Ticking
 

When i start up my alero there in a rapid ticking sound that comes from the middle of the dash and only does it for a few seconds then it stops. I live in north dakota n its my first winter with the car so i dont know if its just because of the cold. Anybody have any ideas?

sounds like something to do with the hazzard switch. there was a recall on them at one point, and its been covered on the site multiple times. search for hazzard switch recall or something. the parts like $30ish from a dealer and not to difficult to install if thats what the problem is.

Is it comming from under the hood? Do you have the 3400 V6?

if you have the 3400 V6... and it sounds like this Lifter tick don't worry, they all do it

Yea that what i was thinking of too...

common problem with the heads on the 3400 they fix it with using ls1 springs.

Could be many things. Lifter tick, a lil cold piston slap (which is actually normal on lots of engines), or hazard switch recall isn't done if its from inside the car.

btw, i'm also round your area. I'm in GF for school and Langdon is home. My brother lives in DL actually, i used to date a chick from there too.

the ticking is comming from like the middle of the dash inside the car, and it is kinda loud. and yes it is the 3400. and it only does it when i start it up.

inside the dash? hmm... maybe something in the vent?

I had this problem before...it is a munchkins from the Wizard of OZ..I believe that he is part of the lolly pop guild! In order to get him out you have to place a yellow brick road to the middle vent with it leading out of the car. Works like a charm.

Seriously though I've heard some ticking before, and it was usually because I was low in oil. As soon as I filled it back up no more tick. Possiblity?

when you start it, listen outside, under the hood, is it's the same sound, it's lifters

228k on my 3400, no ticks.

why do i doubt this severely... ev6en 3400's with 12K miles have lifter tick... it's just something they do

ohh, you need to fix the turn signal/wiper unit.

i had the same issue.



i chose to get a new one, easy to get and install.

is it going to do anything if i leave it?

well, when it does it, place a light touch on the Hazard button, do you feel the tick with a feeling from the button? if so, replace the button it will eventually stop working

if it truely is in your dash... no, it won't cause any harm. It could be an exhaust shield under the car vibrating. Could be a wire lose from its holder that bouncing off the wire loom its suppose to be in. A small mythical creature stuck in your vent.. or it could actually be lifter tick that sounds like the dash..

funny,
my daughter looked at me with panic in her eyes. she had just made a call to her work. she then grabbed another phone, called again, massive look of panic. i had to ask, "what is wrong?" she said "it is just beeping, it wont stop beeping". i called her work, on speaker phone. she did not know what a busy signal was.. i still cant look at her without crackin up.... :D

i have no idea how this is even remotely related to the topic at hand... but if its true.. thats hilariously idiotic.

when my hazards switch was tickin, i thought skrew it but after a while my blinkers stoped workin and my horn and my Cruise Control

I had this issue also. To fix first disconnect the bat. Unscrew the 4 hex nuts under the steering column. Lower the steering wheel so its level and pull apart the plastic cover. Try not to break it! Next unplug the 3 connectors to the turn signal / wiper switch. There is one screw in the center an a small pin that rubs against the steering wheel. Take note to push this spring loaded pin back to the same position when you reassemble or you will have issues.

Remove the entire module, flip it over and you'll see a set of tracks. There is grease shorting between the tracks. I found a toothpick works well to clean these spaces. Put everything back together any your problem is fixed.

In my case I bent that pin because I didn't push it into the switch so now my horn doesn't want to work. I tried to fix but I think I need to replace the switch. If someone figures that out please let me know what to do.

But the random tick tick is gone!

Gerry