2015 AWD 3.8 has strange "tick tick tick" sound.

[Alfer]

Car has 28,000 miles and I've been noticing the sound only at low speeds and sound comes from right front area. Sound changes with speed but isn't consistent. It sounds kind of like when you were a kid and you would clamp a playing card onto a bike so the card hits the spokes to sound like a motorcycle.

At first I thought it may be the fan that's behind the glove-box where the cabin filter goes, but I haven't tested to see if that is the area of the issue.

Any thoughts on what I'm encountering?

 

[joegr]

CV joint?

 

[skipgen]

Start simple, I say.

My old Infiniti had a sound like that once... Tick, tick, tick at low speed, heard mostly when a window was cracked and I was near something that would reflect the sound back. Usually a curb. Once I got over 25mph or so, it faded into the background.

I thought that it might have been the pads skipping off the rotor or a wheel bearing going south. Turned out to be a large roofing tack lodged in the tire tread. Once it was removed & tire plugged the sound went away.

 

[Alfer]

This morning I turned off the radio on my ride to work to focus on sound. At this point it appears sound activates between 25-30 MPH, both accelerating or coasting to a stop (from 30-20mph range). It's for sure not a nail in the tire because the ticking sound is very defined and fast. After I get past 300mps, the sound stops.

I dread taking it to a shop because I just don't trust any of them these days. I've had too many cases over the years where one repair shop claims I need hundreds of dollars worth of repairs to fix the issue and when I get a second opinion from another shop, I can get repair done at a fraction of the cost, or in some cases, the issue isn't even related to what the first shop says.

Wish I knew a good Saturday mechanic guy who could take wheel off and inspect things like the CV joint etc.

 

[Alfer]

Getting new tires tomorrow and having the local tire/repair shop take a listen for the noise and hopefully inspect things with the tires off to see what might be up.

The click click click noise is very consistent and doesn't happen when turning. It happens at exactly the 25-30 mph range while driving straight. Then noise fades away.

 

[Kraig Wilkinson]

Getting new tires tomorrow and having the local tire/repair shop take a listen for the noise and hopefully inspect things with the tires off to see what might be up.

The click click click noise is very consistent and doesn't happen when turning. It happens at exactly the 25-30 mph range while driving straight. Then noise fades away.

Alfer, what tires are you going to use?

 

[Alfer]

I'm going with the Nexen N5000's

 

[arcman]

If that sound goes away after five or ten miles, and then returns after the car sits for hours/overnight... you have the driveshaft issue we're all complaining about. Mine (28-30 mph) sounds like it's coming from the left front corner of the front passenger seat.

(As kids, we used to tie balloons, stretched out along the seat stays (bike terminology, look it up), twisted to pre-load them against the spokes. Made a ton of cool noise (way louder than playing cards) but wouldn't last much more than a block or two before they popped.)

found a video:

 

[Alfer]

The clicking sound is constant, in that even if I drive car all day the sound appears at 25-30MPH. Not just after car sits a while. It's every hour of every day. Hot, cold, etc.

Sounds like this: FF to 1:05 mark

 

[Alfer]

Well today got new tires installed and tick sound disappeared.

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[TinsleyC]

Well today got new tires installed and tick sound disappeared.

I wouldn't have guessed the tires... odd!

Glad you got it resolved.

 

[skipgen]

I wouldn't have guessed the tires... odd!

Glad you got it resolved.

Yeah... happened to me before. As described in my above post - Roofing nail lodged in tread.

 

[G-398195]

I have the same car and the same problem for 3 years. Garage mechanics say it doesn’t exist. In my case the tire change did not make any difference.