Sorry for the extra s/c thread. I know we don't need another one. Today I experienced a ticking sound coming from the engine. My immediate thought was a valve or rocker. According to the Hayne's manual's fault finder, it could also be the s/c or an ancillary unit ie. water pump. As I listened to it, it sounded like it is coming from the driver's side of the car. It only happens at idle, and never upon start up. It usually has to run a while. I was wondering if this sound could be a failing supercharger. It's a very persistent tick. The car seems to drive okay. I'm going to take it over to a local independant BMW tech and see what he says as well.

 

Same thing for me, only it comes from the passenger side. Hard to say for sure though.

 

When my supercharger was going out it sounded like it was coming from the passenger side, however it turned out to be reverberating through the supercharger. It was in the gears on the waterpump side.
The ticking on mine was most noticable at idle, yet produced the noise at all throttle levels...it was just harder to hear.
It did start out sounding like lifters ticking, and got progressively louder, until I thought I had a bearing on the front of the motor going out. It did this over several thousand miles (spent trying to track down the source), as I never imagined it to be from the supercharger.

 

On my way to work this morning, I didn't experience any ticking. The problem now is that several times during the commute, the car would surge. Basically for a split second, it was like boost kicked in, but I wasn't mashing the accelerator. I was just cruising at 55mphs. Weird!! Any ideas. I'll post what happens on the drive home today.

 

Time to pick up a stethoscope from HF!

 

Yeah, but what will I be listening for? It drove home fine today from work, but when I pulled into the driveway, it was ticking. When I turned the car off, it ticked as the engine died. I don't know if I should just buy a s/c and replace it, or try and diagnose this.

 

Well, hopefully the source of the ticking... If it isn't coming from the SC then you'll have something new to worry about!

 

Take a long pry bar or super long screw driver and [B]carefully[B] place it on the nose of the supercharger while it is running. Be sure not to interfere with the belt train or any moving parts. hold your ear up to the handle end, making it a makeshift stethescope, and by touching various parts around the engine bay, you will be able to localize the sound. Post where you hear the sound the loudest and we'll talk about what it is.

Be sure that the bar that you use is long enough to keep your face away from moving parts in the engine bay (i.e. don't get long hair tangled in the pulleys--that would smart a bit).

 

Thank you all for the tips and help. I will most certainly use your method. Once I get some information tomorrow, I will post them here. Thanks again!!!!

 

That does not sound like a super charger sound. I had that problem and it turned out to be the hydraulic lash adjusters. They had a plastic cap that had started to come apart. I had to but a whole new set at 500.00 from mini.

 

Dog on that's expensive, but you're right. I now believe it is in the clutch. Here's why. In some other threads I have mentioned that my clutch slips a little in first gear. Nothing outrageous, just a little hint of slip. On cold days or when it's moist out, I'll get a second of squeal sometimes. After taking off, however it's all good. Well, this morning on my way to work, it drives fine, no weird noises while driving. I pull into the parking lot, back into the space and tick, tick, tick, tick while she idles. So, I mash in the clutch pedal and the ticking stops. I release it and it starts again. I shut the engine off and the tick continues as the engine shuts down. I fire it back up, but this time I depress the clutch pedal and shut the engine down and it sounded like a normal engine. Anybody have any experience with this? Please chime in.

 

Sounds like you got the ol' jammed flywheel. Search for the Chewbacca sound and you'll probably be able to match your symptoms with what people experience. The only fix for this is to replace the flywheel (which you would do at the same time as the clutch). I recommend waiting until you need a clutch to do the repair because it's expensive, and doesn't do harm to the rest of the car--just slightly accelerated clutch wear.

 

Thank you sooo much for the info Helix!!!! That is the best news I've heard in a while!!!! I think this summer is going to be a clutch change, so I'll just Do it all then.

 

After reading this thread, I tried the screwdriver/stethoscope trick. I isolated the noise to the tensioner. The tensioner was moving in and out, from what I assume was different levels of stretch in the belt. Anyway, I replaced the belt and the problem went away.

 

JCOA - keep an eye on it... if it seems that new belts "stretch" too fast (no hole showing in tensioner soon after install) then your crank damper may be failing... This was a symptom I had prior to mine failing completely.

I'm beginning to believe that all MINI OEM dampers will fail eventually on aggressively driven cars. I'm hearing way too many stories about this lately.

 

Thanks Blimey. I figured the damper thing was just a maintenance item after reading about them here. Thinking of doing the Super Damper or RMW item when the time comes. Any thoughts on those two?

I still have something going on in that area though. It fixed the rattling sound, but I still get a little squeal at startup when it's cold. Much reduced since I replace the belt. Thinking maybe it's a belt tensioner. You know, I got a reasonable deal on a lightly used supercharger, so I may as well just replace everything, the supercharger, the damper and tensioner, and call it a day. Problem solved!?

 

My Clutch started doing string little noises a while back... However they went on about 5000 Miles and when I would press the clutch the noises would seem to hush; until the last 500 when the noises got progressively worse and I replaced it with a new OEM clutch. I got 90000 miles out the the original clutch. Depending on how old your car is you'll probably want to change the OEM shift cables once your mech is in there.
My 2 cents is start saving money and just change it when its about to fail. You'll notice the difference in noise and engagement when its close.

Regarding the tensioner, if the car is idling and you put your ear close to the tensioner area you should hear the vibration of the belt change about once every second or two. That difference in would tell you the little strut on the tensioner is weak.

Between 80 and 90k Miles I changed the Crank pulley, Tensioner, Clutch, BPV, Fan and Engine mount. Yes its a lot of money, but the car is ready to do another 90k. This is about average wear.