Constant ticking noise heard from drivers seat

Hi all, So I've recently bought my first Porsche , a 2007 Cayman 2.7. It has been great fun to drive so far, but the one thing that is worrying me is a ticking noise which I can hear from inside the cabin. From what I have researched, ticking is fairly normal to some degree, and you can normally hear the injectors from the right side vent next to the engine. However, I can hear the ticking nearly all the time from inside the cabin. It is mainly behind my right ear (in a right hand drive car). The ticking gets faster with RPM, and you can hear it get slightly louder with load (ie if you lug the engine at low rpm). It is not the loudest ticking, but it can be heard above the radio (but not if I have windows down). The only other time I can't hear it is when I've got my foot down. It's much more noticeable when cruising. I do have 3 months warranty on the car, so I can take it back to get fixed, but it is a fair drive away. I just wanted to check if the noise is normal or not. From what I've read, it should not be THAT noticeable that I can hear it in the car with the radio on. I appreciate the help! Edit 04/10/2021: Car is back at the garage I bought it from. Hoping to hear back from them soon about what they think!

I had the ticking noise in my 2007 CS when I took it over from the previous owner. Was difficult to locate and finally found out that I had a faulty water pump which I replaced. Done. Sound gone. May be worth checking it out as the pumps tend to fail. Watch out for wet patches on the floor or your coolant levels dropping after a top up Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply. The water pump was something I had on my mind (or at least what I was hoping for). It has not been replaced ever, and I was hoping to find one where it had as I've heard they're a common failure. Was the ticking always there for the water pump, or was it intermittent? Did you diagnose the issue yourself, or did a garage find it? If the former, what ended up giving it away? I was planning on removing my drive belt, so the pump wouldn't be running to see if the noise disappeared, but the garage has said that will void my warranty so I'm not going to touch it myself. I guess I can ask them to have a listen with a mechanics stethoscope or something.

Check the exhaust manifold to head bolts. Mine's a 987.2 but I found a couple loose, and I know others have found some that loosened enough to fall out. An exhaust leak'll tick, so that's one thing to cross off the list. Don't go nuts cranking them down or anything, just make sure they're all there and they're not loose.

Thanks, it looks like an easy thing to check, so I'll double check that. Dropping the car off at the garage next week (for some other niggles). I'll make sure to update this.

Ticking loud enough to hear in cabin is not normal. Push hard for an answer . You have three months. Ask to be there when they do the diagnostic. It is their guarantee they offer . Don't settle for "we looked and found nothing"

Thanks, it is good to get some confirmation that it is not normal. Clearly I need to be more attentive on my test drives! I think the issue was that specific one was the first one I drove so I was more excited than the others.

I had this same issue in my 986 . I read many articles of opinion, one said loose spark plug . I would never have believed a loose plug would sound like a noisy valve but that was exactly what was wrong.

Hello James, As other already mentioned, there are different reasons that could be the cause the ticking noises you are hearing: loose spark plugs: Free injector ticking: I would suggest using a couple of cans of LiquiMoly Jectron Fuel Injector Cleaner (one at the time, back to back with full tank of gas) stuck lifters: Again, Liqui Moly Lifter Additive piston skirt slapping: Unfortunately the only cure for this is to disassemble the engine and get a new set of LN Nickies.. Therefore you may want to start with the easiest (and cheapest ones), good luck!

Hi guys, just a quick update. The car is currently at the garage I bought it from. There's a few little niggles that they are sorting, but they said they sorted the ticking noise by simply running injector cleaner through it. Do you think it was probably because the car would have been sat for a month or two? Or do you think cleaning injectors may just be a temporary fix? Other things they are sorting are a broken boot release switch, an intermittent radiator fan, and also doing an alignment. Hopefully I can get it back next week and start properly enjoying the car! The ticking definitely was a big worry.

Hello James, please post back the results. I hate to sound negative, but I find it hard to believe that the injectors are what you are hearing. Yes, you do hear them, along with other noises, as the motor is basically in the passenger compartment with you, with some sound deadener to quiet it a bit, but there are other things that I would suspect first. I hope they can fix it with a can of cleaner, but seldom are things that easy. Removing the drive belt briefly is a good test. Lets hope it is simple, but if not, lets hope your 90 day warranty gets it fixed. We would all like to hear the result. Good luck Rich

Should be getting the car back early next week. Will post an update then! Fingers crossed it was that simple.