Ticking noise at cold startup - sticky valve lifter?

Hey Guys, I own for almost 2 years 2011 Cayman S with PDK . It did so far 42,000 km (~26,000 miles) The car is used only at weekends and quite often it's not used for 2 weeks, sometimes even 3 weeks. Recently i've noticed that at cold startup loud ticking noises come from the engine. Exactly like this: It doesn't happen every time. When it does - 5 minutes warming up doesn't help. After few minutes driving it disappears completely. The oil is Mobil-1 5w50 (this is what local dealer using) and it's 2,200 miles old (service was done 4 months ago). So - after a lot of reading my understanding it's valve lifter related. Am i right? What i didn't understand after all the reading i've done - is it bad and lifters need to be replaced ASAP? Or is it quite normal and as long as it disappears after warming up there is nothing to be worried about? Will hugely appreciate your input :thanks: Gene P.S. The car is used for spirited/canyon driving only - so it sees a lot of action and REVs (no driving city traffic). Local temperature is warm - similar to Florida.

FWIW....My previous Boxster and my current Cayman exhibited this on occasion but the tic sound went away within 15-20 seconds or so. I was told by two dealers this is normal in a Boxster type engine.

Could be lifter but first check it for a loose or missing exhaust header bolt. Mine had that and it would tick for a while until the engine heated up enough to snug things up. I was SOOOO relieved when I found it and torqued them and it went away.

Yes - will check exhaust and spark plugs too. I also found few post stating that this is caused by the "Air Pump": The Air Pump works injecting air (oxygen) on the exhaust when the car is cold to reduce emissions. It sounds like an engine with worn out connecting rod bearings. It last about 30 seconds. "To comply with ever-tightening emissions regulations, there's a pump to inject air into the exhaust manifolds during cold starts. Combined with a richer mixture and retarded spark timing, this injected air causes the catalyst to light off more quickly. But the system requires a camshaft-driven vacuum pump to compensate for the loss of engine vacuum during this cold-start procedure." The mixture and timing change possibly adds to the "noise". The main concern is whether this normal sound that other people are getting - or is it a ticking bomb? :crazy:

That sure sounds like lifter noise to me. My 2007 2.7l engine does that when it has sat for a few days, presumably due to the oil slowly draining from the lifters. It can last a few minutes, and usually I punch the gas pedal to get the revs / oil pressure up, and that makes it go away. From inside the car it never sounded quite as distinct as the ticking on your video, but I never went outside the car to listen - maybe I'll do that next time it happens. The Porsche service tech told me not to worry about it. I guess the issue is that with excessive valve clearance you could be accelerating wear on the camshaft / lifters. It's not a good thing, but if the noise goes away after a few minutes of driving you're probably OK. I'm sure there are others on the forum with far more experience on this than I - hopefully they'll respond, or you may try searching the forum.

Sounds pretty normal to me. Mine will make that noise occasionally, dealer and indy shop said normal.

Sounds like a lifter to me. I've never personally had or heard of an issue if it goes away shortly after startup. If a lifter it will typically do this on cold start after setting for a while. If every start its pretty worn. I don't think I've ever had a car with hydraulic lifters that hasn't had a bit of valve clatter at one time or the other after setting for a while. I've heard from multiple sources that the passages for lifters are quite small leaving them rather sensitive to the cold side of oil viscosity with 5W- the max. If you don't find anything else you could try a 0W-40 change to see if it made a difference. An expensive experiment if you're paying dealer prices. I've also seen it stated that the 5W-50 is better for rod bearings etc. Take this for what it's worth. No direct experience with different oil viscosities on this engine. Les

I use 0W-40 because it is better (thinner) for cold starts. Not sure whether that would compensate for the assumed rod bearings issue...

Yesterday evening i've tried to start up the engine. This time the car have standed for 4 days (as opposed to usual 1-2 weeks). The ticking disappeared almost completely very quickly - i would say in 10-15 seconds. Perhaps some small ticking remained - but definitely not the loud one. This probably indicates towards lifter, isn't it? I wouldn't like to deviate from local dealer's recommendation for 5w50. They (and also an indy shop) has better experience with it. I'm doing oil changes at the dealer anyway - want to keep service record in case i'll need them for a "good will".

Was this ever solved? Have the same issue. When the car has been standing for about 1 week I have a very loud tapping noise, goes away after 1-2 minutes of driving and never comes back until next time the car has been standing for 1 week.