Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting ticking

I also have a ticking sound that comes from the area around the serpentine belt (on the passenger side of the engine). After much research, I believe that it is one of the pulleys for the serpentine belt (either the idler pulley or the tensioner pulley).

I have come to this conclusion after watching the belt go around the pulleys and listening. If you look at your serpentine belt (while the engine is off), you will probably see some white writing on it. When you turn the engine on, you will see the writing go by at a high speed. Well, the ticking sound on my car is synchronized (almost exactly) with the writing as it goes by. This leads me to think that it is something with the serpentine belt.

When the weather gets warmer, I plan on proving (or disproving) this theory by removing the serpentine belt and then starting up the engine. If the sound is gone, then I know it has something to do with the belt. If it is still there, then its "back to the drawing board"...

Some people have said that the sound could come from valves or lifters, but I don' buy that, since valves and lifters are running at the same speed as the RPM gauge. This would mean that there should be a few hundred ticks per second at idle, which is not happening on my car. Plus, that many ticks per second would probably sound like a buzz rather than ticking.