Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Ticking noise from drivers side at 1500-2500rpm

I just took my car out of storage for the winter and i'm noticing that when the car is cold, everything sounds fine. When it heats up after about 15 minutes when i give it some throttle at idle or when driving under load, you can he a clicking or ticking. I've traced this down to the lower drivers side wheelwell. The sound cannot be heard when standing over the engine compartment, just inside the car with the window down and by the wheel well. It also seems to do this from 1500-2500rpm and when i back off the throttle you can hear a light screetching or squeeking.

I'm hoping this is something simple, like the water pump or tensioner and not anything like a bearing going.

Hey guys,

Okay, got an update. I took the car to the stealership and true to the name, the ripped me off.

First off, the ticking actually seems to be louder from the passengers side wheelwell. They thought it was the drive belt, tensioner and idler arm so they replaced all of them to the tune of $390, which of course didn't solve the problem.

So now i still hear the ticking which seems to be getting worse as is the metal on metal sound when the revs drop.

So am I pretty much screwed? Does this sound like rod bearing failure? I'm a little worried cause my warranty is up in 2 months. I'd freak if nothing happened and then once warranty is up I spin a bearing.

I've been so careful with this motor too knowing the issues. The maintenance on it has been maticulious. Synthetic oil changes every 5000km, the original owner maintained a log whenever he got fuel for gods sake so it's been babied by both owners.

Have you tried the screwdriver trick yet? It's when you use a rather big screwdriver as a stethescope. Take the handle, put it up to your ear, and the "blade" on the valve covers, ps pump, alternator, etc. If you hear the noise that way, bingo, you found the culprit. Saved me $$$ so many times!!!
Sean

Hmm .. I kinda have this ticking sound as well but I always thought it was just normal ?

I think mine ticks too. When i drive my car for like an hour and the temp is reading normal right in the middle the whole time it will start to tick when accelerating in a gear. (first, second,) usually very low on the rpm. Once i get in the uppper rpm range the noise is gone. But it could be my intake and exhaust covering it up. Today this mourning i drove my car after i reset the computer om my 95 contour se because i made a heat shield and a cold air induction for the intake so i reset the computer. It ran awsome and i was experiencing NO ticks but i only drove my car for about 10 min because im about to go eat breakfast with my girlfriend. and she is yelling for my now!!! What is that ticking noise????

I have had the same ticking for about 1000 miles. It happens only when i'm accelerating from low RPM, between 1000-3000 RPM and when the engine is hot. I can't hear it when i'm in front of the engine, bonnet open.
My car has 35000 miles, using 5w30 oil
Does it sound like mine?
turn the treble up

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/frunkp/cougar/ticking.mp3

Mine makes the same sound. It doesnt happen everytime though, only whenever it feels like it i guess. Im going to see if it goes away when i change my oil because i use the Lucas oil additive (stuff really makes a difference). Substitute one quart for a bottle of Lucas and try it. When i started using it on my old thunderbird, i burned/consumed a lot less oil and it was still clean after 3000 miles.

Mine does the same exact thing. I posted awhile ago about this, a few people thought it might be the timing belt hitting the cover. So don't worry, if this many cars are doing it, I'm sure it is normal or not harmful.

ok the ford mecanic told me it's probably an exhaust manifold gasket a little leaky.