97 GP SE N/A 3800 Series II
178,500 miles
This is one of those things that's hard to describe but I'll try. This sounds like a little more of a dull, soft clank that changes in frequency with RPM. I'm suspecting timing chain hardware or a noisy accessory but I really don't know where to start. It started over 8 months ago and has only moderately worsened since then.
I only usually hear it at idle, and even then it kind of fades in and out. I hear it at several different intensities in a time-span as short as 30 seconds but it is always present even if it sometimes gets whisper quiet.
In trying to distinguish this from other ticking noises I've heard in person and on YouTube. The most significant distinguishing characteristic is when at idle I gently rev up to about 2500 to 3000 RPM and then quickly release the throttle: the sound reaches it's highest intensity when returning to idle. In fact, the higher the RPM the quieter the sound is. But thankfully the engine doesn't chug, sputter or stall at all when returning to idle.
Hoping to get a video of this on youtube but until then any advice would be sweet.
