Strange Clicking Under the Hood
 

While I was idling in McDonalds drive-thru last night, I noticed with my window rolled down that there was a clicking coming from something, not the engine I do not think, but something else.

I narrowed it down a lot by finding out it has to do with the fan when the Defroster or Heat is on, with the defroster turned off there was no more clicking, and as soon as I turned it on again, the clicking came back.

So, is this something I should get fixed or is it something too minor to care about?

I love taking care of the RX8, but I just want to make sure things don't slip past me, ya know?

Thanks in advance,
Visin

get it fixed so it doesn't bother you anymore. plus the joy of having just accomplished something.

and your sure it wasnt comming from the AC?

Well I mean, it starts clicking when the fan is turned on in the car, so maybe it is the AC but if it was clicking, what would cause that?

-Visin

I think you are hearing the relays click open and closed when the cooling fan turns on and off.... Cut on the defroster or the heat or the AC, and go listen under the hood. If the clicks are at the exact times that the fan cuts on and off then it is the relays..... Its only doing it when you have on the defroster or heat because the cooling fan is set to run either when the engine is too hot or when the "A/C" button is pushed.... If you press the "A/C" button to turn it off that should make the sound stop too if it is relays.

lateralus one thing though about our cars is that the AC runs with the heater on, and the AC button off. There is some speculation but the best reason I have heard is two part. One is to make sure the AC gets turned on at least once in a while in the winter, and two is for defogging reasons.

btw the clicking isnt just when i turn it off or no, it happens every 'x' seconds every 'x' seconds. So there will be a 2 second delay in the clicking, and it does that every 2 seconds. Understand what I mean?

Ah gotcha. Yeah I'm in Alabama and rarely have a chance to turn on the heater ha... But yeah, if the A/C runs whenever the heater is on then it definitely sounds like you must be hearing relays from the cooling fan

Yeah I know what you mean..... The cooling fan cycles when the A/C is turned on..... It will cut on for a few seconds then cut back off. And itll do that a couple times a minute.

So is that something that I need to fix or is it common in all the RX8's? I haven't had my 04' RX8 for too long, but I love learning as I go, so its always nice to have such intelligent people around on this forum.

Wait, is it clicking every two seconds, or is it just clicking twice (two seconds apart) when it does? If it is what I'm talking about then it won't be every 2 seconds, it would be more like "click(2 seconds)click....wait 30 seconds.... click(2 seconds)click"........... As long as the fan seems to be running smoothly it shouldn't be any problem.

you could do an audio video for us...

Yeah I will do an audio video for you soon, but it is not once every 30 seconds, its a click every 2 seconds, if that makes sense.

Ok I got the video (just taken now, its only audio since its pitch black outside), and it doesnt seem to be making the click as often as last time, but there are like 3 "clicks" in the video, care to watch?

RX8 Clicking Noise

Hmm, the click sound itself sounds just like my relays do when they open and close, but the timing is a bit different.... Did you check and see if the clicks coincide with the cooling fan cutting on and off?

Yeah it goes perfectly with the cooling fan, just didn't know if that was a mess up or what. Im not very good with mechanical problems, but having this RX8 is teaching me fast! lol.

Haha yeah an 8 is a good teacher... It should be fine. I was worried that clicking too when I first notice it but everything I saw said it wasn't a problem. If it starts to sound or seem like the fan isn't working right then you may want to get it checked out, but if that click is the only thing you have going on then I wouldn't worry about it.

thats just a the relay turns on the fan. dont worry about it.

Sounds to me like it's the compressor clutch cycling; don't worry about it.

Having a very similar issue
 

same clicking noise, only issue i'm having is that my vehicle is not blowing out hot air at all. I've been trying to troubleshoot this for a while, it happened after replacing the battery. Tried resoldering the HVAC, hoses running to fire wall seem to be both hot and around the say temp (cold out so hard to tell by touching), everything works airflow wise, except air wont warm up.... temp gauge seems to work fine so prob not the thermostat
Anyway, I adjusted knobs to try an hear noises in the engine bay to troubleshoot.... so when i have the heat all the way up and the fan on four and on my feet, ill hear a click on and then it sounds like a fan is turned on. when looking under the hood, i can see something start and then moments later stop spinning also with a click (AC compressor) I believe there is actually two separate clicks, one from the fuse box and one from the compressor. Do i just need a new relay? or is it a problem with the compressor? or is this maybe just the compressor turning the fan on to cool the radiator since im blasting the fan or something. New rx8 owner so im learning as i go but damn, you couldnt say it better.... this car sure does help you learn fast.

update w/ video
 

Just recorded a video of what im hearing and seeing. I feel like the compressor struggles to turn on at times, and shakes the care when it tries