There is a clicking sound coming from the front of the engine on the drivers side. It sounds like someone is doing a drum roll on something and it gets faster as the revs increase and is drowned out by the sound of the motor. It sounds like as the pulleys spin they hit something each time they go around. It initally sounds like it is coming from the a/c compressor but I dont belive that it is. I used a long screwdriver to listen closley to it a few other components but I cant determine what it is. Any help as to what this could be would be appreciated. I have tried turing the ac on to see if that makes any difference in the sound but it does not. Anyone have any ideas?

 

I bet ur using 87 oct. ? Yes.. No...?

 

is the clicking sound under acceleration, or is it present if you are cruising at a constant speed. if it is detonation, the ecu should pull timing back to help prevent this. with the temps we have been having lately, it certainly could be detonation, but it shouldnt be noticeable if you are in neutral idling. take off down the road and get up to about 30 or so, then put it in neutral, if the rpm's drop and it is still present, its something in the front wheels or drive train. if it drops down when the rpms drop, then it is something engine related. now if it is there when you are parked, then i assume it is something hitting mechanicaly, if it is only under load or acceleration, then it is knocking, and you might want to make sure you are running premium and or dont have a bad batch of gas

 

I have this sound too. I let my car run for a little bit after changing the oil and heard a clicking noise. Hood open and at idle. I really can't hear it sitting in the car. I've heard it before the oil change also. I always use premium gas; 93 octane. What could it be?

 

Its not detontation. I have 93 in the car right now. It makes the noise at idle as I said. You cant hear it when you are driving because the motor drowns it out.

 

I have this same thing too. It didnt start until I took my car into the dealer for my 35K service. I took it back in and they said that the engine wire harness was loose so they repositioned it. It was ok for a day, but noise is back but not as bad.

 

I had the dealer look at it today and one of the spark plug wires had come off. I dont know how that happened or what was causing that noise but now it is gone.

 

check the oil something like that happpen to me and it was time for a oil change. It happened to be the damn engine was low on oil also put 93 oct is better for the car less noise.

 

It could be a bad vaccuum hose in the motor. If it does it when you speed up that may be the problem. I believe you said it quits when you let off the gas. Had this problem earlier and that was what it turned out to be. Let the dealer do a ride-a-long with you and maybe they can tell.

 

Could be the fire jumping from that unplug spark plug wire grounding to a metalic close by part!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Like I said the spark plug wire was off and when it got put back on it went away. gmj is probably right. I think it was the spark jumping the gap making that noise. I thought of that once I found out that was what was causing it. It did sound like something sparking so there ya go. I dont have work tomorrow so the plugs will be checked to see if they got fouled or carboned up from this. Hopefull I wont have to replace them with less then 9k miles on the car.

 

After a Hot drive in the mountians-it started. Asked the dealer about it-Could not duplicate......

Just when it's hot, under the drivers side floor board. What is this noise? Approx 4800miles since December on the car.

Any clues from the experts?

 

Lucky you didn't get zapped by the arc when you were listening with the big screwdriver. It you would have checked under the hood at night you probably would have found it yourself.

 

My Miata makes a sound similar to what everyone is saying...but it is coming from the injectors. Pretty sure I need to replace em

 

i had the same sound last night...only at idle.It was coming ...emmmm at the point between the end of air filter hose and the two intakes.Still in idle i accelarated and it was gone but in idle you could hear it.I turned off the engine,wait for 5-6 minutes then again on and nothing.It didn't do it again.
I use 98 octanes fuel

 

I just had the same problem. It turns out that the spark plug wire worked it's way off. The sound you could be hearing is the spark jumping. It's a very bad thing too. So check it first.

 

i had it too. i use 93 octane always. sounds like a light pinging on accel...not at idle.
changed plugs, still there. took to dealer, guy said could not hear anything and gave car back. told me to bring it back and take mechanic on a ride so he could hear with me.
funny thing...after they gave me my car back, i have not heard it once.
i do not know if he even touched anything, but i hope its gone.
i have a rx8 manual and it talks about pinging being related to vacume in some instances.
keep talking about this and maybe we can figure it out by deduction.
interesting that the guy a few posts up found it was vacume hose...sounds most plausible to me
if it was spark plug wire, it would have stopped when i changed plugs. unless........
it came loose at the other end!!??

 

I too had that same ticking sound from drivers side under filter area. I installed my Revi intake,,,thought it damaged something. Took it in to the dealer and it was just a spark plug wire off. I also have 4K on it finally. 04 I never get to drive her...Just an extra car to play with.

 

i have had intermittent marbles in my engine...i have also noticed im using alot less oil than usual. has anyone had the same experience?

 

I checked all my spark plug wires. I pulled them off and put them back on. the sound went away when I turned the car back on. I set it back down on the ground an took it for a spin. I pulled in the driveway let run and got out and the clicking sound is still there. Any other suggestions on what I should do?

 

I too heard a "ticking" sound and when I brought it to the attention of my dealership they said it is the injectors firing. Sounds a lot like a valve ticking. They said it is not a problem and don't worry about it, that the injectors make a ticking sound.

My 2 cents worth.

Glen

 

I'm amazed at the number of people who said a plug wire had come off! Had any of you messed with the plug wires before or were they untouched?

 

i noticed this when i got mine back from the dealer too. pisses me off. is there a diy for repositioning the wire harness>?

it's also accompanied by some trouble starting up. it's just laboring to turn over even though it does.

 

it wouldn't not make the sound for the life of the car then suddenly start making it if it was normal.

these dealerships need to get their heads out of their asses.

 

me too i have a clicking noise when idle and when i rev it, it goes with the rev...