My S2000 developed a ticking noise at idle, not consistently ticking at idle just in short bursts.(Tick tick...idle... tick tick) I was possibly thinking it was a TCT issue but my car has a billman TCT installed by previous owner i'm not sure when it was installed so could there be a chance that it is starting to fail? My car is a high mileage car so i was thinking it could also be timing chain itself? The noise also seems to be near the front of the valve cover; i am yet to do a valve adjustment but I do know previous owner had done it roughly 20-30k miles ago is that something I should look into as well. Once I make time next weekend ill be taking off the valve cover and checking the valve retainers to see if there are any cracks and around the TCT area because if im not mistaken if the chain slaps itll chip small pieces in that area? Anything else I should look into while I have valve cover off? I can also provide video of noise if wanted but may or not be hard to hear.


My S2000 is a '04 with 180k miles.

 

Update.
Still haven't took off the valve cover yet but i went ahead and replaced the tct with a oem tct just to see if the noise would change, it has not changed... I know I should've started with pulleys but I did try to do the screwdriver trick and did not hear anything coming from the pulleys. Ill try and take off the belt and run the car for 15 seconds at a later time.

 

Bad TCT is very easy .to hear 5 feet in front of the car with the hood closed. Reinstall the Billman unit. It is guaranteed for life or at least until Billman is a feeble old coot.

 

Properly adjusted valves tick. Too tight and they're deceptively quiet.

These are noisy, clattery engines. Normal can sound a bit too raw if you're not familiar.

But it sounds like you're saying this was a change. A new noise out of the blue. Correct?

Any chance its been the same all along, and something just made you pay more attention, and paranoid brain is making you think something is off?

 

Yes! IntegraIsPaul, please post an audio clip, if possible.

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the responses, heres a video of the sound to possibly help out.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-xUrMVsN5o616JVOwH4bI-SRNkYnET8K/view?usp=drivesdk

 

Thanks for the response, Im sure the sound is a new noise and is definitely making me paranoid

 

Pull the serpentine accessory belt and see if the noise goes away.

Good luck!

 

I took off belt and ran the car and i can still hear the noise, I'm thinking the motor is on its way out at this point.

Video link below shows car running without belt and while the car isn’t completely warm yet.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17NO...w?usp=drivesdk

 

The sound seems a little different. It's not as random and sharp sounding.

Spin the idlers and see if you feel any notchiness.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-xU...w?usp=drivesdk
Before.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17NO...w?usp=drivesdk
After.