Tick...Tick...Tick..Tick..Tick..Tick.Tick.TickTick TickTick

[Wick]

Decided to go and stretch the legs of the clio this evening and it developed a ticking sound from what seemed to be the passenger side of the car, possibly the rear but not sure (could hear it with the passenger window down, but not the drivers side window).

Sounded very similar to having a stone in the tyre but not sure what it could be as it was ever so slightly "metallic" sounding. Searched on here and all you seem to get is dephaser threads....

Couple of things:

1. I don't think it is dephaser, belts are changed, timing has been checked by JMS in January and they also did the Aux belt and spark plugs. Oil is clean and was changed ~6k ago.

2. Read that it could be the carbon canister but as far as I am aware this is at the front of the engine bay, and I'm not sure if that could be heard from the passenger window?

3. It's happened once before when "on a spirited drive" and again I thought I had a stone in the tyre :S

4. Neither times I had a stone in the tyre lol

Finally it speeds up and slows down with the car, however once the car has cooled off slightly it disappears again. I never get this driving to work or journeys around town or on the motorway...Only appears when the car is pushing on with bouts of intermittent braking and acceleration etc...

Any help would be greatly appreciated CS Thanks, Sam

 

[M40 CUO]

Carbon Canister/ Charcole filter...

Its just bellow the drivers side O/S headlight

 

[Wick]

Cheers!

I have had a look and it's not really ticking a huge amount on idle and it's strange that it only occurs when pressing on a fair bit, definitely something to read up on for me.

 

[MicKPM]

Finally it speeds up and slows down with the car, however once the car has cooled off slightly it disappears again. I never get this driving to work or journeys around town or on the motorway...Only appears when the car is pushing on with bouts of intermittent braking and acceleration etc...

Sam, does it speed up with engine speed or inertia speed (eg. does it get faster with engine revs or does it continue when the clutch is dropped and you're coasting) as both Fred and myself have had this before with engine speed which turned out to be faulty 'Littens' timing belt tensioner units... are you 100% sure its the passenger side? When was the timing belt done?

Mick

 

[Wick]

Thanks for the reply Mick

As far as I could gather inertia speed (wasn't something that I even thought to diagnose, but I don't recall it disappearing or slowing when the clutch was dipped). It also seemed to increase at a constant rate when going up through the gears which suggests it wasn't fluctuating according to revs.

Regarding the timing - Cambelt changed 2009/10 can't quite remember off the top of my head. JMS checked the timing in Jan 11 when the Aux belt was changed as it was done by a dreaded "non specialist" garage. The timing was spot on and the only small issue raised was that the belt was running slightly off centre (a mm or so) across the idler pulleys (if that makes sense), but not enough to cause any concern.

Thanks for the input. I'll have to warm it up again and then go coasting to double check if it's the engine speed or not. Any more information is greatly appreciated as mechanics aren't my strong point! Cheers

 

[MicKPM]

From the sounds of it then you should have the running gear inspected for obvious faults - I've known wheel bearings on Megane Coupes, especially rears, give similar symptoms.

 

[Wick]

Thanks for the advice Mick, much appreciated!

 

[unfortunately_french]

Just a thought, if you say that it doesn't increase with the revs but does increase with speed, the fault could be something within the wheel assembly like the hubs, possibly a stone in your brake pad?

 

[CageyJ0nnY]

I had the EXACT same noise and symptoms. Take you wheel off and put it back on again. I know it sounds simple, but mine righted itself, so its worth a shot..

 

[Wick]

Thanks for the input people!!

Stone in the brake pad could be something I guess, I assume when hot they may expand slightly, so definitely worth a shot.

Edit: my brakes are occasionally scratchy on uneven ground as well, and someone mentioned stones getting caught in pads... This could be well worth a look!!

Regarding wheels, they are on and off all the time... Would be brilliant if it decides to right itself of it's own accord!