Ticking/tapping/grinding Noise From Turbo / Engine

[EXR6T]

Hey guys,

just recently my car has developed a ticking noise when its cold above 2k revs, really sounds like the turbo because it seems to spin in time with the noise, or so it sounds. "it sounds like when people used to attach a playing card to the wheel of a bike and it would hit against the spokes of the wheel"

I never have it on WOT when its cold this is just driving normal or just enough so the turbo spools.

it doesnt sound like the engine pinging, its more consistant, more of a constant ticking but only while accelerating a little bit, I once had to put my foot down to avoid an accident recently and it made a bloody awful noise, like the same thing but alot louder and quicker.

it sounds to me like the turbo is maybe grinding on something. but its only when its cold.

ive had the supply screen filter replaced last 10,000 k's. And I got no decent tuners or mechanics that I found so far down here in TAS. last place who I was told were good down here I asked them how much to replace the diff bush and they told me these cars dont have diff bushes..

anyone got any ideas?

[senna_T]

Easiest way to check is to take the pipe off the front of your turbo and take a look for any marks to identify the "scraping" you are hearing. While you are there check the turbine wheel for movement, most of them move a little - around a mm or two - if that is excessive it may be time for a new turbs...

How many kays are on your car?

[EXR6T]

alot of k's lol... 180,000+ so I'm fairly happy with how good it has been. havent had any serious problems yet. "touch wood"

all country k's though, the owner was driving from vic to queensland like twice a month since new, even had services in both states. and I picked it up when it had 140,000k's

when I had the car checked by G & D before buying it they said it was in better condition than most cars with 40,000k's they had seen, so I was happy enough with that.

.... oh... one thing I did notice last time I cleaned the throttle body while changing the coil packs was that inside the crossover pipe where the intake pipes meet, inside that, some of the paint had started to come away and had chipped off, I removed any loose paint that was still there and left it, as I had planned on replacing the piping with an intercooler kit but that didnt happen due to $$$ moving to TAS. I'm starting to wonder maybe if more has come off.....

[senna_T]

I spose that's possible, take a look for any scoring around the inside of the turbo first though

[Guest]

Check for scrape marks on the inside of the compressor housing & excessive play in the shaft. 180,000kms could just be the end of the turbo's life, especially if that was the first supply screen filter change

[RAP1D]

Its worth replacing the oil feed line with a new one or soaking it in degreaser and blasting it clean... if its getting clogged up the turbo wont get much oil at low rpm, or at all.

[EXR6T]

Check for scrape marks on the inside of the compressor housing & excessive play in the shaft. 180,000kms could just be the end of the turbo's life, especially if that was the first supply screen filter change

true, 180,000 k's isnt too bad considering first person who had it only serviced it every 10,000k's (some cases 15,000k's).

how much is a replacement turbo for these cars? can you get just the core part (the middle section im not sure what its called) of the turbo or do you need the whole thing?

there goes my intercooler money if it is....

Rapid, could that also be a problem when its cold more so??? , because give the car 2-5 minutes and the noise stops and all is well, no miss firing, no loss of power, nothing to suggest something is wrong. turbo feels just as strong as when I first got it.

[EXR6T]

alright well im gonna go wash the car and then pull it apart and have a look if I can see anything or if there is excessive play in the turbine wheel.

I'll let you know if I find anything..

cheers for the advice

[EXR6T]

ok... well I pulled off all the intake pipes and had a look around.

no damage to the turbo blades at the front, no chips at all, one is slightly different colour, almost like its been sanded back a little bit but not much (im talking really minor), and it has only about 1mm (if that) play in the turbine shaft and definately doesnt feel excessive. I gave it a spin and it sounded okay no noises like it was hitting on anything or grinding etc..

there were a couple of issues I will have to fix though, there is a line leading to the turbo, maybe the oil feed line (im not sure what it is), which looks like it has been leaking in a spot, I wanted to take photos but my gf has her camera in her handbag and it has our only memory card and she's at work.

I will pull it apart tomoz and take photos so someone can inform me what the line actually is.

the other thing is the o ring sort of rubber clamp that holds the intake hose to the front of the turbo on one side is broken near where the clamp goes, so I'll have to replace that. could be leaking air.

apart from that it all looks good, im thinking maybe if this line with the slow leak is clogged a little maybe its causing it to not supply enough oil when its cold.???

and no more paint has come off the inside of the crossover pipe..

[anthb86]

My bf xr6t (80,000ks) has developed the same ticking noise when cold. Taking it to ford tomorrow due to warranty running out in 4 days. Would this be covered by fords warranty? Also, I only realy noticed this after I flash tuned it.

Will post again to give feedback from ford.

Cheers