2011 3.6L engine noise.

[DenverCamaroGuy]

Hey everyone;

New user here and first post. I have a 2011 3.6l I just bought and it has the worst sound. I can't seem to track down where it is coming from. Sounds like a lifter tick but might be a bad rod bearing. Im sure it is isolated to cylinder 3. If you start it up and unplug #3 coil the sound usually goes away almost completely. Any thoughts, advice or suggestions before I teardown the engine completely.

[SimpleGreen]

Doesn't explain why it goes away when unplugging the coil but the V6 in these cars has a high pressure fuel pump that I believe is mounted in the rear of the driver side cylinder head and it makes one hell of a tick because its generating over/around a thousand pounds of fuel pressure. It is driven off the camshaft. I noticed it pretty readily on my 2012 V6 I had.

[StreetRage320]

check it in the dark and look for any sign of an arc..

[DenverCamaroGuy]

What would that show me? It really sounds mechanical but I havent worked on an engine this advanced.

[DenverCamaroGuy]

I have read alot about the fuel pumps and injectors being noisy. This is extremely loud and audible inside over the radio. I wish I could post the video I made.

[gringo]

Replace the coil on that cylinder and see if it goes away. Maybe the coil is going bad or something.

[DenverCamaroGuy]

Well guys thanks for all the replies and tips, unfortunately we pretty much just confirmed the worst case scenario, it has a rod knock. However I have been doing some research and while I will be rebuilding that engine I will also be doing a few performance upgrades. Had a few people me I should l99 or LS3 swap it but it seems like that isnt very easy or cost effective so performance V6 it is.

[spyderbuddy]

me too
blown head gasket, going to do some mods