Ticking noise from engine, apparently going to cost me £600 +

[chris128]

Hi Guys,

My MG ZS 120 started making a ticking noise (coming from under the bonet) about a week or two ago. I initially thought nothing of it and assumed it would just go away but it gradually started to get louder and happen more often and was loudest when starting from cold in the morning. So yesterday I took it to a garage down the road from me and they said it looks like the head gasket needs replacing and that alone will be around £600. They said that because the head gasket is mounted with some plastic fittings instead of metal ones then this may have caused something to wear down a tiny bit (Cant remember exactly what he said)... but they rekon it may have worn down enough to possibly cause damage to more than just the head gasket. They said that the ticking sound is the sound of the pistons hitting whatever it is thats above them (again, they werent the mechanic's exact words, just me being not very good with car terminology!). So they said it may turn out that when they strip it down and get the head gasket off it could become clear that more work needs doing (hence the £600 +). They also said i shouldn't drive it anymore if possible as it could cause damage to the bottom end of the engine and that would be even more expensive...

So... I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on how likely that is to be true? I mean I dont know much about cars so I cant help thinking they might be taking the **** a little. I'm taking it to another garage at some point this week to get a second opinion but just thought I'd see what you guys thought and if you had any advice

Thanks
Chris

[ScottishRover]

are you losing any coolant or oil?

any oil in your coolant expansion tank?

does your temperature guage stay at around half way?

sounds to me like the garage is talking crap.

[marty1a]

I think its another case of its a rover its the head gasket thats gone! (I could be wrong!)

Where abouts is the noise coming from? can you pin point where abouts the sound is coming from?

Martin

[Sejin26]

Another load of rubbish. I have had a load of it today from customers who used 'specilists' in the past. Shame they went to the wrong one.

The ticking will be the injectors. Its a common Rover ailment and the only cure is new ones. However just chuck some injection cleaner through it and it will be fine for a bit.

My guess is it will be comming from the inlet manifold area as they all do. I would let them change the HG and then when it still does it tell them you want the money back. After all changing the head gasket aint going to cure this one bit.

[chris128]

Originally Posted by ScottishRover

are you losing any coolant or oil?

any oil in your coolant expansion tank?

does your temperature guage stay at around half way?

sounds to me like the garage is talking crap.

About 2 months ago I had a problem with the temp gauge rising when the car was not moving, so I checked and found that the coolant tank was bone dry. So I filled it up and since then the temp gauge has never risen above half way. I mentioned this to the garage and they said its possible that the coolant was escaping through the head gasket and thats why the coolant tank ended up dry. They said it was pretty empty when they looked at it so they filled it up but like I said, the temp gauge hadnt started doing anything unusual again yet.

I cant pinpoint exactly where the noise is coming from I'm afraid, it just seems to be coming from the engine area.

[chris128]

Originally Posted by Sejin26

Another load of rubbish. I have had a load of it today from customers who used 'specilists' in the past. Shame they went to the wrong one.

The ticking will be the injectors. Its a common Rover ailment and the only cure is new ones. However just chuck some injection cleaner through it and it will be fine for a bit.

My guess is it will be comming from the inlet manifold area as they all do. I would let them change the HG and then when it still does it tell them you want the money back. After all changing the head gasket aint going to cure this one bit.

sounds like a plan

[1955diesel]

Originally Posted by chris128

Hi Guys,

My MG ZS 120 started making a ticking noise (coming from under the bonet) about a week or two ago. I initially thought nothing of it and assumed it would just go away but it gradually started to get louder and happen more often and was loudest when starting from cold in the morning. So yesterday I took it to a garage down the road from me and they said it looks like the head gasket needs replacing and that alone will be around £600. They said that because the head gasket is mounted with some plastic fittings instead of metal ones then this may have caused something to wear down a tiny bit (Cant remember exactly what he said)... but they rekon it may have worn down enough to possibly cause damage to more than just the head gasket. They said that the ticking sound is the sound of the pistons hitting whatever it is thats above them (again, they werent the mechanic's exact words, just me being not very good with car terminology!). So they said it may turn out that when they strip it down and get the head gasket off it could become clear that more work needs doing (hence the £600 +). They also said i shouldn't drive it anymore if possible as it could cause damage to the bottom end of the engine and that would be even more expensive...

So... I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on how likely that is to be true? I mean I dont know much about cars so I cant help thinking they might be taking the **** a little. I'm taking it to another garage at some point this week to get a second opinion but just thought I'd see what you guys thought and if you had any advice

Thanks
Chris

I have never heard such a complete load of rubbish!

The ticking noise is nothing to do with the head gasket and even if it were, the mechanism suggested is nonsense. The bottom end is not at risk and driving it will not cause damage unless there is an obvious mechanical cause such as a pulley falling off.

If the noise is only on startup and goes away within around 30 seconds, you have a leaking tappet. You may be able to cure this with an oil change. More persistent examples respond to engine oil flushes or even an additive that is made for the purpose of quieting them. Worst case is that you either live with it (no harm is being done) or remove the tappet and clean or replace it (quite an involved job).

The noise could also be caused by a leaking exhaust manifold. Does it get louder when you rev the engine up? A simple job to replace if this is the case.

Lastly, if the noise never really goes away, it could just be piston slap. You could try an oil change using something a bit thicker than recommended (15-50?). Otherwise, you are stuck with it.

Find a new garage!

[Sejin26]

I normally agree with diesel on most things I am sure this is the good old ticking injector. However it could easily be a lazy tappet.

If you want to be 99% sure take a sound clip and upload it to the net for us to listen to it.

[1955diesel]

Yep! Could well be injectors. I missed that one out.

Quite a few things can tick, but not head gaskets.

[oddjobx1]

where abouts are you in n e lincs

[ukmartian]

had a similar prob with my 45...distinctive tapping noise which increase with the revs then after a few seconds disappeared.....bought a good quality recommended oil additive and a injector cleaning fuel additive seemed to do the job ok in my case....

steve

[LORDPSK]

Rover issued a technical notice to dealers over this item, it turned out that the rubber washer which fits around the oil pickup pipe seated into the engine block was in certain cases allowing air to be sucked into the oil on start up, thus the tapping noise in the tappets eased as it warmed up but never went away until the washer was replaced. a very easy job to do

[1955diesel]

Originally Posted by LORDPSK

Rover issued a technical notice to dealers over this item, it turned out that the rubber washer which fits around the oil pickup pipe

I thought that only applied to the T Series engine. The K design is less assembly sensitive.
That's not to say that this one isn't leaking.

[L Launder]

Originally Posted by LORDPSK

Rover issued a technical notice to dealers over this item, it turned out that the rubber washer which fits around the oil pickup pipe seated into the engine block was in certain cases allowing air to be sucked into the oil on start up, thus the tapping noise in the tappets eased as it warmed up but never went away until the washer was replaced. a very easy job to do

I have just been reading old messages and found your advise very helpful, I have a simular noise in my 45 it started with a ticking and has become louder tapping noise in the tappets.Only on start up. I have just paid over 400.00 to have all the tappets replaced which I could ill afford, which has not cured the problem. Could you possibly explain further about replacing the rubber washer? Or where I could get this information from. Thank you so much.

[Mr Deej]

all k series engines tap to a degree its a trait of them, cant understand why everyone get's up in arms about it if its slight thats just how the k siries is if its a heavy tap then theres somthing wrong untill then dont worrie.

[langleys]

I agree, the garage are talking rubbish about the head gasket wearing down and the pistons hitting the valves. Even if you completely removed the headgasket, the pistons would still not hit the valves let alone if it was worn down a bit.

I have 3 Rovers in total ( a R25 1.4 2001, a MG ZS 120+ 2002 and a MG ZR160 2004 - all family members cars ). All of them have some degree of ticking noise on startup. On the ZR and ZS the noise goes away in a few seconds. The R25 used to take a lot longer so I added a bottle of Redex to the fuel, did a complete engine flush using Wynns Engine Flush and changed the oil filter, and refilled with good quality oil (Castrol Magnatec 10W40) and then added some Wynns Hydraulic Tappet Conditioner. It now only ticks for a few seconds after starting and is then quiet as a mouse.

[LORDPSK]

if you remove the sump, undo the two bolts holding the oil pickpipe into the main engine block, the gently pull the pipe away from the block there is a rubber ring around the top, some times this allowsair to be sucked into the oil presenting air into the tappets, fit new rubber seal, refit pipe and sump and see if that cures the problem, cost is very little just time.

[1955diesel]

The usual symptom of a leaking pickup seal is either no oil pressure due to failure of the pump to prime or persistent tappet noise that will not go away at idle.

[timark]

Originally Posted by chris128

Hi Guys,

My MG ZS 120 started making a ticking noise (coming from under the bonet) about a week or two ago. I initially thought nothing of it and assumed it would just go away but it gradually started to get louder and happen more often and was loudest when starting from cold in the morning. So yesterday I took it to a garage down the road from me and they said it looks like the head gasket needs replacing and that alone will be around £600. They said that because the head gasket is mounted with some plastic fittings instead of metal ones then this may have caused something to wear down a tiny bit (Cant remember exactly what he said)... but they rekon it may have worn down enough to possibly cause damage to more than just the head gasket. They said that the ticking sound is the sound of the pistons hitting whatever it is thats above them (again, they werent the mechanic's exact words, just me being not very good with car terminology!). So they said it may turn out that when they strip it down and get the head gasket off it could become clear that more work needs doing (hence the £600 +). They also said i shouldn't drive it anymore if possible as it could cause damage to the bottom end of the engine and that would be even more expensive...

So... I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on how likely that is to be true? I mean I dont know much about cars so I cant help thinking they might be taking the **** a little. I'm taking it to another garage at some point this week to get a second opinion but just thought I'd see what you guys thought and if you had any advice

Thanks
Chris

Load of rubbish mate. Ticking will either be coming from injectors or hydraulic tappet or tappets.
Give it a good engine flush and then fill up with suitable oil and change the filter.
If ticking remains then get a second opinion.

Mark.

[VespaV6]

I totally agree with the advice given. I have never heard such a load of tosh that your garage gave you.
RULE number one never tell any grease monkey that you know nothing about cars. ( apologies to good mechanics/techs)