Strange sound from the glovebox area - clicking relay?
 

Hello,

I have a strange sound that comes from behind the glovebox area in my 8. (2005 GT 6MT)

The sound is like a really rapid click, more than once a second or so - not super loud, but definitely not quiet. It clicks for a few seconds and stops - sometimes it starts again, but usually it's quiet after the first batch.

The sound happens only when I am starting the car - to be clear, I don't need to actually crank the car, even just turning it to the ON position does this. If I turn the car ON, but don't start it, it'll click for a bit, and then stop as I said above. Then, if I crank the engine, she starts fine and doesn't make any unexpected sounds.

It doesn't happen every single time I start the car; I haven't been able to nail down a pattern yet, though it seems cold starts are more likely to cause it. Leaving various accessories on or off when stopping the car (fans, A/C, etc) don't seem to affect it either way.

My limited troubleshooting knowledge makes me thing it must be electrical, and that it's probably something like a relay. But before I take the glove box apart, does anyone have any suggestions for me?

Thanks in advance! :smoker:

Air pump.

Would you mind elaborating a bit? When I think air pump, I think something that fills up my tires.

Is this serious? Can it cause damage if not fixed quickly? Any ballpark on price, and how difficult it is to do?

From my quick reading, the air pump seems to be more of a high pitched buzzing sound, and it happens when actually cranking the engine (for one minute or so, from a cold start).

This sound happens before the actual cranking, so it's almost certainly something electrical, right? There's no vacuum or anything mechanical spinning at that point.

Any other ideas?

The RX8 Air Pump puts extra fresh air into the exhaust system during start up. It mixes with the fuel in the exhaust and causes a lean condition in the catalytic converter warming it up quickly for pollution control.
It was just a thought.
Not sure what's behind the glove box that might cause such a noise.
Have you tried changing the interior air control to fresh air and back to recirculated air to see if the noise occurs?

I'll give it a shot - it's almost always on outside air. You think it might be some sort of electrical thing that controls whatever baffles inside of the air tubing?

Daytime Running Light (DRL) module going bad. Only applies to Canadians.

Multiple fast clicking can be a relay.

Alright... what sort of thing is this module, and why only on Canadian cars - do the american RX8's not have DRLs?

The American version does not have DRLs. First thought of a click like that though is a short causing a circuit breaker to flick back and forth. Used to have a similar issue on a Celica with my headlight motor.

OK I can confirm it's got to be something to do with the DRLs because I was sitting in a dark place, started the car, and saw that on each of the clicks I heard the car's running lights were blinking on and off, despite the E-brake being up which normally kills the DRLs from being on.

So, what is my next step to troubleshoot this? I figure I'll take the glovebox off, sure, but what sort of a thing am I looking for in there?