In my 2.7t when I fire it up I hear a faint clicking sound coming from under the valve covers. I figure that since the car is running those cams are turning but I just don't know if I should hear it. Anyone feel like easing my paranoia?

 

Sorry to not reassure you but mine runs almost extraordinarily quiet, almost silent. At least when the SAI isn't whining its virtually silent.

 

Thats what I figured. New cars all run virtually silently (not like a hybrid though). I'm wondering if I have a stuck lifter or something.

 

Most new Audi's have some ticking from under the hood, from the FSI fuel pump powered by the cam.

My 2.7T is pretty quiet, the only time I hear the valves is after a hard drive, plus I'm at nearly 95k and due for an oil change.

 

No, you should not hear any clicking from under the valve covers. But, make sure you aren't hearing the injectors, which will make some noise. Go to Harbor Freight and get a Mechanic's Stethoscope and get a closer listen. If it is coming from under the valve covers, it could be your cam chain tensioner is going bad. That's a good job to do whiile replacing your cam seals and timing belt.

Bob

 

Sorry. DOuble post. Seems AudiForums is having website issues this morning!

 

IMHO clicking sound is typical for all German cars - perhaps due to design specifics;
Many cars, models or brands (VAG, DB, BMW) developed it, dated since mid '80. Replacing the lifters would rarely help. One could try good flush, then use LubroMoly Engine antifriction MoS2, but as I said - once developed - hard to get rid of the clicking.

Besides - hearing sensitivity is a major factor here - some people are happy not to be able to recognize many noises...
Just my 2c.

 

What sounded like valve train noise on mine turned out to be the serpentine belt tensioner pulley failing. Once I replaced that, most of the underhood clicking went away.

 

If you mean a clicking when you first start the car in the morning, I have this problem on my 3.0 as well. Having checked the archives, this is the oil getting to the tappets and is normal for these cars. I have had no other cars that do this so it did alarm me as well. I have noticed that the effect is reduced with synthetic oil.

 

I run synthetic and I replaced the oil in the less then 500 miles ago at which time I did run some of that foam through the crank and drove through the mountains. As far as hearing sensitivity, I am very very sensitive to what sounds my car is making. I can't say that I am desperately worried about it, I've been over that engine 1000 times and everything is happy.

Maybe its just me being bored and wishing I had a car project. I call it automotive hypochondriasis... my honda turned out to be much less work than I was expecting (maybe hoping a tiny bit) and now I'm going crazy.