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About 60% of the time when I start my car and drive off there is a ticking sound coming from the hood, and naturally when I go faster the sound goes faster, if I'm driving around for more than about 20 or 30 mins, it'll go away. Can someone tell me what this is? Thanks

check your oil and get an oil change... seriously

Ihad the same problem until my timing belt snapped in half on the highway. Had it towed to the nearest mechanic and after replacing the belt, the ticking is there for only 30 seconds after startup. After this, it's quite as expected. When was the last time you had the timing belt replaced? Should be about every 60K miles.

Had a timing belt changed about a year ago, I havent done 60,000k yet, probably only about 10,000k. I checked my oil yesterday actually and it was pretty dark, even my dad said it looks like its time for an oil change, I'll take it up this weekend.

your lifters are worn!

What are the lifters?

my car does that ticking all day long when i drive its the lifters its quite expensive to fix i say get a used engine www.asapmotors.com all engines from japan at a cheap price 699$ for a coplete engine and 75$ shipping.

Damn, there is no way I have the money for a new engine, hell no, not now at least, maybe by the summer. How much would the lifters cost to fix?

do the oil change first man :p <p>then if it isnt fixed worry about this expensive crap<p>but my ticking was fixed with the oil change!

Ok tight, I'll take it up this weekend thanks a lot guys

Although many call them lifters, it's the hydraulic valve lash adjusters that you are hearing. They are kind of expensive to change. However, you only need to change the one that's ticking. The last time I checked, they were $36 each at the dealer. After-market parts are hard to find for Mazda engines. Before you tear into the engine there are a few things you can do. The best cheap fix is an oil change but with a twist. Change oil/filter and use just 5W oil. No, you are not going to keep this oil in in your car forever. You will just keep it in just long enough to be used as a low viscosity "flush." After changing the oil, run your car at idle 'till it warms us. Increase RPM to about 1500RPM and let it sit there for about 3-5 minutes. The thin oil often cycles the crud originally stuck in the adjusters and deposits it into the oil filter. When complete rechange oil/filter with normal 10W-30. If it still ticks you either have a collapsed adjuster (it must be replaced)or the initial indication of lower oil pressure. I use to work on industrial engines for 10 years and we even "flusshed them with jet turbine oil to get to stop "ticking." However, some engine seals that are now used may get "soft" using this approach due to the different additives in jet oil versus auto oil. Some older cars just "tick" when started until the oil pressure pumps up. The best defense is a oil change at regular intervals to keep the gunk out of the lube system in the first place. Hope this helps

My car does the same thing its sounds crappy and the sound is embarassing when your cruisin tryin to get with girls so what i did was change my oil to a thicker type it works good and cheaper but change the oil often cause thick oil isnt good for cars like Mx-3's. Try that worked for me