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My car is making a ticking noise as well losing power when accelating what may be the problem?

Tiny
CHRISCAR
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 PONTIAC GRAND AM
  • 235,000 MILES
Hello

My car has a ticking sound which increases somewhat when accelerating but also I noticed it's slightly louder than before. The newest problem is when I put my foot on the gas to accelerate it's not accelerating like it use to and the RPM seems to be reving a bit higher than usual when accelerating.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Christine
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Thursday, September 15th, 2011 AT 5:02 AM

18 Replies

Tiny
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Question time. Manual or auto, is the tick in time with the engine? Listen at the rocker cover with a piece of hose use it like a stethoscope, can you hear the tic louder there?
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Thursday, September 15th, 2011 AT 7:28 AM
Tiny
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Hello

It is a 96 pontiac grand am 3.1 V6 SE. It is automatic. The ticking increases as I accelerate. I only noticed the loss of power the past few days. Is the rocker cover the metal over the engine? I will check with for where the sound is loudest once I get home from work tonight. Could it be a spark plug down causing the loss of power?

Thanks

C
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Thursday, September 15th, 2011 AT 7:59 AM
Tiny
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Yes the rocker cover is the tin cover on top of the engine, faulty plugs and leads can certainly cause this problem, the tic may be a spark shorting, often you can see this at night in the dark with the bonnet part up and engine running, if you see sparks jumping, replace the leads first. Do not touch with the engine running as it is extremely high voltage 80,0000 Volts + so it will hurt if you get a shock.
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Thursday, September 15th, 2011 AT 10:03 AM
Tiny
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In the past I've had my lifters sticking a bit so there was a ticking noise before it's just getting louder. Are leads the wiring leading to the spark plugs? I'm really not that familiar with it all. I see behind that plate covering the engine are 6 plug with the rubber boot coverings so I figure thats the spark plug area. I wouldn't know if one is bad though without taking them all out would I?

Thanks

C
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Thursday, September 15th, 2011 AT 11:59 PM
Tiny
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It seems like due to the lifter issue there may not be enough air getting in so my fuel may not be getting through and causing the acceleration problems? Does that sound possible?
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 12:05 AM
Tiny
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Yes the leads are the wires going to the spark plugs, if they are old and have not been changed in years, they may be failing under load, I would consider changing them with the spark plugs, air and fuel filters as well, the noisy lifters will not overly affect the air entering the engine, you can often improve the noise with an engine flush and fresh oil and a filter.
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 2:37 AM
Tiny
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Thank you for that information. I will take off that top cover then to the engine and take a look at the lead wires going to the spark plugs for any wear. So once that panel is off I should start up the engine and check for any shorting or sparking without touching the engine?

I will do an oil change and filter change also.

Christine
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 2:59 AM
Tiny
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If the leads have a grey powdery appearance they have been cross firing (arching) you can run it just do not touch anything that's all.
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 3:06 AM
Tiny
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That helps forsure. Just was checking on my model of vehicle pontiac grand am 1996 V6 3.1 are the lead wires attached to the distributor cap or they are removable as so I can buy the wires and not have to also get a cap?
The engine panel is that screwed on or pops off?

Thanks so much

Christine
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 3:09 AM
Tiny
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The should just pull out of the cap, unfortunately I am in Australia and we do not have that model here, butt normally any engine cover will be attached with screws, if it dose not move with a gentle tug, look around the cover for attaching screws, they should be fairly obvious I feel.
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 7:17 AM
Tiny
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Thank you

I'm wondering if it's losing power does that mean one of the cylinders is toast already? If it is a burnt out spark plug, will changing it fix the cylinder not working? I wasn't sure if they were related at all?

I will take a look at the plugs see what I can figure out.

I'm in Canada so I guess we have some different hours 2 am here.

Thanks

C
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 7:54 AM
Tiny
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A compression test will show up any valve problem, if you have any doubts get this done, Friday 6-00PM here.
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Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 7:58 AM
Tiny
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Sorry the end of your message or link didn't show up regarding a compression test?

Thanks

C
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Saturday, September 17th, 2011 AT 3:02 AM
Tiny
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Do you have access to a compression tester, do you know how to do this test?
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Saturday, September 17th, 2011 AT 10:17 PM
Tiny
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I can ask around see if any friends have a compression tester. Can one be used for any vehicle or are they made model specific?

Thanks

C
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 2:16 AM
Tiny
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Any tester for petrol engine will do.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 2:44 AM
Tiny
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Okay so once I find one compression tester what advice do you suggest.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 3:44 AM
Tiny
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Do the test dry, and if you do get a reading that is a bit low, do a wet test, that is add a small squirt of oil to the cylinder, this will seal the rings and if the comps improve it will be a ring problem, if not a valve problem.
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Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 AT 7:30 AM

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