Help: 2 Issues With My R34 Gtt

[B-Boi34]

Hi guys

My R34 has developed a ticking noise that seems to be coming from the exhaust side of the head.

I have searched & read as much as I could about ticking from RB's however all the threads are about cars that tick for the first few minutes & then are quiet or they just tick all the time.

My car does not tick when its first started & actually only starts to tick once the car is at operating temp.

The tick started last weekend after a long drive. The car has just been serviced & has 5W40 oil in it now.

Any Ideas on what it could be?

My second issue is my car seems to struggle to start when its hot/warm.

When I first start the car it takes 1 to 2 seconds of cracking & it starts up perfect.

After the car has been driven a bit & is warmed up it takes 5 to 7 seconds of cranking before it will start, every now & then I think its not going to start but it does just gotta keep on cranking

Could this be coil pack related because I have been having issues with them. Spark plugs gave been changed less than 1000k’s ago.

Thanks in advance for any help

[Moodles2]

Ticking on the exhaust side is usually a gasket, either on the manifold or on the turbo or even the dump

[Hadouken]

does the ticking follow the rev range?

As the wise jez said. Put your fut on the accelerator when you start it. If it starts fine then your starting tune is too rich.

[B-Boi34]

Ok cool, I will do a bit more checking this weekend around the gaskets. Yes it does as I rev the ticking gets louder.

Its running the factory ECU. Only mod on the car is a cat back exhaust. When its warm I open the throttle about a quater way when I start it as per the owners manual. Doesnt seem to make a difference if my foot is on the throttle or not.

[Hadouken]

Does it sound like this

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/405289-r34-gtr-engine-noise/

[B-Boi34]

No you cannot hear it over the exhaust. I can only hear it at idle & if I gently rev it the tick gets faster.

Normal driving I cannot hear it until im stopped at the lights & the car is idling

I will take a vid over the weekend

[Hadouken]

Scrap that

Edited July 27, 2012 by Hadouken

[sonnyQ]

Difficulty with hot starts was CAS on my car. If it gets really bad the car will stall randomly (usually on the busiest street in town) and not start for 15 or so mins.

[B-Boi34]

Ok the tapping noise if fixed. A few of the bolts that hold the tappet cover on were loose.

It seems to have helped with starting the car. I havn't had to start it when it was really hot but so far starts within 3 seconds of starting.

[B-Boi34]

Ok so the ticking sound is back. I really hope its just an exhaust manifold leak. Can anyone confirm with the information I have provided below

• The ticking cannot be heard from first start up only once engine is up to temp
• The sound seems to get louder as the car gets hotter
• The sounds seems to be coming from the exhaust side of the tappet cover

Any help is appreciated

Also the ticking does follow the revs

Edited August 16, 2012 by B-Boi34

[Hadouken]

can you video it?

[B-Boi34]

Yeah I will post a vid up asap.

[Shazbanger]

I think you will find that you have an exhaust manifold leak somewhere, as mentioned above. Perhaps the manifold gasket, dump gasket, or turbo flange gasket (hehe flange).

Other then that, you did mention earlier that you used a 5W40 oil. Is this what you normally use? Was the ticking there prior to the service? Maybe the oil is too thin, causing your tappets to make more noise then they normally would? Then when you start driving as the oil pressure increases, its causing it to go away, hence why you can't hear it unless idling?

Cheers,

Shazza

[B-Boi34]

Here's a link to a vid i made

[B-Boi34]

I think you will find that you have an exhaust manifold leak somewhere, as mentioned above. Perhaps the manifold gasket, dump gasket, or turbo flange gasket (hehe flange).

Other then that, you did mention earlier that you used a 5W40 oil. Is this what you normally use? Was the ticking there prior to the service? Maybe the oil is too thin, causing your tappets to make more noise then they normally would? Then when you start driving as the oil pressure increases, its causing it to go away, hence why you can't hear it unless idling?

Cheers,

Shazza

The ticking noise started just before I serviced it. I only just bought the car so have no idea what oil was used but it was pretty black when I changed it. I added a bottle of oil addictive to try thicken the oil, didnt seem to really help.

[sonnyQ]

My neo makes a similar noise but maybe not quite as loud. I was under the impression it was a typical RB engine noise. My engine has a slight tappet cover leak but apart from that it's in good nick.

[B-Boi34]

My neo makes a similar noise but maybe not quite as loud. I was under the impression it was a typical RB engine noise. My engine has a slight tappet cover leak but apart from that it's in good nick.

I do feel after listening to that maybe my tappet cover is leaking. I found the 2 bolts right on the end were loose.

Maybe I should pull it off & check the gasket.

[Hadouken]

I dont know how quiet the neo's are but my rb 26 sounds quite similar when just idling. Been like that for over a year now and have heard others that sound the same. Maybe im missing some soubd on my phone

[Carbon 34]

Its poor oil and to thin ,use synthetic redline , mobil 1 motul , castrol syntec , dont use lower them 10-40 weight , even 20-50 is ok in synthetic in the heat coming on soon

Dont add that pour in crap to bandaid a problem with cheap oil

The 34 uses solid lifters alway noisier but work better

That sounds like lifter , bad oil for sure

And gasket leak , rattle on heatshield as well

That sounds really bad so dont fang it till its fixed

worse case a bad cam or lifter or out of spec torque on cam lifter gap

Edited August 23, 2012 by Carbon 34

[B-Boi34]

I used Valvoline fully synthrtic but the noise started before I changed the oil & I have no idea what oil was in the car before I changed it. The car did about 1500k's since owning it when the noise started.

I will try a thicker oil & see what happens