Ticking coming from Dash

[Christopher Fazio]

I have a 1997 Saturn SC2. I have a ticking sound coming from the drivers side dash whenever I am driving. The sound is not present at idle and increases with acceleration. It sounds like a clock. Could it be the speedometer cable?

Topic

[Joe]

I’m pretty sure that your speedometer is electronic. you don’t have a speedometer cable.

That said, there are plenty of things that could cause a “ticking” sound in the dash.

is the ticking present when you rev the car at a standstill? does it tick faster as the rpms increase?

[Christopher Fazio]

There is no ticking when rev the engine at a standstill. Ticking gets faster as speed increases.

[Its me]

A technique to find this type of noise/problem is to (safely) put the front end on jackstands and then run the car and have someone rev the engine and listen where the noise is coming from…

-Karl

[Aaron]

ok so ticking only during movement and increasing in periodicity with speed almost sounds like a CV joint to me. If you look under the vehicle are any of the CV joint rubber boots ripped or have grease all over the outside of them?

[Christopher Fazio]

CV joints look good. Only the passenger side joint has some oil on it due to the placement of the oil filter.

[Author]

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