[Kannassee]

I am going to try to upload a recording that I made earlier today.

The first time I heard it was more than a year ago after some spirited driving in the I95 express lanes.

WEIRD IDLING SOUND (from inside the car cabin, driver's side )

When I arrived at my destination before turning off the car I heard a tac-tac-tac while idling.
I sort of freaked out but it disappeared shortly afterwards.

Fast forward to January 2023 and since I had a couple of misfires during a cold start I followed the idea that these cars need to be driven hard in order to avoid the dreaded carbon deposits in the intake valves.

So I added a bottle of Seafoam to the gas tank, and after the temperature was ok I drove the car that day hard. I did not accelerate hard but I rev the engine in 3 or 4 gear to 5000 rpm or 5500 for some time.

When I arrived at my destination guess what..... I heard again that weird sound while the car was idling. But this time it did not disappear..

I changed the oil but it is still there.

The weird thing is that you can not hear it from outside the cabin. The engine sounds great, and it is working perfectly.

But when you are inside and the car is idling I can hear it when I turn off the AC.....sounds a little like a diesel engine?

I don't know if its an engine valve lifter tap, or that the valves need to be adjusted, or if there is something worst like a cylinder or piston issue......or the oil pump, or the fuel pump....etc etc......

Although I have the Mopar warranty I don't trust them much if they need to replace the engine, probably they will try to find any reason to avoid paying for that....

On Monday I will take it to the dealer but I don't trust them much at all. They probably will say that they all sound like diesels while idling.

But I know that is not the case. That sounds was not there before, it appeared after I revved the car that day.

I found two different mechanics that supposedly have been repairing alfas for a long time, I will visit them first thing in the morning on Monday.

I really don't want to part ways with the car. I went and tested a 2019 GLC AMG 63s that supposedly is as fast as the Quad, its a beautiful car and its really quiet while driving it, lots of power. But it is not the same..... I know I will miss the Quad.

( By the way, after reading in their forum, probably I wont buy the car...lots of problems !!)

Hopefully it wont be something serious. But I am worried.

 

[AlexDmoto]

It may not be the engine if you can only hear it from inside the car. If the engine is making noise you would best hear it with the hood open.

 

[Franiacob]

My QV ticks like crazy when it's idling but I cannot hear it from the inside of the car. Both my current 23 QV ticks and my prior 21 QV ticked, but the noise can't be heard from the cabin.

 

[Peter A]

If you are under warranty, I’d be taking it to the dealer. At the very least you will create a record with Alfa that you have a possible fault. There is no “valve adjustment” these modern cars have hydraulic lifters. If you have an unusual sound though, should be checked out. Do you have fully documented oil changes as specified by the owners manual. Hope so, otherwise they will void your warranty. It’s a $30,000 engine. Don’t say you started putting additives in the tank.

if you take it to an Indy, that mechanic might be able to diagnose it but you will end up at the dealer or pay for repair out of your pocket. Not too many mechanics are gonna be familiar with a quad motor, which is a complicated beast.

I don’t have a quad but my 4C was making a progressively worsening tapping racket, DI fuel pump was replaced under warranty. DI engines in general make a a ton of noise at idle. The 2.0 sounds like a freaking diesel at idle.

 

[Kannassee]

Thanks for the advice. !!!
I always changed the oil at the dealer at the recommended intervals and paid almost 400$ for that lol
I will try tomorrow to take a video and not an audio file since I dont know how to upload those.

 

[pocholin]

Thanks for the advice. !!!
I always changed the oil at the dealer at the recommended intervals and paid almost 400$ for that lol
I will try tomorrow to take a video and not an audio file since I dont know how to upload those.

upload to Youtube and create a sharable link to post here

 

[Kannassee]

upload to Youtube and create a sharable link to post here

I tried uploading a video.
lets see if this works...it is not very loud.

quad idling

 

[Kannassee]

I think the link works, the only thing is that it is not very loud

 

[ALFAOFFROAD]

Random question:

Have you checked how tight your spark plugs are?

Could be a loose plug I hear, could have been that a year ago and it worked itself right again after loosening this time it isn't.

Outside shot but easy to see.


Otherwise, is anything else happening along with the sound? How does your exhaust look? Are you getting any oily residue at your exhaust tips?

 

[Kannassee]

Random question:

Have you checked how tight your spark plugs are?

Could be a loose plug I hear, could have been that a year ago and it worked itself right again after loosening this time it isn't.

Outside shot but easy to see.


Otherwise, is anything else happening along with the sound? How does your exhaust look? Are you getting any oily residue at your exhaust tips?

No oil at the exhaust tips. They are kinda black covered with soot but there is no oil at all....

wow I really wish that it would be something like a spark plug.

The car runs fine and the engine sounds great.

It is only when you are inside and the engine is idling that you can hear that tok tok tok.....and only between 900 to 1100 rpm. And I don't think it matters much if it is hot or cold.

 

[ALFAOFFROAD]

No solutions but.... If you really want to figure it out yourself,

Get a stethoscope and use it to isolate where the sound is going from.


Also, touch the soot, is it dry and stuck on or greasy?

 

[ducky]

If it sounds like two quarters being tapped together it’s the high pressure direct injectors. Completely normal. You may hear it more in the QV because of the hood vents.

 

[AlexDmoto]

I listened to the clip in the link. I could not hear anything unusual.

 

[Kannassee]

Well, I hope it is normal.

I just got worried because before it did not sound like that and because I noticed the sound after some spirited driving.

 

[factoryhack]

If it truly was an engine knock, you would likely be able to hear it standing by the engine bay while idling with the hood up.

Sounds too subtle to be a mechanical rotating assembly issue. Using a stethoscope with a probe that can touch various surfaces is what mechanics use to trace the origin of noises like you describe. The dealer can do that.

You didn’t mention mileage or in-service date but you do have service contract coverage, so bringing it in, even if they most likely won’t find anything, will at least provide documentation in the small chance there really is something amiss.

So many things, injector firing, A/C compressor, belt noise, etc. can sound serious but really are nothing to worry about.

Let us know what they say.

 

[pocholin]

I'm thinking it is normal, you probably didn't notice before if gas was summer mix and now it is winter mix, that could have a small impact. It will be hard to prove anything to the dealer if there are no error codes. Good luck.

 

[ViscontiVerde 164L*]

Don't pur any of that **** in your tank, 99% of it is snake oil

 

[AlfaRomeoCares]

Hello,

We see that you're planning to take this in to your dealer for diagnosis. If you do decide to take it in, we are available for extra support. Send us a message with appointment details if you'd like to go that route.

Lex
Alfa Romeo Cares

 

[DavidM17]

If it sounds like two quarters being tapped together it’s the high pressure direct injectors. Completely normal. You may hear it more in the QV because of the hood vents.

This was my thought as well. The injectors on the quad are pretty noisy, especially when cold. For the 2020+ cars I wonder if the port injectors add to the noise. I definitely hear it on my car. It quiets after warm up, but is still there. It may be that the seafoam made one of the injectors more noisy for some reason.

As far as carbon build-up. That's just going to be something to deal with on DI only cars. Just plan on getting a walnut blast done when the car gets higher in miles. I personally wouldn't run any of the cleaners or additives in the fuel other than maybe using Texaco fuel with techron every few fill ups.

 

[PPM]

Hi all,

My 2019 has occasionally been making similar noises. Usually after not being started for a week or more. Loud ticking from engine with same side exhaust noise at the same "timing". After a good warm up it goes.
Have a listen: Quad Noise Exhaust.mov and Quad Noise Eng.mov

What do we think?