Engine Ticking..

[Mx3Mazda]

Ok, well i test drove the GS yesterday, and i am getting a tick from the engine.. is this common?.. what should i look for/test? thanks<BR>kendal

[Andrew_Pakula]

maybe it is low on oil

[David Coleman]

Check out the cam friction gear and HLA posts in the FAQ forum

[Q187]

Top the oil off and see if that helps.

[mmac]

when i went round test driving mx3's before buying I found that virtually all the cars had a ticking noise at idle, that went away when engine was warmed up. In fact mine does as well and its never caused any actual problems.

[Tempus]

Ticking could be a couple of things based on my experience and reading stuff here.<P> 1) could be 'regular' valve/lifter noise that is common in this engine, ESPECIALLY if the oil is down at all.. I used to notice this on my MX3GS all the time when the oil was getting down near the 'add a quart' line on the stick. It 'ticks' a little all the time, but it was significantly more prounced when the oil was getting low (usually my signal that I'm due for a change, since I seemed to burn about a quart/litre between changes. <P> 2) if it's slightly louder than above, seems to come from near cylinder #1, and goes away above 2000 RPM then it's probably the friction gear. apparently this is a PITA to change, so most folks just live with the noise and fix things when replacing the timing belt since you gotta do nearly the same things to get to both items. <P> 3) If it's louder than that, and doesn't go away at higher rpm's, you probably want an experienced mazda mechanic to listen to it.. That's currently what MY motor sounds like, (Mechanic said "don't drive it, replace the motor" ;< ) which is why you'll see me asking lots of questions about swapping to a 2.5L since that's my current planned 'solution' to my problem.