loud fast engine ticking at low revs? need help before it blows up or dies :(

[Cherry100]

Hi boys and girls- thanks for reading

Our E36 318i saloooon is playing about again- this time with an enchanting 'tic-tic-tic-tic-tic' from the engine bay. It's a fast clicking that doesn't change frequency- its either there or not and doesn't change with engine speed.

And it's very loud- loud enough to think 'ooh that's loud' when we drive past- pedestrians stare like it's about to blow... that's how loud it is.

This ticking cuts in and out when she's idling, when the clutch is down, and when we pull away from stationary-but it's not contstant and it stops at around 2500 revs.

It sounds like it's coming from the back of the engine, but hard to pinpoint.

any help very much appreciated!! thanks guys xx

oh- p.s. the previous owner had over-filled the oil. It's way up past maximum, so i'm wondering if this was an attempt to raise oil pressure and feed oil to the lifters? If so it doesn't seem to have worked (maybe it did work for a while- it wasn't ticking for the first few weeks we had it- but we don't have any leaks or anything, so why would it start again now?)

feel like banging my head against the bloody thing tbh.

thanks all xx

[Jack Dabsy]

Deffo the lifters (or cam shells), and you're right, they did "Try" to silence it... Grrrr

Here's a drastic way of diagnosing... Get quite a few rags/cloth, remove the spark-plugs and rocker-cover... Surround the head with cloth, have a friend turn the engine and have a real look/listen at the cam/lifters... Doesn't need to be a long turnover but the rags will be there to soak up some spilled oil...

Just a cheap 'n quick way of finding out !!

[Cherry100]

bloody hell, that sounds scary!! lol will get boyfriend to it- i'm not touching that one lol

He changes the oil last week- the oil on the dipstick looked pretty clean, but it was black as hell coming out the other end, so i think the twat literally just shoved more oil in before we got her >.<

the clicking seems to have died down with the thicker oil, and in honesty, i think he wants to sell it on, now (it's just too big for us, really, and he wants something little to chuck about over winter) so we might just sell her on cheaply with the few little issues she's got.

thanks mate!