I have an 04 cooper s with about 65k miles.

I noticed when I drive down and alley or somewhere that car noises can bounce back towards me, I hear a ticking noise when I accelerate harder than normal. You can't hear on the open road or with the windows rolled up.

First impression is that its coming form the blower


any thoughts?

thanks

 

If you think it is coming from the blower it could mean your water pump drive is dying. I would pull the blower off and seperate the water pump from it to make sure that there is still fluid in the drive. That area loosing fluid is a know problem and you are starting to get into the range where it can become an issue.

If you dont catch this early it either means getting a new blower or sending it off for a rebuild (neither are cheap).

 

I may (might, maybe) be wayyy off base here, but it could be your control arm bushings.

Mine are shot, torn etc. and when Im driving near a wall or in an alley etc, I get a clicking noise (can be speed dependent).

First noticed it going through a fastfood drive-though.


*grain of salt

 

raoul_duke

its pretty well sinced to how hard you gas it. As rpms quickly increase so does the tick.
don't hear it all when cruising or driving around slow. just on the gas.

Some Guy

said that it could be the blower/water pump drive, I hate to think thats it, but it scares me a bit.

bought the car used, its cherry and I love. it just makes this noise only dogs and I can hear.

 

Well, a good way to check to see if it is controls versus the water pump would be to park the car in a spot where you can here the noise and rev the engine a little. Obviously if you are not moving and it still makes the noise it isnt the control arms.If you want to pull off the SC it isnt terribly difficult, just time consuming.

A possible alternative could be a loose heat shield. Typically that is pretty noticeable (ie loud) and in the past I have only see it occur within a certain band of RPMs not the whole range. Doesnt mean it cant be though, and it is certainly worth checking given how easy they are get at for the most part.

 

some guy

might belts or pulleys give the same impression?

 

Doubt it is the pulleys or belts. Hpnestly though, I am just throwing out the "usual suspects" I would probably have to look at the car to come to a serious conclusion.

What lead you to think it was the blower in the first place?

 

what got me wondering about this was after I left work one night
I headed down a back street, windows opened, as I gassed it pretty hard,
I was hearing that nice blower whine, but at the same time was was hearing tick tick tick tick that increased as the revs came up.

note I could only hear this coming in the passenger side window. as the sound was reflected off the buildings

so last night on the way home I went to about the same area. I revved the car up out of gear. Engine was nice and smooth, no ticks. Driving along at a normal pace, no ticks. gas it hard and you hear the tick.

seems to be related to the motor, seems to happen under load.

everything else is dead quite, the engine is really quite and smooth running

I just get this when I jump on the gas

humm?

 

I hear this at idle, its a ticking noise, can be heard inside and outside the car, when i push the clutch in it goes away, i dont heart when driving

 

I get that as well, but I believe it's an entirely different problem. My MINI was just in for a service, but I didn't mention that sound as it has been linked with transmission replacements and our MINI is just out of warranty. I think I'll wait till something happens to it...

 

DUDE DONT TELL ME THAT, i thought that getrags were like the most solid tranny ever.

 

It's the clutch, not the transmission (about 99% of the time at least). The dual mass flywheel on our cars that is supposed to stop noises like that... well it doesnt really and it instead ends up creating them. It is just clutch chatter, it is harmless.

As for the OP:

This is important as the water pump drive is more towards the driver side, so it doesnt sound like the water pump. And I would also suspect it to be making noise all the time if it was a "classic" water pump failure. If it were a timing chain tensioner I would also expect to be making noise in idle, but I would rule it out, luckily its an inexpesive fix if it is the case. It would seem we have a bit of a mystery here...

Just so I am shure on the symptoms:
-seems to come from passenger side
-only under load
-RPM dependent (assuming under load)
-not speed dependent (is this the case?)

Anything else you might think is relevant?

Honestly, the list of things I am coming up with is starting to get pretty long. It would be great if someone else chimed in.

 

Within last 2 months, I have also heard a ticking coming from my 2002 MC w/manual tranny. The difference is the ticking is very noticeable from 2nd through 5th. The ticking is directly associated to RPMs and is heard under any load, accel or decel. One opinion I received is, it may be the release bearing. I usually do my own repairs, but after reviewing the steps involved and the resources I have available, it would take me at least week to do it myself (by myself). Should I wait til it goes out completely or should I bite the bullet and have it fixed now? What are the repercussions of waiting for total failure, besides the towing fees?

 

SOME GUY

thanks for feedback,
I think I've pretty much covered it.

I had the car on the rack this weekend to change the oil and gave everything a good listening to. Quite as church mouse.

gave it a good revving in the garage, quite.

so what ever it is, comes under load. could be tranny, but I can't find a place to hear it beyond 2nd gear, things start going by to fast.

we'll just keep an ear on it so to speak.

 

Have you thought about it being the supercharger? When I rev mine above 3000 out of gear you don't hear the supercharger wine (I believe it is on a different belt). When in gear though, and above 3000 it wines like it should.

This is just a weak guess, I am not an engine guru.

 

I've been hearing some similar noises for the past couple of months. I have 77k on my MCS. At first I thought it was just a worn belt, but after replacing that it got worse. There is also more noise at start up, until the engine warms up. But it does seem to be coming from the passenger side, I hear it with the windows down bouncing off other cars or buildings. I think it's a pulley issue, or more specifically a dried bearing issue, but I'm just not sure which pulley to look at or how to even pinpoint it. Such a tight space down there. I'm going to try to get some opinions from some of the guys this weekend at the Philly MINI meet.

 

The other day I was driving down the street and heard a ticking sound reflecting off the parked cars on the side of the road, that increased with my speed and decreased under braking. I was like 'what the french' and pulled over; all it was was a big pebble stuck in the tire tread, smacking the pavement. My first thought was a belt was coming undone.

 

Just thought of this... Could be a worn out/dryed out/ or otherwise damaged crank pulley. That thing has a layer of rubber sandwiched between two pieces of metal, that could maybe cause what is happening.

 

Not to dredge this up from the dead, but I've had the same exact problem as the OP. Ticking from passenger side (reflected off walls, etc) when accelerating. I've heard that this is from the flywheel and aftermarket flywheels fix this. But also a little worried about the water pump drive gear. So if this can be heard w/o load, suspect the water pump drive gear?

Thanks,

Tim

 

I'll share my experience here just in case it applies to someone else. I had been hearing a similar tapping noise reflecting off of buildings and parked cars as I motored by, more prevalent after the engine was at full operating temperature. Almost sounded like a valve lifter out of adjustment, which is obviously an oxymoron for the valve system in the 1st Gen NA 1.6.

Took it into the shop, expecting the worst. As it turns out, the accessory drive belt was actually missing a small section on the drive surface. After replacement of the belt, I am tap free.

(Props to Way at WMW, who suspected it was the belt after a quick (and free) analysis on-site at MMEMW)

 

You are all gloom and doom on here, Its probably a stone in your tire tread or a nail. Nothing ticks in this way during driving. Stop crying and just drive it.

 

Dude, this thread is from 2009, let it die