Valve adjustment required (or so it seemed) - Video

[djltoronto]

There has been a ticking sound coming from my engine compartment for the past few days... I noticed it one day, and then the next day it seemed to be gone...

After listening for it, it seems this noise was only present when the car was warm (operating temp). When cold, there was no noise at all.

To me, it sounded like the valves needed to be adjusted. (Listen for yourself).

However, it seems there is a secondary butterfly valve inside the intake manifold that can become loose over time and cause this ticking sound.

I have been to my local Mazda dealer, and I pointed this out to them and they have ordered me a new intake manifold (warranty of course)

I have 67,000 kms on the car as of now.

Thought I\\\'d share the video, may prove useful to some of you.


(Note; the mic sensitivity is turned way up... When you see me disconnect the vacuum line, the butterfly valve noise disappears completely, and the remaining ticking sound is what the car is supposed to sound like (just like new)). Sounds kinda bad due to high gain mic.

Click here to watch Mazda3-engine-noise (http://media.putfile.com/Mazda3-engine-noise)

[MajesticBlueNTO]

thanks man!...i have this exact same sound. time to visit the dealer tomorrow.

[DrunknFoo]

eeek, ya it does sound really bad when i first heard it, must be because of the mic..
let us know the results with the new manifold in place.

[FLIPDADY]

Could the ticking be caused by the fact that our IM are made out of plastic?

[djltoronto]

Originally posted by FLIPSPEED


Could the ticking be caused by the fact that our IM are made out of plastic?

I don\'t think the material has anything to do with it.
The ticking is just the secondary valves from the VLIM fluttering. It could happen to a metal IM just the same (theoretically).

The service advisor has told me that there is an updated part and the new one should last much longer than the 60k that the first one lasted. Not sure I beleive him about the updated part, I have no way to verify!

[yuro]

i had exactly same sound in my car and i took it to the dealership and got intace manifold raplace under waranty at the end of december... my car had about 75 000 on it when it happened... (i posted my topic under \"problems\", but it got moved to the \"shop review\" forum....)

so it\'s 3 of us alrady who had same problem.... i guess those plastic intake manifolds are not holding up to the elements as well as metal ones...

[djltoronto]

I was just thinking...
Are there any variable length intake manifolds made out of anything other than plastic?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by djltoronto


I was just thinking...
Are there any variable length intake manifolds made out of anything other than plastic?



almost all intake manifolds in recent cars are made of plastic, whether they have variable intakes or not...in a variable intake case, it could be the small components that wear under the \"abuse\" they go through (fast moving air can be quite powerful :) )

one variable length intake i know of that wasn\'t made out of plastic was the \"Middle East Variable Intake\" (MEVI) for the 95-99 Maximas. it wasn\'t a \"true\" variable intake but still ;)

[lukel90]

ive had this problem for a while now. im at 84k right now. i need to go back to the dealership becaseu powertrain warranty is only good for 100k. i need this fixed.

[david3]

how loud is that? It\'s hard to tell in the video. Is it blatantly obvious or do you need to listen a little?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by david3


how loud is that? It\'s hard to tell in the video. Is it blatantly obvious or do you need to listen a little?

it\'ll be blatantly obvious when you stand in front of the car while it is running ... with the hood open or closed.

[SABIO]

Originally posted by MajesticBlueN


thanks man!...i have this exact same sound. time to visit the dealer tomorrow.


Have you gone?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by SABIO



Originally posted by MajesticBlueN


thanks man!...i have this exact same sound. time to visit the dealer tomorrow.


Have you gone?

yup...all taken care of...the IM no longer exhibits the same loud ticking sound at idle.

[billyfo]

I also have the exact sound but only when cold start. but do you guy have this condition, when you idling the car at traffic light, rev went down from 750rpm to around 600 and shaking like almost to stall? it happens to me sometime (or should say quite rarely). is this related to the problem?

[Fuel90]

I had the same problem! Intake Manifold was replaced @ 10k! So mine went pretty early! I\'ve had some other ticking since then but i fear its worse and inside the head somewhere, who knows, mazda says they don\'t hear it lol.

[mazda3ride]

Does anyone have this video file?

[Big__M]

Does anyone know what this repaid would cost if the car was no longer covered under the warranty?

If I don't get it fixed will it cause any damage?

Thanks,

[TurboEight]

CRAP...i thought all cars did this....getting it done as well!

ON monday when i bring it to MOT

[Big__M]

Can you please check to see what this costs if you are no longer covered under the warranty??? Thanks!

[MAZDA3_MIKE]

hahaha ive heard that sound 4x to many. hahaha mazda 2.3l bite 4 motors what can one say .