Strange clicking noise

[Mike Fraser]

Hi all. Yet another question which should probably have gone in the electrical forum.

I'm getting a really weird intermittant clicking sound comming from somwhere down on the R/H side of the dash area (almost in line with my right knee (& it's not my joints, so don't start). The sound is very like the click a relay makes when tripping or the sound of a flasher unit when operating but it's really random. It always has a paired sound (like tick tock), again, just like a relay tripping off & on. Sometimes it will click rapidly but in an irregular way, other times it will calm down & only click now & again. It seems to be worst first thing in the morning & decreases as the day goes on (or the car warms up?) Cornering left or right, bumpy road or smooth makes no difference so I don't think its something loose.

I's pretty loud. at least as loud as a flasher unit.

Anyone on here had similar experiences?

If so, please please tell me how you cured it.

Mike

[Diezel Weazel]

Hi all. Yet another question which should probably have gone in the electrical forum.

I'm getting a really weird intermittant clicking sound comming from somwhere down on the R/H side of the dash area (almost in line with my right knee (& it's not my joints, so don't start). The sound is very like the click a relay makes when tripping or the sound of a flasher unit when operating but it's really random. It always has a paired sound (like tick tock), again, just like a relay tripping off & on. Sometimes it will click rapidly but in an irregular way, other times it will calm down & only click now & again. It seems to be worst first thing in the morning & decreases as the day goes on (or the car warms up?) Cornering left or right, bumpy road or smooth makes no difference so I don't think its something loose.

I's pretty loud. at least as loud as a flasher unit.

Anyone on here had similar experiences?

If so, please please tell me how you cured it.

Mike

Hi Mike, had summat like that on my Truck(In four years it hadn't bin in 4WD)
Found the 4wd Light on the Dash intermitinately flashed on /off, does yours ?
If it does (the relay is just by the Brake pedal cluster) Cured it on a straight road by puting it in 4wd (push button) for a while & then out again.
This didn't cure it altogether,so i disconnected it for a while & at Salisbury I forgot to re-connect it, once I did on the Sunday no problems since & the
RTTS may have helped it ........ Hope this helps, Maybe Not !!!!!!!

There's always a Payback.... You just can't see it Comin !!!!

[Sancho]

Can't help much, but the fuse box is behind a panel on the right hand side of the driver's footwell, so it's probably one of the relays in there.

[Mike Fraser]

Certainly sounds like a relay but usually when a relay switches, something happens. I suppose I could just identify each of the relays & try removing them one after another to see if I can locate it that way. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

[jezzer]

Mike, did you ever manage to fix this??

I have EXACTLY the same problem as you and it is driving me nuts!!!

It would appear that the clicking starts at speeds over 45 ish mph. I have removed various fuses to try to isolate the problem relay or circuit but makes no difference.

[Spoggle]

Could it be................death watch beetle?

Spoggle

[Bryan]

Just noticed the same thing in mine, although it's actually coming from outside near the wheel arch. More noticeable when running slow and or turning corners. Only noticed when I had the window down last week.

A bit of investigation at the weekend, big scare put up me by a local garage when they said "CV joint".........

Took it to Toyota for a second opinion. The mechanic went straight under and started making the same noise. Appears to be a clip on the brake pads, as the pads wear down, the clip gets nearer to the disks and starts catching....

Should resolve after replacing the pads, at least in my case.....

[Scorpion]

Hi all. Yet another question which should probably have gone in the electrical forum.

I'm getting a really weird intermittant clicking sound comming from somwhere down on the R/H side of the dash area (almost in line with my right knee (& it's not my joints, so don't start). The sound is very like the click a relay makes when tripping or the sound of a flasher unit when operating but it's really random. It always has a paired sound (like tick tock), again, just like a relay tripping off & on. Sometimes it will click rapidly but in an irregular way, other times it will calm down & only click now & again. It seems to be worst first thing in the morning & decreases as the day goes on (or the car warms up?) Cornering left or right, bumpy road or smooth makes no difference so I don't think its something loose.

I's pretty loud. at least as loud as a flasher unit.

Anyone on here had similar experiences?

If so, please please tell me how you cured it.

Mike

Exactly the same thing is happening on my Surf, it's been on and off for about a month now but gradually getting worse. Nothing else happens, no dodgy running problems, nothing flashing on the dash, it's just annoying not being able to find out what it is.

I suppose the only cure would be for someone to lie in the footwell while I'm driving! So far I've had no volunteers.

I've actually logged on this afternoon to ask this question and lo and behold it's already top of the list.

[jezzer]

I'm trying to make my progress with this issue as it's driving me BONKERS!

I recently took my truck to a local garage who said they stripped down the dash area trying to find the cause of the problem. Anyway, they couldn't figure it out but upon phoning our regional Toyota dealer and describing the symptoms they said it sounds like something to do with the electronic part of the transmission.

In my opinion, the clicking seems to be coming form the area where the set of fuses/relays are bolted to the vertical part of the drivers side footwell. Does anyone know or have a diagram showing what all the relays are for in there??

[jezzer]

To try and make it easier to identify the relays in question I have just taken a pic of the area in and numbered the relays in the hope someone can tell us what they do!

This pic can be found at http://www.jerryfrost.co.uk/relays.jpg

Cheers.

Jerry.

[M35A2]

I'm trying to make my progress with this issue as it's driving me BONKERS!

I recently took my truck to a local garage who said they stripped down the dash area trying to find the cause of the problem. Anyway, they couldn't figure it out but upon phoning our regional Toyota dealer and describing the symptoms they said it sounds like something to do with the electronic part of the transmission.

In my opinion, the clicking seems to be coming form the area where the set of fuses/relays are bolted to the vertical part of the drivers side footwell. Does anyone know or have a diagram showing what all the relays are for in there??

Come to think of it, that does make a bit of sense. I have noticed a clicking in mine with the auto trans, like a relay. I will keep my ear out for any noise, but mine doesn't make any relay noises any other time apart from when they are supposed to be working.

Will see what happens when I go to work in the morning and see if mine does it.

[BUSHWHACKER]

To try and make it easier to identify the relays in question I have just taken a pic of the area in and numbered the relays in the hope someone can tell us what they do!

This pic can be found at http://www.jerryfrost.co.uk/relays.jpg

Cheers.

Jerry.

Taken from a 4Runner book....

1 = Starter relay.
2 = Circuit breaker.
3 = Heated rear window.
4 = Sunroof.
5 = ???
6 = Taillight control relay.

[jezzer]

Cheers guys,

Your help and advice is much appreciated!

Today I am going to use a small 12v lamp and push wires into the relay terminals so that I can see, by a process of elimination which relay is doing all the clicking. The annoying thing is that the clicking doesn't start until I go over about 40 to 50mph then it just happens randomly which makes it really hard to find.

Anyway, something else I wonder about is whether it is the speedo/odo gears making the noise. Does anyone know an easy way to diable the speedo for testing?

Cheers,

Jerry.

[TonyN]

Have a look at your arial, our relay has gone on nuts, and raises and lowers the arial randomly, the relay clicks as its doing it.

[jezzer]

Thanks Tony,

Kinda thought of that one already, in fact I have taken that one out (little brown box about the size of a tape measure yeah?) and has been out for about a month cos the clicking did sound about right.

Sadly I still get the annoying clicking.