Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Tapping/Clicking 3000-4000 RPMs

99 Cougar V6, MTX

When the car is under load, 3000-4000RPMs I can hear a clicking or tapping, this only happens when in gear(thus under load) and only once the car has warmed up to operating temp. Engine has about 52k on the clock. No noticable reduction of performance. The sound may be audible sitting still but its hard to differentiate from injector clicking. But if I were to guess its coming from the Passenger Side rear of engine, although when I'm driving I hear it primarily out of the driverside window(but then again I'm closest to that window)
Car just had a fresh oil change(clicking was there a couple days before)
I've searched and found a few posts on this same thing, but with multiple possibilities.
So if you have any ideas let me know..

Could be several things. What if the car is placed in neutral and you rev the engine? Do you get the same tapping at the higher RPM's? If so that could be a rod bearing. Need more info really.

Well I'll provide as much info as needed.

Like I said So lets say no, can't be heard in neutral.

fire away with the questions...I'll answer what I can.

I know it'll be hard to pinpoint while driving, but do you think you could find out where the noise is coming from in the motor (i.e., top, bottom, tranny...)? That'll make it a lot easier for us to help you. Motors can tick because of anything from lack of oil to the wrong fuel... and I'm assuming you're using low-octane fuel, right? I bet that's your problem if you are.

ok eric i hope this helps i had the same tappin at the same rpms it only happens when i would go to shift or step on it lol well i took it up to the fix it shop and thatnk god it was under warrenty but it was a rod bearin and the repalced it and no more tappin so it might be a rod bearin well i hope that helps

Well If I were to speculate where its coming from,
sounds like the rear side of the engine on the passenger side, i've used a metal rod to help listen for it..
Again it only happens once the car is warmed up.
Oil low is a possibility, strangly about a week before clicking I checked the oil and it was fine, the day the clicking started I was about a quart low(I run 6 qts), with no evidence of leak out in my parking spots. Although my oil filter had some oil on it, so possibility being that the oil burned off the manifold before it could get to the ground.

As for Fuel, I run everything from regular to super, no difference, its not a Pinging sound, I have that too.. unless there are different pings out there.
If its a rod bearing.. hope not, what am I looking at $$ wise..
I'm going to continue to investigate till I find the culprit...
Like I said, I did a search for tapping/clicking and came up with so many possibilities..
Its heat related, one thing I was thinking is the possibility of a loose/clogged cat..(hoping for...) but I have no CEL... so probably not.

I've got an '87 Mercedes-Benz with 267K miles on the odometer... and the odometer stopped working two months ago. Anyways, the motor has always ticked. Otherwise it runs like a top! I took it to an M-B dealership last week and asked them to look it over (especially the motor and tranny). They said it was in excellent condition and that as long as the motor wasn't knocking it was probably okay. I've had cars tick and clack (even knock), but I've never had a motor seize or thrown anything. Don't lose sleep over it unless it gets worse, that's what I'd say.

Update.. well still sounding the same, not there when cold...
New idea though, when parked on a pitch, with the nose up the hill, the noise is audible... when the nose is pointed down the hill, the clicking is gone. So my thoughts are its enertia(causing something to move toward the rear of the car) thats causing the clicking under load..Possibly... although I can get it to happen occasionally on a flat surface..
Any Ideas from the guru's here?
I've run two autocrosses since this has started and have found no ill effect other than people hearing it and asking about it...

Are your spark plugs tight? The middle plug on the rear bank has backed off twice on mine. Just retorqued it, problem solved for me anyway.
Mike

I have the same thing and I think this is what it is. Will try to fix it soon

http://www.btinternet.com/~madmole/Reference/knownproblems.html#Noise%20on%20Pull%20away

click on noise on pullaway