2 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHTac-tac-tac Noise = Bad Coil?
Reported or suspected cause
clutch slipping or worse
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Identified cause
1
Suspected cause
0
Reported fixes
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that suspect a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suspected cause · Original poster
I was at a stop light this week and I felt the engine running rough at idle for an instance, minor tremor, RPMs dropped a bit, felt lack of power when started moving, it had happeded before, thought it was the clutch slipping or worse.
Leading evidence: 'clutch slipping or worse' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'clutch slipping or worse' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check ignition coils' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
These are separate views of the same evidence. Frequency alone does not establish a fix, and these counts must not be added together.
clutch slipping or worse
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Identified cause
1
Suspected cause
0
Reported fixes
Read evidence and context
Discussions that suspect a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suspected cause · Original poster
I was at a stop light this week and I felt the engine running rough at idle for an instance, minor tremor, RPMs dropped a bit, felt lack of power when started moving, it had happeded before, thought it was the clutch slipping or worse.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
2 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261026T225432Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
1999 C4 - 135K miles: I started hearing this tac-tac-tac noise coming out of the exhaust on the passenger side, it was faint at first, my mechanic thought I was hearing things, but it became more pronounced. We talked about the prospect of a new engine given the high miles. The opinion I got from him and another mechanic was that the lifters were likely causing the noise + the high mileage. Another mechanic told me not to worry.
In retrospect, I wish I had recorded tac-tac-tac noise. It was loud enough to be disturbing but I wasn't prepared to buy another engine or crack mine open. It kind of sounded like the noise in these videos I found on You Tube:
You Tube
More like this one:
You Tube
At any rate, drove the car with the noise the last 10K miles or so... I was at a stop light this week and I felt the engine running rough at idle for an instance, minor tremor, RPMs dropped a bit, felt lack of power when started moving, it had happeded before, thought it was the clutch slipping or worse. On the way home that day, a mile in on my now short 2 mile trip home: Lack of power again, rough idle and the engine light started blinking. Shut it down for a bit, restarted and decided to nurse it home.
Had it towed to my Indy and based on my description he felt it could be a coil failure. Sure enough cylinder failure #6 showed on the code reader. $200 later with a new coil installed it runs like it's supposed to and most importantly the tac-tac-tac noise is now gone. The engine sounds great, just the way it's supposed to and there is more power. Happy camper!
I feel like a dodged a huge bullet, knocking on wood.
Got the car with 18K miles at the end of 2004, have 135K now still with the original clutch (I got when I bought the car), IMS etc... Replaced the coolant tank a few years ago and other than regular maintenace, that's about it. Just had the front brakes redone for the first time last month, with the tac-tac-tac noise and all.
It used to be my commutter, 70 very enjoyable FWY miles round trip to work, specially with light traffic, and with no issues. Now I drive it 2 miles to work each way.
I just thought I'd share my good fortune on this long post and hope it can alleviate some stress or provide a possible answer if you start to hear an annoying tac-tac-tac noise coming out from one of the banks into your exhaust.
Have your mechanic check the coils!
