First the basics, theres a licking noise from under the car Passanger side when depressing gas. So basically, have a 2001 mazda 626 Auto and for about 3 months there has been a clicking noise coming from the front end of my car, I opened the oil fill cap with the engine running and doesn’t seem to be coming from there so i assume since theres no loud sound other then air sputter that its nothing to do with my pistons/cam. The clicking doesnt occur at low rpms 600rpm-2500rpm. It starts at 2500rpm and gradually gets louder to about 4000rpm then starts to get go away, completely unnoticable at 5000-7000rpm. It all started after letting my wife drive the car to feed the horses. Shes not one to hotrod a car and tends to avoid bumps unless i am in the passanger seat. The sound itself seems to be coming from the front passanger bottom section of the car. I dont think its my tranny or any of the stafts transporting the power to the front wheels because this also happens when in neutral (safe to say?). Therefor i can only assume that since this car is renown for AC units going out and since the serpentein belt is on the side of the car that maybe its got something to do with the compressor or a loose pully or something of that nature, the compressor was changed about 9 months ago. Is this a safe bet to figure it being the belt assembly or should i try some other troubleshooting techniques?
Does it happen when the car is not moving?
Yes sir, if i throw it in neutral it does the same thing at the same rpm ranges. I assume it might have something to do with the serpentine belt/assembly/components like maybe a bad compressor
Well not being able to actually hear the noise, it could be many things. This is an automatic? It most certainly could be transmission related, flexplate, a bearing etc. It could be a bearing in the bottom end of the engine. The clicking speeds up with engine rpm I assume? Maybe I’m to gentle on my engines, but I don’t get them up to 7000rpm, ever I don’t think. But if you like to drive close to redline often, you will shorten the life of your powertrain.
One of the best ways to find a noise is with a stethoscope, one with a metal probe on the end. Have another person hold the rpms at 2500 and start poking around and listening, being careful not to get the probe stuck in any moving parts of course. You can pick up an automotive stethoscope for about $5 at harbor freight.
Let me rephrase the noise i hear, it clicks when im accelerating and pings whenever i decelerate at those rpms. I understand that driving hard in those rpm ranges may do that to your however i only did that to check the noise. the 626 i have high revs when accelerating otherwise it would take me 2 minutes to get to 60 if i tried to keep it in the lower rpm range. OD is always on. Well i went out and bought a stethascope and was probing around the lower region where my oil pan is and i noticed that it leaks oil leak right were the right side of the oil pan connects to the main engine block. I dont know if thats a big problem but its all gooked up there and it drips about 1 drop every 1 to 2 minutes. it usually only happens when the engine is on. I also changed out the oil today. Its the first time i changed the oil since the ticking, I saved it i plan on draining it from the drum and seeing if its got any metal shavings in it, the oil filter didnt have anything in it it seems clean as well, is it probable for an engine component to just come out of sync and just require some recalibration? also the stethascope didnt reveal to much about the engine block i cant isolate the sound. Any pointers?