Hi everyone, I have recently bought a lovely UK model 1995 456GT manual in Verde Silverstone over beige with green stiching and Verde Foresta carpets. It is a (very?) high mileage car, at just a shade under 100,000 miles. However, I was encouraged by the fact that it has obviously had the maintenance history to get it so far, and it is generally in very good condition for a car that has been driven and enjoyed. It was priced accordingly. It received its last major belt service last year, and has just had this year's service. It has also just passed its annual MOT (the UK's annual statutory inspection, which is quite strict). One major issue: when driving the car, at lower revs (upto around 3,000 rpm), there is a noticeable ticking from the engine. The volume varies a bit, but it is generally noticeable at all times, although it is less loud when the clutch is depressed when changing gear. It is far less noticeable when outside the car, even if the bonnet/hood is raised, so it is basically a cabin noise. It takes away from the V12 driving experience somewhat! Any ideas? I'm wondering if this is just something age related, or it could even be something like noise insulation being worn/tired, which might explain why its most noticeable in the cabin? Thanks!
Hello and welcome, A noise that disappears when pressing the clutch can lead to a throw out bearing on its way out, but I would not describe it as "ticking". If you bend over the engine and listen carefully, are you able to locate where the noise comes from?
The 456GT is known for the torque tube making noises like you describe. Do a search for 456 torque tube and see what you find.
Thank you for the welcome! I will try to see if I can locate the source of the noise, I’ll also make a recording of it.
James, good to see you on here. For completeness of the thread, and from our chats on Instagram the conclusion is this is just normal valvetrain noise making its way into the cabin while driving - as per the same experiences of my car, and from what Rardley told you also, correct?
Hi Graeme, I think this is probably still “tbc” as the car is still at the garage post-MOT/service (some parts taking an eternity to arrive…). However, given that neither me nor trained mechanics can detect a particular noise when the bonnet is raised, or externally, and with Rardley’s input, it does seem that it might just be a case of poor insulation to the cabin. I don’t know whether that’s just age or reflects something that wasn’t great to begin with. Anyway, it’s something that I think I’ll learn to live with in the short term. I was happy buying a high mileage car in that I can add miles without worrying about it. I’d like to think that in the longer term I can go about restoring the car to its former glory, so maybe something to address then!
I did hear some sort of minimal rattle from the inside the car only and at tick over until replacing the lower cam drive bearings, at ~60k miles. If yours have never been done at 100k miles I would seriously look into it, and also the bearings of the oil pump driveshaft. You do not want any of these to go wrong.
Mechanics stethoscopes are cheap. Remove the metal probe and it becomes a very good directional noise finder. Not common but if you hear it inside the car better than externally I have found a number of times electrical components make ticking sounds.
Thanks for this - very interesting! When you experienced this, were the ticking noises “in tune” with the engine, ie. the frequency increased with engine speed?
