[Rated•M]

Hi everyone,
Hope this is in the correct place.
So the car has been sitting in the garage for the past 10 days with the intake manifold, charge pipe and a few other things taken off while I was working on the ofhg. I put everything back together and immediately on start up I had a loud metallic ticking noise that was not there before.
I know theres engines are noisy from the DI but this is something else. From what I can tell it's coming from under the stock air box maybe by the rear manifold area.
The ticking goes away or becomes much quieter under acceleration.
ANY IDEAS?

side note: my coolant expansion tank is making a weird noise also now, I added some coolant and it started making an intermittent humming noise.

[WoodE30]

How many miles have to put on it since it's back together? Kind of sounds like a lifter noise but hard to tell from video.

I know drive belt/tensioner noise can sound like it's coming from the engine internally.

[Rated•M]

Originally Posted by WoodE30

How many miles have to put on it since it's back together? Kind of sounds like a lifter noise but hard to tell from video.

I know drive belt/tensioner noise can sound like it's coming from the engine internally.

Only 1 mile then I turned around, I'm scared to drive it with the noise in fear of making it worse.
I agree it resembles a lifter tick, I just don't understand what it is or what's causing it since it has never been there before.

[ky0u]

Subbed because my car makes has made this noise since I got it. Runs perfectly fine though.

Off the top of my head, I know this car ticks from:
Lifters
HPFP (if I sit idle for a while)
Injectors

Not sure what else though

[stewbets]

I've also recently noticed this noise from time to time. It's not constant for me, but when it does it, it sounds just like that video clip.

[nicky dj]

The 2nd video definitely sounds like the lifter tick noise.

[Rated•M]

Originally Posted by stewbets

I've also recently noticed this noise from time to time. It's not constant for me, but when it does it, it sounds just like that video clip.

Yeah very worrying to me, I'm going to have to drive it soon as it's my only vehicle. Wonder what's going to happen

[Rated•M]

Originally Posted by nicky dj

The 2nd video definitely sounds like the lifter tick noise.

Do you know why it would start doing that all of the sudden?

[JM98]

I think its injector noise.

I had the same thing happen to me where it would come and go randomly at idle, so i ran a datalog and found that the fuel pressure will sometimes go up to around 2000+psi at idle (and this noise will coincide w/ the load on the injectors).

Ive never gotten an answer as to why the DME will randomly increase fuel pressure like that at idle but Ive been driving the car for years without issue so I figure its normal.

[WoodE30]

Originally Posted by Rated•M

Do you know why it would start doing that all of the sudden?

Possible because it sat for that length of time. Especially if it's cold and wet where you live it can cause the lifter to make noise.

With the car in park, get the engine nice and hot and rev it to about 3000rpm and see if the noise starts to go away.

[Silent9n54]

i developed that same humming noise recently. Car runs fine but havent been able to track it down yet.

[Ilma]

The humming noise sounds like the boost control solenoids bleeding air. They are located just behind the coolant tank, so that's where the noise is probably coming from - not the coolant tank.

Would be a good idea to replace them soon. Not expensive and not hard to diy.

[Silent9n54]

Originally Posted by Ilma

The humming noise sounds like the boost control solenoids bleeding air. They are located just behind the coolant tank, so that's where the noise is probably coming from - not the coolant tank.

Would be a good idea to replace them soon. Not expensive and not hard to diy.

they were replaced almost 2 years ago but i figured it might be the left one that was making noise but i didnt want to say anything because i wasnt sure, glad someone confirmed it !!

[stewbets]

From multiple other threads, the consensus on the ticking noise seems to be a noisy evap purge valve, also known as a fuel tank breather valve. This valve is toward the firewall and below the intake plenum. When I've heard the noise on mine, it did seem to be coming from the cold side of the engine, so this makes sense.

https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...lation/Od7NkWW

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=13_1179

[Oolien]

lifter tick should go away when then engine is hot. the n54 makes alot of ticking noises, honestly it sounds quite normal, stewbets it is right is prob just the evap purge valve

[Rated•M]

Thank you everyone who has put in their info. The noise has gone away and that's good enough for me. I would call this case closed.