Problem:
Buzzing/ticking noise that is coming from my feet area. Around where the steering column goes through the firewall or where the throttle cable goes through the firewall.

The noise is annoying. I think it NON-electrical.

Symptoms:
Everything on the car runs perfect. From daily driving to track days. Strong, clean, smooth and fuel efficient running.... BUT,
The noise increase with motor speed.. NOT VEHICLE SPEED. I've spent hours upside down wedged under my dash, pressing the accelerator with my head trying to pinpoint the problem.

What was done to narrow it down:
I removed my guage cluster
I removed my steering wheel and horn wires
I replaced my ignition switch
I replaced my pgm-fi Main relay
I removed ALL fuses except the alternator solenoid fuse (need that to run)


Problem began after I:
Replaced bushing in steering rack
Replaced Intake Manifold with Skunk2 mani.
Replaced Throttle cable (roomate did this)


This is REALLY bothering me and I DESPERATELY need help... Hell, I'll paypal 30$ to the person who can solve my problem.

At the end of ANY trip, I'm crazy and pissed off because of the buzzzzzzzzing. Maybe it's not a buzzing but a ticking that's so fast it's a buzzing.





Modified by rice_classic at 4:46 PM 2/17/2004

 

First thing I'd do is put your car up on stands, get up under there and get your friend to rev it while to poke around. If it increases with engine speed you wont be able to pin-point it from inside your car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blah13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">First thing I'd do is put your car up on stands, get up under there and get your friend to rev it while to poke around. If it increases with engine speed you wont be able to pin-point it from inside your car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I suppose I could give that a shot but the sound is being generated within the car.

 

TTT cuz I am going insane.

 

Me and a few other people have had this identical problem from a bad speedo cable.

 

i know these would make it go away...

j/k

*you may need someone to drive the car around the block while you franticly jump around trying to pin point the noise. I really don't know what would cause i buzzing like that*

got a sound file of it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kid-honda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Me and a few other people have had this identical problem from a bad speedo cable.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I will check that but if it's engine speed related and not wheel speed related I don't understand how the speedo cable could cause it.

As for the "soundfile" there is no way I could record it... the interior of my car is quite loud (hasport mounts) and the buzzing is rathe faint.

 

I actually had a very, very similar noise in my car during the summer. It would only manifest during hard right turns or jerks of the wheel and it would sound like a harsh piezo buzzer coming from the gauge cluster area.

It turned out that the alternator belt was stretched slightly. I'd re-tensioned the belt but when I did so there was very minimal clearance between the alternator pulley and the shock tower. On those hard turns, the mounts would allow just enough play that the alt pulley would come into contact with the shock tower and grind away I fixed it by getting a new short belt and not overtightening it this time, to prevent stretching the belt.

Check it out... it's worth a shot!

 

I checked that out but I have *plenty* of clearance between my shock tower and alternator. I have a new alternator coming to me. When I switch alternators I'm going to try and "bang" in that part of the body a bit more as well as put on some thin "sticky pad" on it to reduce directed noise.

It almost sounds like it's coming from behind my left vent next to the guage cluster. But when I get upside down and have my head on the floor I can't pinpoint it.

 

You have checked the condition of the timing belt, right?

There is really nothing inside the cabin that is mechanical that moves with engine speed that I can think of, leaving the bay...

 

Ok.. checking the timing belt is a really good Idea. I'll do that.

 

It could be an exhaust leak, check by the cat. I had the same type of noise, looked under the car and there was a leak by the cat.

 

well exhaust leak sounds about right. hell everyone already took the other answers i had

 

If none of the above work take out your spark plugs and crank it over while listening for ticking/rubbing noises. That'll eliminate it being an exhaust leak, or confirm it (should, anyway).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raene &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If none of the above work take out your spark plugs and crank it over while listening for ticking/rubbing noises. That'll eliminate it being an exhaust leak, or confirm it (should, anyway).</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ticking is loud enough that I can hear it during cranking. It's very quiet below 2500 rpms.

As for the cat. I have a test pipe but I will take it off and put it back on to verify a leak.

 

Sorry, I meant hand-cranking with a socket on the crank pulley... not sure if that was clear or not!

 

Any luck yet?

 

I been overloaded with work so I haven't got to it yet. In the next coming set of days I'm changing my:

timing belt
water pump
alternator
distributor
cam gears


During all this I will check both the exhaust leaks where the test pipe bolts up.
Since I'm replacing the t-belt and the alternator I will know if it was those or not.
During this process I will also hand-crank the motor to check for it.

 

I should also mention that I have had other similar problems...

For instance...

Removing the valvecover caused the seal to fall out, and the seal was rubbing against the cam gears, causing a tack-tack-tack sound.

On another occasion, not installing the timing belt upper or lower cover bolts was the cause. The cover pushes away from the block a bit because of the rubber seals on the back, and in this case it pushed forward enough that it contacted the belt and was causing a nasty rubbing/ticking noise. Tightening down the cover bolts solved that problem. Just some more ideas for ya

 

it might be your cv joints

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekVanger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it might be your cv joints</TD></TR></TABLE>

My CV joints don't do anything when my car is stopped, out of gear and free revving.

 

I thought I would bump this again because it's been well over a year and the sound hasn't worsened or improved but it's still just as annoying.

Any clue?

 

I know this may seem silly, and I'm sure you've checked on it already..

I was thinking of the possibility of radio interference..do you have an amp or a fancy head unit? Disconnect the speakers just to see..if you even have them in.

 

^^^ yea check that too, i used to get a wind noise when i got interference from my alternator. sounded like i was getting pulled over all the time, and it got louder when my motor revved higher.

hmmm, this is a shot in the dark but whens the last time youve had your valves adjusted????? could be some bad valve lash, since is increases with motor speed, cams spin fast, causeing them to TICK like all hell, i know my old b16 head needed an adjustment pretty bad. have your car running and stick your right next the the valve cover, if the noise sonds like its coming formt here.....then i might be right.

justin

 

haha....bump b/c i have the same thing. It's happened since I've had the car, and with my old motor and new motor. It sounds like its coming from the vent, and if you shut it gets a little quieter, which probably means its something in the engine bay. In my case, i think my valves need to be adjusted. Even then I think its just something that is just there in our EF's. With all the vibrations and rattles going on its hard to pinpoint one.