Ticking noise

[Leeg]

Hi, I give my e53 3.0d a service today, I now have a slight/suttle ticking sound/noise coming from (I think) the front belt area, only when warm, I'm 99% sure it's not coming from engine but could be wrong, the oil I used was castrol edge 0w30 as recormended on the castrol website, also oil level is right on max level, any ideas..

[SMOKEY53]

How many km's on the car and what oil was in there previously? Did you only change oil ?


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[Leeg]

Hi mate, don't no in km,s 133000 miles, 2003, full service history, don't no what previous oil was, first service iv done, oil,air, also changed toilet roll type crankcase breather for vortex type.

[rb0135]

Recommended oil from BMW E53 Diesels is 5w30, not 0w30 or you can use a 0w40 weight and then again, it depends on the location your are in.

0 in cooler/cold temperature areas would mean the oil is thinner oil at start up and why Castrol recommend it for you area for winter.

I presume you did the filter as well when you did the oil?

The only other thing is that it might have needed an oil change for a while.

Don't follow BMW's long life oil theory either. I do mine every 7000km (roughly change for summer, then Winter) for piece of mind, not 15K+ km as recommended by BMW.

You just need to do a search and you will find a lot of debate about what oil should/can be used.

I tend to stick with BMW recommended and only use Castrol myself. Any oil that meets the minimum BMW specs , will be OK.

You wont do any damage with the 0w30 but for older/high mileage engines, usually people recommend a 0w40.

There's my 2 cents (pennies) worth.

Rob

[Leeg]

Hi rbo135, many many thanks for your feedback, yes done filters also, I also spent about a week searching online about what oil to use and so many comments with different prefrences mainly Mobil 1 or castrol edge so in the end I just went on castrol website and they recormended castrol edge 0w30, when oil arrived I was a bit concerned because it said bmw LL04 (I expected it to say bmw LL01) so again looked online and found comments saying LL04 is also suitable for cars that require LL01, think I might just change it for castrol 0w40 do you think the new oil filter will be ok or should I change that also.

[rb0135]

What year is yours and how cold is your climate at the moment?

BMW diesel (2004+) need the LL04 spec. Sounds like you have an early model diesel.

LL04 is a higher spec and yes, I think? Cars needing LL01 should be fine.

How did you check the oil level once you completed the change?

You need to have the car at running temperature, leave for 20 mins, then check the oil level. Also, if you have a pre 2004, they take 7 litres of oil, where the later ones use 7.5 litres.

There is a guy on this forum that goes by the handle POWERS1. He knows all about the diesels. Maybe he will chime in if he is around. Our US friends (where this forum is located) never had the experience with the E53 diesels. I don't think they were allowed by US law to use them.

I wouldn't waste what you have done as it wont do any damage but you might need 0w40 for the age of your engine.

I am only speaking from what I have read and "tried" to understand so don't take my word as gospel. I put 0W40 in mine, it seemed like it didn't like it. It seemed so different, so I went back to 5w30.

[Leeg]

It's a 2003, temp at moment ranges from approx down too -5 at night and up too +5 daytime, yes 7 litres right on max line, I really do appreciate your feedback, been trying to upload pic off my x5 but I'm not the best with iPads/computers will keep trying, Ha.

[rb0135]

Ok, the 0w30 would be good for startups at that temp as basically the 0w30 would be less thinker than 5w30. I wouldn't worry too much. People also say you get better mileage with say a 0w30 than a 0w40, but with so many variables that would come into play, I couldn't see a way of comparing it.

Not saying it is, but maybe now the engine has fresh oil, it is less noisy so you can actually hear the ticking that might have been there all along????

I suggest you also edit your profile signature and put in your "cars" details. It makes it easy to help when you post (like year, engine, colour, etc)

Rob

[powers1]

Hi Leeg,
Smokey and Rob are giving you great advice and Rob has had a lot of experience on his own X5 and some issues too,especially loss of performance when can is warm and I hope he has sorted it.
Back to your car.One thing I can't see in your symptoms and feedback ,is whether the engine made the ticking noise before you changed the oil???
Regarding the oil you used,it's fine and the guys that favour Mobil1(Great oil ,used it in my M3E30)are mainly guys with M3s High revving and the viscosity is 10w60.
As the guys here already mentioned ,the Bmw recommended is 5w30 0r 0W40.The brand is commercial,so as long choose a known brand with Bmw specs,that's fine.I use BP7000 5W30.eventhough at work (Bmw dealer),we have to use Castrol Edge 5w30,so it's just a commercial thing.Been rumours that. Bmw will be changing to Shell .
A ticking noise can occur on higher mileage engines when you change from a higher viscosity oil,say from 5w30 to a lower viscosity,like 0w30,due to the latter being thinner and doesn't "fill in the gaps"of the
Wear and tear of the high mileage engine parts,where a thicker oil will and thus stop the ticking noise and excessive oil smoke.
Don't know if this is true in your case as I don't know what oil was in your engine previously.
This is only thing I can say at the moment,but if it's not your oil change,you need to look at other ticking noise possibilities:-
1.A loose or faulty injector (Quite common and something I already sorted for a member here)
2.Tappets (maybe spring is stuck preventing it from filling with oil)
3.Cracked manifold (facelift only and you should smell exhaust gases)

Look forward to your answer

[rb0135]

Originally Posted by powers1

Hi Leeg,
Smokey and Rob are giving you great advice and Rob has had a lot of experience on his own X5 and some issues too,especially loss of performance when can is warm and I hope he has sorted it.
Back to your car.One thing I can't see in your symptoms and feedback ,is whether the engine made the ticking noise before you changed the oil???
Regarding the oil you used,it's fine and the guys that favour Mobil1(Great oil ,used it in my M3E30)are mainly guys with M3s High revving and the viscosity is 10w60.
As the guys here already mentioned ,the Bmw recommended is 5w30 0r 0W40.The brand is commercial,so as long choose a known brand with Bmw specs,that's fine.I use BP7000 5W30.eventhough at work (Bmw dealer),we have to use Castrol Edge 5w30,so it's just a commercial thing.Been rumours that. Bmw will be changing to Shell .
A ticking noise can occur on higher mileage engines when you change from a higher viscosity oil,say from 5w30 to a lower viscosity,like 0w30,due to the latter being thinner and doesn't "fill in the gaps"of the
Wear and tear of the high mileage engine parts,where a thicker oil will and thus stop the ticking noise and excessive oil smoke.
Don't know if this is true in your case as I don't know what oil was in your engine previously.
This is only thing I can say at the moment,but if it's not your oil change,you need to look at other ticking noise possibilities:-
1.A loose or faulty injector (Quite common and something I already sorted for a member here)
2.Tappets (maybe spring is stuck preventing it from filling with oil)
3.Cracked manifold (facelift only and you should smell exhaust gases)

Look forward to your answer

Thanks Powers1, I was hoping you were around to offer advice to Leeg.. RE: my performance issues... Still the same, but that's another story for another day