Since the day I bought my H3 I have had this odd ticking sound coming from the front end. The sound is speed relative. If I'm going about 25mph I hear it and the faster I go the faster it ticks and vice versa untill either I'm below 10 mph or above 50 (which i think its still there but the road noise covers it). 3 times when it was in for service I mention it to them and 3 times they couldn't duplicate so of course no repair... I'm curious if this is in most H3s or what.

ALSO
I've gotten the check engine light on recently, after a day or so it turns off on its own. The code reader indicates "0171", the code guides says the code means "mixture too lean". Its started about 3 weeks after I put on my K&N intake. In addition my date of manufacture is 8/05 and my vin ends 68138308. There is only about 8000 miles on the truck. I'm curious if this could be the start of the head/vavle issue or something else.

BTW I'm finally going in Thursday to get the roof rails replaced since those were cracked as well. I'm hoping to go in there with some ammo and have a better idea of what is going on with this truck before they tell me they can't find anything.

Thanks for any input.

 

It's possible that a valve could be 'ticking". But, it could also be a rock or some other object stuck in the tire tread.. or inside the back of the wheel. This is where it really pays off to take a good look around. I hope it turns out to be 'nothing".

 

Def not a rock, I've checked several times to make sure. I even had the tires rotated and it still comes from the same spot. The sound is mechanical, if you listen closely you might even say it resembles the sound of a steam engine (locomotive). I wish I didn't have to be moving to place the sound so I go get under the hood and listen to see whats doing it.

 

Do you have a card clothes pinned to your spokes?

Seriously..it maybe a CV joint acting up

 

Well, I had a couple thoughts. If you drive at a speed where you can hear the ticking noise and you pull the gear shift down a notch or two, what happens? If the noise speeds up with the increased rpm of the engine, it's probably in the engine itself or one of the accessories on the front like ac compressor, alternator, pulleys, etc. If not, it's most likely in the drivetrain like wheel bearings, cv's, driveshafts, etc. As for the check engine light, when you installed the K&N, did you make sure everything was tight and sealed? An air leak particularly after a mass airflow sensor or a vacuum line bumped loose will let in unaccounted for air, lean out the mixture and make the computer squawk at you. Recheck it and let us know.

 

The ticking sound is defintly speed related because I've dropped into nuetral while moving and hit the gas and the sound remains at its current tempo, and it slows as the veh slows even if I hit the gas real quick. You can hear it with either the windows up or down, you can hear it better with them down until about 35 mph when the wind noise coming in makes it harder to hear, with windows up I can hear it around 50 mph. The repetition of the sound is about 3-4 times a second (20-30mp) to 8-10 times a second (40-50mph)

I was very careful with the install and made sure those connections were good, after the first time the light came on I remove the sensor from the intake and checked it, still on the inside no build-up or anything other than still looking brand new, I checked the hoses and lines and they looked to be fine and secure. I'll try and remove one and see what I get. I found the biggest problem was in very cold outdoor conditions when the truck was warmed upand sitting idle for more than3 minutes after driving.

Thanks for the ideas

 

TURN OFF YOUR TURN SIGNAL!!!

j/k hope its not a head!

 

 

Damn that was it all along... Should have looked at the dashboard.

 

WELLLLLL only 6 hours in the dealership and here is the end result...

I got the roof rails replaced
The techs are blaming the check engine light on my K&N intake and also tried to say that installing the remote start did it because the H3 idles too long, which is total B.S. (the light only comes on when its snowing, and goes away within a day or so).

They did however replaced the serpentine belt and a pulley or tensioner which there was a bulletin for. I did notice a major difference in the idling and sound of the truck when they replaced the tensioner/pulley. I didn't realize before how rough it was till its fixed.

Plus they buffed out the scratches they did the last time they worked on it and also a scratch I put in there [:-].For once I left outof the dealership somewhat satisfied.

The only thing is.... still can't figure out that damn ticking sound [:@]. The service manager says he has a Colorado and described the sound perfectly to me and he said he can't figure it out on his truck either but knew exactly what I was talking about.