My wife has been driving the MINI to work these days, due to her car being a lease and she's going over miles (whereas I have an 8 mile a day commute, hers is more like 50 miles), so therefore I get the privledge of driving her Malibu--The Most Boring Car In The World(TM)...at least until we turn it in this summer (then we're considering purchasing the new Mazda CX-7...hey, we need a larger car as well as the MINI!)

Anyway, I was outside yesterday as she drove up to the house, and as the mini got closer and and she slowed down and coasted into the driveway, I heard a ticking noise from the front passenger side wheel area. It seemed to be a constant tick, that did not slow down as the car slowed down, but rather stayed the same. The car drives fine (has 43,000 miles on it and is nearing 3-years old) and the rubber boots on the drive shafts seem to be intact and not leaking any grease.

What would cause this noise, could it be wheel bearing noise? What are the symptoms and sounds of a failing wheel bearing, and similarly what are the symptoms and soudns of a failing CV joint? Anything obvious to look for?
Car has 7K miles left on the warranty so I'd like to have the dealer check it out in-depth...I'd like to point them in the right direction.

Thanks,

-boognish

 

If the ticking does not change in frequency as the car slows down, then it is likely not linked directly to the drivetrain. Other moving parts include various electrical fans (blower for cabin air inside or radiator). A fan blade may be bumping into something.

That's where I would check first.

 

Is it am MCS, I heard the same thing at only 19k I assumed that since I only hear it at low revs I assumed it was related to the supercharger. To me the clicking sounded almost like the cars was low on oil, but the checked out to be good level and I'm not even half way through the service interval.

 

Do you, by any chance, have the web spokes? There is a clicking issue associated with those wheels.

 

S-lites fo moi

 

I actually am having the same problem with my 05 with about 16,000 miles. I was noticing this for the past month and was passing by the Mini dealership. I stopped in, and had the service advisor hop in. He heard it in the car coming from the passenger side, but not from atop the block and had me schedule an appointment, and just my luck, the morning I was taking it in, I couldn't hear it anymore. The mechanic supposedly couldn't hear it, and they had it all day. They thought it might be something to do with the tranny, but it comes and goes quite often. However, I'm noticing it more and more. If you guys find anything out, let me know.

 

18900, it never stops when the engine runs, this is ine if those things I've noticed but haven't justified the 100 mile drive to the dealer (doesn't worry me, just a quirk).

 

I read some where in past posts about some sort of purge valve that cycles with a clicking sound at idle.If it comes and goes this is what it is.

 

Hey all,,

I just got my 04 MCS back from the dealer today -- No Ticking!!! It was in the shop for 3 days - they tried everything -- trans, axles, bearings, etc... The ticking went away when they replaced the harmonic balancer / "Vibration Damper" part# 11-23-7-525-135

Official problem " Found Harmonic Balancer Internally Seperating"

Good luck - I hope this helps!!!

Bigcoyote

 

Does the MC (not S) have a harmonic balancer? Because mine is ticking and it's an 03 MC.


Thanks,

-boognish

 

I am sure you do -- it may not be the same part # as the S , but you have one. If you still have warranty left I would get it in ASAP. The last thing you want to have happen - is the harmonic balancer seperate - normally at high rpm. I have seen this happen once - on a GM V-8 - it was nasty -- didn't hurt the engine to much but it took out almost ALL the pullies / accessories on the front of the motor.


Good luck :impatient

 

Big Coyote - just so I know what this sounds like - about how fast does this ticking go? 1 tick per second? I have a sound that I'm not sure is that bad, but I can't seem to figure out where it's coming from. I only hear it at idle, never when accelerating (or maybe it's still there, but it's not loud enough). It seems to "tick" at about 3-4 beats per second. Hard to really say it's a "tick" sound though. More like a burble. I feel like it's a fan accessor wobbling or something.

 

Hey there,

My "ticking" sound was not present at idle - only under moderate to hard acceleration. It seemed to come from the passenger ( right ) side front wheel area. The sound would increase with RPM - untill the wind noise would cover it. It sounded like a baseball card in the spokes of a bike.

If you do a search of the forums "ticking" or "tick" you will find LOTS of posts about this problem. Other known culprits are : tentioner arm/pully, axle/cv joints, supercharger, flywheel ( there is an updated flywheel avail.).

That is a short list of what has cured other peoples "ticking" sounds -- check out the other posts - have a comfy chair and a pot of coffee. If your Mini is still under warranty I would pick a few days that you can leave it at the dealer - and let him tear into it.


Good luck

John - Bigcoyote:impatient