# 2011 Cruze loud ticking noise after warmed up.



## mcg75 (Mar 5, 2012)

It's hard to tell without hearing the tick. 

But at idle, the injectors fire slower and your ears can pick up the sound. 

Once you hit 1300-1400 rpm, they fire so quickly your ear can no longer distinguish the sound. 

Cold startup idle is usually just under 1500 rpm.


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

Thanks for the response. Even when the RPMs drop down to normal idle speed(700RPM) I still cannot hear it. Its not untill the car is fully warmed up that the noise surfaces. Warm up to optimal temp takes 5-10 minutes whereas the cold start high idle only takes about 30 seconds to drop down to normal level. I will record the noise and put it up tomorrow.


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## 115 (Nov 12, 2010)

I think many cars have this noise after they're warmed up. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's either the metal components expanding and contracting, or liquid dripping somewhere in the engine bay.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Did you check the oil level, you may not be getting enough oil to the head and what you hear is the valves opening and closing. With 5000 miles on the car, I doubt the oil has been changed and may be a little low. Hard to diagnose without hearing.


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## jdubb11 (Mar 14, 2012)

i asked the service guy what that sound was while we had our head under the hood for a different issue. he said it was the injectors and normal on this car...i know, annoying sound


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

These are fairly "ticky" engines. Hearing a ticking injector at a warm idle is normal.

I'd also run a bottle of fuel system cleaner through since it's "new to you". Gumout Regane or Chevron Techron are two readily available ones that have been shown to work.


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

I think I would perform an oil change if it were my car. Not saying that's the problem but maybe somebody has used the wrong grade of oil and it is justified anyway on a used car.

It would help if you could post a couple of short vids - one when it's cold, the other when it's making the funny sound.


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

I had the dealership change the oil about a week ago. No difference in the noise afterward. I found it fairly annoying that the guy at the counter automatically concluded that it was the injectors making the noise without even looking/ listening to the car. For those of you with ticking Cruzes can you hear the tick with the hood closed and a good 5-10 feet away from from car? Video up soon


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Ecotec engines have always had the eco-tick nickname for a reason. The noises the 1.4T makes are very subtle compared to the older 2.2-2.4L ecotec engines & probably nothing to worry about.


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

Here is a video I just took of the ticking noise. If anybody and everybody can tell me if this noise does/ does not occur with their cruise and/or if this noise is normal would be greatly appreciated

Chevy cruze ticking fuel injectors? - YouTube


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## jdubb11 (Mar 14, 2012)

i had my computer and you tube volume on 100% but couldnt really hear anything.


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

Really? I can hear it clear as day on my laptop with the volume all the way up, especially from 0:15 on


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## Starks8 (Jul 20, 2011)

yeah, that does sound strange as ****!


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Thats not injectors.

Kinda sounds like a timing chain tensioner loose. 

Can you isolate the noise at all with the hood up?


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

I cant isolate it at all. Somewhere in the block. The ticking speeds up when the engine revs up untill about 1500-2000 RPMs then the sound disappears until the RPM drops back down to idle


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## H3LLON3ARTH (Dec 16, 2011)

My 2012 eco 6 mt does this

Sent from my Droid using AutoGuide.Com Free App


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

So sounds like when it's under a *slight* load rather than just spinning down?


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

Doesnt matter the load. It does it in neutral or in drive. Downhill or uphill. From 700 RPM-1500RPM. When the engine is cold the engine purrs and sounds healthy with absolutely no ticking. After driving a couple miles and the engine warms up it starts this ticking and drives me craaaazy. It wouldnt bug me at all if I knew what it was or if it was just some quirk with all Cruzes.


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## cruzers (Dec 13, 2010)

Find another Cruze, and have a listen, to see if you hear similar sound. My car has a ticking sound, which I ruled out normal the day I bought it new. It sounds like if the engine is low on oil, or their isn't quite enough oil pressure during idle, but it's normal for this engine. Check on youtube, I've heard alot of idling Cruzes that sound the same.


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

cruzers said:


> Find another Cruze, and have a listen, to see if you hear similar sound. My car has a ticking sound, which I ruled out normal the day I bought it new. It sounds like if the engine is low on oil, or their isn't quite enough oil pressure during idle, but it's normal for this engine. Check on youtube, I've heard alot of idling Cruzes that sound the same.


Can you hear this ticking with the hood closed? That the biggest reason im paranoid about this. From what Ive seen on youtube every Cruze tick can ONLY be heard when the hood is open and the person standing over the engine.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

bfitz said:


> Can you hear this ticking with the hood closed? That the biggest reason im paranoid about this. From what Ive seen on youtube every Cruze tick can ONLY be heard when the hood is open and the person standing over the engine.


I listened to it again this morning with my headphones instead of laptop speakers, and I think it may actually sound kinda similar. I'll take a video tonight - mine sounds kinda ticky when it's parked between two cars, and I've wondered a few times. It does seem like there's a little bit of valve noise, but that is completely normal for some cars - Hondas for instance.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

The older ecotec engines the noises were caused by the timing chain moving along the guides & completely normal. 1.8L engine uses a belt I suspect it is much quieter.


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## bfitz (Oct 24, 2012)

I guess I should have said this earlier. My car is a 2011 1.4 turbo 1lt


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## Sophie2208 (Sep 8, 2012)

I have the same car but the 2012 and it does a similar noise. I brought it to my dealership also when I first bought it because it concerned me. But from what I understand it's because they have Solid lifters instead of Hydraulic lifters. Now don't count on me to explain this because I'm not too sure I understand myself lol. I'm not too concerned anymore because he started a couple of other Cruze on the lot and they all do the same sound. Good luck in finding your problem, hope this helps :/


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## msedly (Nov 17, 2013)

Figured I'd bring this one back from the dead since it's the same issue I'm having. 2013 Cruze Eco 6MT with 63k. Didn't start noticing the loud fuel injectors until the last few thousand miles. I had the fuel injectors cleaned since I have a friend with a shop and one of those fuel injector cleaner systems. No change. What's even weirder is when the car was running during the injector cleaning, the noise was intermittent. Mostly loud, but would go quiet for 5-10 seconds at a time.

I know this isn't normal because I haven't had this problem until recently. I'm 99% positive it's the fuel injectors, but why the change now? Is there something that can wear out to cause them to be 3x louder than they normally are...?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

msedly said:


> Figured I'd bring this one back from the dead since it's the same issue I'm having. 2013 Cruze Eco 6MT with 63k. Didn't start noticing the loud fuel injectors until the last few thousand miles. I had the fuel injectors cleaned since I have a friend with a shop and one of those fuel injector cleaner systems. No change. What's even weirder is when the car was running during the injector cleaning, the noise was intermittent. Mostly loud, but would go quiet for 5-10 seconds at a time.
> 
> I know this isn't normal because I haven't had this problem until recently. I'm 99% positive it's the fuel injectors, but why the change now? Is there something that can wear out to cause them to be 3x louder than they normally are...?


Check and see if it's coming from the purge valve - that fat round thing on the back of the intake manifold.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

Also, once the engine is cold, check for a loose spark plug….. has happened many times to forum members…..I'm sure if we've seen it here it happens more often than we think.

Rob


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## jjngundam (Dec 7, 2010)

Robby said:


> Also, once the engine is cold, check for a loose spark plug….. has happened many times to forum members…..I'm sure if we've seen it here it happens more often than we think.
> 
> Rob


 Cool another area to check, seems more plausible than a new turbo.


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## mrd8cd (Sep 29, 2015)

Reviving this thread, as I'm having the exact same issue. Has anyone found a solution to this ticking? I have a 2015 Eco 6MT with 10,000 miles on it.


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## mrd8cd (Sep 29, 2015)

mrd8cd said:


> Reviving this thread, as I'm having the exact same issue. Has anyone found a solution to this ticking? I have a 2015 Eco 6MT with 10,000 miles on it.


Bump.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

mrd8cd said:


> Reviving this thread, as I'm having the exact same issue. Has anyone found a solution to this ticking? I have a 2015 Eco 6MT with 10,000 miles on it.







Sound like that? If so, don't worry about it.


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## mrd8cd (Sep 29, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> Sound like that? If so, don't worry about it.


Mine does have the sound from that video, but that sounds normal to me and is not the ticking I'm complaining about. The ticking I'm referring to can best be heard from the video in the very first post of this thread. Hopefully you can hear it. Let me know what you think.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

mrd8cd said:


> Mine does have the sound from that video, but that sounds normal to me and is not the ticking I'm complaining about. The ticking I'm referring to can best be heard from the video in the very first post of this thread. Hopefully you can hear it. Let me know what you think.


Ah. Hmm, sounds a bit like timing chain slap. I seem to recall my car making that noise too sometimes. I'll check again.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

mrd8cd said:


> Reviving this thread, as I'm having the exact same issue. Has anyone found a solution to this ticking? I have a 2015 Eco 6MT with 10,000 miles on it.


Hello mrd8cd,

We regret to hear that you're experiencing this ticking concern with your Cruze. Have you made your dealership aware of this yet? If not, and you'd like to take it in for a diagnosis, please send us a private message and we'd be more than happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Chelsea D.
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## mrd8cd (Sep 29, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> Ah. Hmm, sounds a bit like timing chain slap. I seem to recall my car making that noise too sometimes. I'll check again.


Did you get a chance to look into this with your car? There's no way this noise is from normal operation. Something isn't right. I'm wondering if I take it into the dealer they'll just tell me "they all do that" or something along those lines. No CEL as of yet.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

mrd8cd said:


> Did you get a chance to look into this with your car? There's no way this noise is from normal operation. Something isn't right. I'm wondering if I take it into the dealer they'll just tell me "they all do that" or something along those lines. No CEL as of yet.


Nothing I've noticed the last few times I've driven it. I was even walking around with the car running for several minutes on a hot day this weekend, and nothing.


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## mrd8cd (Sep 29, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> Nothing I've noticed the last few times I've driven it. I was even walking around with the car running for several minutes on a hot day this weekend, and nothing.


Thanks for the update! Guess I'll mention it to the dealer next time I get the oil changed and see what they say. Would love to hear from the OP or anyone else that might know anything about this.


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

My car , 2012 LTZ RS, 1.4L turbo, 108,000 miles , oil changed regularly , and oil changed again recently just to be sure it wasn't a oil issue.

Ok, I've got the dreaded ticking sound badly. I do not believe this is injector noise, in fact I'm quite certain it isn't. The noise I've got is somewhat intermittent , when it happens it's so loud that the knock detection system thinks it's engine knock and instantly retards the timing, to the point of negative timing. So loud the knock sensor system errors P0324 and even occasionally a P0325 . Before I realized it was actually a loud ticking causing the errors, I swapped out the Knock Sensor and that didn't help.

The noise will go away after some period of time. The noise appears to be coming from the top center of the valve cover, it sounds like a lifter that would be ticking on a old hydraulic lifters. Once the loud ticking occurs, the car has very little power due to the negative timing and will eventually throw a check engine light code. I've been to the dealer and they are scratching their heads... I've sat there while the ticking is loud, listening with a mechanic... after a few minutes ( 5 or 10 ) the ticking noise will slowly go away. I've driven nearly 20 miles before it reoccurs , other times only a mile or two. 

This can't be normal... when it's not happening, the car runs perfectly... when it happens, it doesn't misfire, the engine runs relatively smooth, it's just down on power because the ECU is regarding the timing so badly ( Knock Retard reads like 19 or 20 when this noise is happening ).

Once the noise I am having starts, it continues even after the car has cooled down... well until it goes away. It does come and go , seemingly for no apparent reason. 

Has anyone ever had this issue and found a fix? I've searched and searched and all I find are threads telling people the ticking is normal for these engines. Well, mine is not normal, and my mechanic has no idea what's causing this.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

iggy said:


> My car , 2012 LTZ RS, 1.4L turbo, 108,000 miles , oil changed regularly , and oil changed again recently just to be sure it wasn't a oil issue.
> 
> Ok, I've got the dreaded ticking sound badly. I do not believe this is injector noise, in fact I'm quite certain it isn't. The noise I've got is somewhat intermittent , when it happens it's so loud that the knock detection system thinks it's engine knock and instantly retards the timing, to the point of negative timing. So loud the knock sensor system errors P0324 and even occasionally a P0325 . Before I realized it was actually a loud ticking causing the errors, I swapped out the Knock Sensor and that didn't help.
> 
> ...


These cars do have hydraulic lash adjusters.






Sound anything like that?


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> These cars do have hydraulic lash adjusters.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sounds a little like that... it sounds exactly like a hydraulic lifter ticking, or some sort of lifter ticking. The thing that has myself and my mechanic baffled is that it comes and goes. 

The mechanic tried to explain to me what's under the valve cover, but I wasn't following. I've yet to see a detailed drawing that shows the internal workings of the valve train in these motors.

jblackburn, these hydraulic lash adjusters... how are they supposed to work? and what could go wrong with them? Know of any good diagrams or documentation that explains how they are supposed to work?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

http://www.miata.net/garage/hla/

Same sound more or less. If they aren't pumped up, or maintaining solid oil pressure, they make noise. I have a friend with one of those Volvo 5 cyls that has that noise (from one, not all 20) come and go. 

These cars do have a variable pressure oil pump (basically a little spring loaded thing). It is possible that something there is amiss, or that an oil passage to the head may be plugged off. 

I would suggest they check the engines oil pressure when the noise occurs.


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

I'm trying to track down how to monitor oil pressure. My Torque app doesn't display oil pressure, it's my understanding that the 1.4L doesn't actually have a fully functional oil pressure sensor, only a low pressure dummy sort of sensor. 

I'm beginning to think that it is either those hydraulic lash adjusters or a odd oil pressure situation that comes and goes. My mechanic is going to do some research on if there is a way for him to read oil pressure.

I made it 25 miles this morning with only a very brief instance of the issue. Not sure if that was just pure luck , or if maybe my most recent oil change did actually help in some way. I know the first 30 miles of driving after the oil change almost seemed like it had gotten worse, so I'm not very hopeful that a oil change was a cure.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> it's my understanding that the 1.4L doesn't actually have a fully functional oil pressure sensor, only a low pressure dummy sort of sensor.


Yup.

A sensor could be fit in place of that, though - temporarily, to see what's going on.


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

Still haven't been able to get word from my dealer/mechanic about how they might be able to diagnose a oil pressure problem. 

Meanwhile, the error code P0324 and the noise that seems to trigger it is becoming less frequent over the past 24 hours. I don't know if this is due to the recent oil change I did ( was showing 45% oil life remaining when I changed it ) is what might have helped the matter, or if the lower ambient temperatures and humidity are what's causing the change. 

If the issue is related to the hydraulic lash adjusters and/or oil getting to them is the culprit , I wouldn't think the ambient weather conditions are that much of a factor. I mean when the problem was at it's worst, I had seen it occur when the car was cold in the mornings when it was 70F, in afternoons when it was 85F and humid, all day long really. The car's oil temperature still gets up to over 230F even this morning when the ambient temperature is around 54F. Now the humidity is a lot lower over the past day or two as well, but again, I have a hard time believing it's related to ambient conditions. 

Either way, with the lower frequency of occurrence at this point, it would be even harder for my mechanic to diagnose fully. So, while it's nice that there's a chance I'm not going to have to incur some huge repair bill , I still at a total loss as to knowing what really was causing my problems over the past week. 

I always hate when there are intermittent problems like this. I think I read somewhere that people have added aftermarket oil pressure gauges... I may look into those , so I might be able to get further information on my own about what could be going on.


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## RedEco (Jul 25, 2016)

My 2014 Eco does this i just noticed recently while in a parking structure.


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## layman1141 (Jan 26, 2015)

iggy said:


> Still haven't been able to get word from my dealer/mechanic about how they might be able to diagnose a oil pressure problem.
> 
> Meanwhile, the error code P0324 and the noise that seems to trigger it is becoming less frequent over the past 24 hours. I don't know if this is due to the recent oil change I did ( was showing 45% oil life remaining when I changed it ) is what might have helped the matter, or if the lower ambient temperatures and humidity are what's causing the change.
> 
> ...


So I was experiencing the same exact issue that you are. Same exact noise, same exact code and everything. Took them forever to find the problem today. He hooked up an oil pressure gauge and then taped it to the windshield and went driving. Apparently it never went over 55PSI and when he would push in the clutch and let it go to idle it dropped down to 4PSI. Then it finally started making the noise for him. Also still intermittent though. Making him believe that it's the oil pump. Now they are replacing the oil pump and going from there. Hoping this is it. Thank god I got the extended warranty because my powertrain ended last month. So no matter what it won't cost me over $100.


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## apcnc (Oct 7, 2013)

Any sign of moisture in the oil? Any signs the coolant level has dropped? Being that it is an intermittent issue I'm wondering if your whipping some water or other contaminant causing the issues with the pump. What color is the oil? I would drain the oil and check for any signs and check the filter and housing. Strain the oil for any particles clumps etc. If the oil passage gets blocked the pressure could rise between blockage and pump but have low pressure past the blockage as well as bleed off at the pump as jblackburn describes with the pressure bypass. If the engine is is not terribly dirty I would add some Marvel (MMO) with the change and clean these passages. If the engine has a lot of buildup that may be your issue but you will need to be careful with the amount. Shouldn't be to bad if you use good oil. I would never change the oil by the on board oil life system. It pushes the oil to far. With all this carbon floating in the oil it also tends to to settle in the hydraulic lifters small passages get buildup etc.. Wearing or scarring on the bypass valve also. If its stuck open there is no pressure. At 100k it shouldn't be that bad worn but your oil should tell you something.


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