven't searched yet, but would like to see if anybody knows of any off hand)

I was looking at this picture (Hopefully the right one)
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...64&hg=11&fg=25
For the tensioner, am I looking at #17 or 21? or both?
Hopefully I'll have the time to work on it and get back to you guys.
Thanks again!!

-Randy

EDIT: Just in case, so I don't have to dig it up again later....
Valve cover DIY - http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12007

Try here.

Pretty straightforward- unscrew the old one, screw in the new one. And like so many things, it's easier on an M44 than an S50.

OK I went and looked at the car, moving it into the garage. It sounds pretty bad haha...
Before starting the car, I did find the bolt where the tensioner is though. I'm going to start there before actually removing the valve cover. It seems pretty easy to access.
I was pressed for time so I wasn't able to feel the engine and see if the rattle is there.
That being said, I don't think this car will be driven until I fix the problem.
Thanks MPWR again for that DIY.
Hopefully I can do it again later tonight or tomorrow.

-Randy

Hey everybody, here's my update on the situation.

So I bought the tensioner and installed it on my car. The first time I started it up after installation, the ticking was still there, but I was reading that it disappears after 20 or 30 seconds or so. So we let it idle, and voila, it disappears. So we drove it up and down the neighborhood for a bit, and the ticking comes back, but it isn't nearly as loud as before. So we took a few laps up and down our street, and it disappears.

After this, we drove around on the main streets (maybe for a total of 3 miles round trip). The sound comes and goes at the beginning, but towards the end of the trip it totally disappeared.
After letting it idle in the driveway, we revved it up to 3500 rpm just to test it out (and it said on the paper it came with to rev the motor to 3500RPM for 20 seconds). The sound comes back, just like the video I posted above.
So we drive it up and down the street again, and the sound keeps disappearing and coming back.

Is it possible that I didn't install this thing correctly?
(The tensioner was compressed when I got it. When I installed it, the tensioner accidentally decompressed, so I had to install it while extended.)
Can you guys think about anything else that can cause this problem??

Thanks again guys!

-Randy

Cliff notes: Installed tensioner, ticking goes away, then comes back, then goes away, then keeps coming back...Any suggestions for other causes?

Update again.
I checked my oil level (It's where it should be as I expected) and my spark plugs because a friend of mine suggested that there might be a loose plug.
I checked out the spark plugs, and I found oil on 3 out of the 4 spark plugs.
Starting from the back, there was oil on cylinders # 1 3 and 4...
Is it possible that I just need a new valve cover gasket?
Thanks again guys.

-Randy

I can't think of any way that a leaking valve cover gasket would cause this sound. Sure it's time to replace the gasket, but I wouldn't expect it to fix the rattle. It would however give you a chance to take a look at the timing chain.

Do you by any chance have any CEL codes?

Yeah, I figured that the leaking gasket wouldn't cause that problem, but hey, at least it gives me another reason to open it up and inspect the chain and guides. I'm going to take a look at the tension on the guides next.
The CEL isn't lit on the dash. Unfortunately for me too, my code reader broke too :(
Thanks again!

-Randy

maybe a bad lifter. They are hydraulic and could make that noise if the valve lash is bigger than it should.
Its quite hard to check a hydaulic lifter as you can only check it when the engine has oil pressure. As you know the engine will only have oil pressure when running.
Remove the valve cover and check the condition of the cams and lifter surfaces.

Yeah, I'm planning to take the valve cover off and inspect everything this weekend...I'll probably take pictures to show you guys and we'll see what happens from there!
Thanks again!

-Randy

Ok guys,
I'm a bit late in posting this, but I fixed my 318ti a few weeks ago!
The work that I did consisted of changing the timing chain tensioner, and on top of that, I changed out the valve cover gasket, and the oil supply seal as well.
BUT, The problem that I had was much simpler than that. I took my intake and fan off, then I looked at the pulley that attaches to my water pump. 2 bolts were missing. I just replaces those and put the engine back together with the new gaskets, and there you go! Problem fixed!
Just posting it up for completion of the thread and for future reference just in case someone is going to have a similar experience.
Now my car runs smoother than before.

-Randy