hi guys,
i have a tj series 2 2002 magna and i have a question about the engine noise. i noticed that after driving the car say for about 30 minutes and then i let it idle i walk over and open the bonnet, the engine sounds nice, no major ticking or anything however when i move over to the drivers wheel/tyre and have a listen there seems to be a pretty evident sort of gearing or sort of clicking/ticking/rattling noise. anyway i have heard this same noise on a tf magna aswell. and i have also taken it to the mitsubishi service department where the guy said that this is normal and they sounds even louder when you are underneath the engine. so what i want to know is, do you guys have a similar noise or was the mechanic giving me the run around. could it be like the tappets? or somethihng else?

i have put castrol magnatec 10-40 oil with a brand name oil filter. i have also tried castrol formula R 5-30 oil and it still sounds the same. so im about to try and put penrite 10w-50 and i wonder if that is goiing to make any difference.
mind you this noise is only heard after the car has been driving for a while. not when its cold or its still warm.

what do you guys think?

Ya got the same ticking too on KJ too, and just about every other 3rd gen I've come across. Never noticed it until we got the KJ but when you learn to listen out for it - its there.

Have been trying to find its cause too. Yep its louder over driver's side wheel, but it doesn't get louder when you open the bonnet.. so that'll suggest its coming from "below".

It didn't change anything when I changed to Motul semisynth; ditto flushed the auto. Was underneath the car for some time checking for oil leaks afterwards too, didn't find anywhere that clicking could come from.

Tappets shouldn't click like that... I'm currently suspecting its the injectors.

But yeah, its "normal". :confused:

If I ever had time, Id be tempted to remove the black plastic engine cover & see if the clicking is louder running like that. Cover hides the injector rails...

If I ever had time, Id be tempted to remove the black plastic engine cover & see if the clicking is louder running like that. Cover hides the injector rails...



hi guys
yes it could be tappets or injectors , but put a thicker oil in the engine as your oil could also be to thin which can be more costly than good
:cry: is it also happen after you turn the car off

Hi, I had a TE before and the noise was quite evident. My KL however doesnt seem to have it or I havent been able to hear it yet. Maybe its the flex pipe arrangement thats different in AWD becuase when I changed my extractors the noise was quite different. Or perhaps there is just more soundproofing in the Verada.

yes it could be tappets or injectors , but put a thicker oil in the engine as your oil could also be to thin which can be more costly than good
:cry: is it also happen after you turn the car off
No, clicking stops when engine stops.

I'm running 10W-40 in a pretty young (41000 km) engine so that should be fine.

Its also pretty "regular"... like if it was tappets and its tapping due
to low or blocked oil pressure, it'll disappear when you rev it.
Blipped the throttle and there is no noise change.

im not sure if the sound i here with my car is the same as yours, but the way you described your sound, i think it is. This sound use to bug the hell out of me so i traced the sound using a screw driver. You put the handle of the screw driver to your ear, then the pointy end on things you wanna listen to (dont stuff that bit up!), eg the rocker cover, intake manifold, fuel rail, etc. Anyway i listened to my rocker cover, not a sound, put it on my fuel rail, and it was going nuts. Anyway after some enquiries at mitsubishi it turns out that its normal for 3.5 magnas. The fuel injectors have electronic solonoids on em and that emits a ticking sound when activated.

yep, I'm familiar with real tappet noise (AstronII veteran for 27 yrs... :confused: ).
Tappet noise is also more muffled due to being inside the engine.

Given the timing of the clicks vs RPM, its about once per cycle - so its either
loud clicking by just *ONE* injector or something in the dizzy (unlikely).


Silly black plastic "3500" cover blocks off all the injector rails, was too lazy
to attack the 100s of screws that held it on :P Maybe one day.

Might try disconnecting each injector one by one to see which one...

Tappet noise is also more muffled due to being inside the engine.


Thats the noise my 3.0 is making, same spot as described earlier (loudest over right wheel area), it seames to be eminating from the rear bank of cylinders :cry:

Tappets shouldn't get noisy until at least 100,000km or more...?

yeah thanks for that guys, but yeah i just managed to go to another mitsubishi service department and the guy said that all the magnas are like that.

to basically give you the idea, when you get low to the ground near the right hand tyre (drivers side) or even underneath the car (after the car has been driven for a while ie 30min)
its sort of sounds a bit like a diesel when its idling.

other than that when its driving or higher revs than everything is normal sounding. so im pretty convinced its pretty much nothing.
so anyway, what type of muffler do you guys recomment to put on one of these? one that sounds really nice and well not tooo loud.

HI DIRTY HARRY
My TJ has the same noise as you describe The Mitsu rep said that it was 'normal' because this engine was different to previous 3rd Gens, having smaller oil galleries in the tappets and to use a thinner oil. He then added he could replace all the tappets (not u/w) and it might be 'better'. A Repco mechanic said it was more like insufficient oil pressure and I agree with this because the design priority for this model was low emmissions and good fuel economy and a 'just sufficient' oil pressure would help the economy by reducing power loss in the engine. This is why the noise dissappears with higher revs. I also use Magnatec and then I took the advice of members on a previous thread and added Nulon E20 which quietened the noise for a few days - Barry TJ

[QUOTE=Barry]HI DIRTY HARRY
My TJ has the same noise as you describe The Mitsu rep said that it was 'normal' because this engine was different to previous 3rd Gens, having smaller oil galleries in the tappets and to use a thinner oil. He then added he could replace all the tappets (not u/w) and it might be 'better'. A Repco mechanic said it was more like insufficient oil pressure and I agree with this because the design priority for this model was low emmissions and good fuel economy and a 'just sufficient' oil pressure would help the economy by reducing power loss in the engine. This is why the noise dissappears with higher revs. I also use Magnatec and then I took the advice of members on a previous thread and added Nulon E20 which quietened the noise for a few days - Barry TJ

sorry about the duplication - anybody got an electronic eraser ?
Regards Barry :bowrofl:

I have a similar noise, however it is coming from the gearbox rather then the engine.
The only way to tell if it's from the gearbox is press your foot on the clutch!!

If the noise goes away whilst your foot is on the clutch then it is a gearbox problem.
And if this is so then it is most likely that your gearbox bearings are worn.

I got a general quote from a gearbox specialist the other day for around $900 to fix this.

all gear boxes have a what is called a roll over noise and unless it is excessive it is probably be left alone for economical reasons. you will also not that the roll over noise becomes louder when a/c is on due to extra load on engine...it is most like ly not a bearing issue bu8t a design issue in the box due to backlash in the free spinning gears which rattle especially under load. the engine noise will be lifters and will go away if replaced but will return again after roughly 30000k can be extended if oil is replace very very regularly.....this also happens on pajero and triton with same engines.

alot of people are saying that its tappet or lifter noise. Now in alot of cases this may be correct, but my TL has made the noise from brand new, so it couldnt possibly be due to warn lifters of tappets! According to my mitsubishi dealer and another independant mechanic, its the fuel injectors, and its normal

it may be a different noise you are hearing to the other guys but yeah you are right the injectors will make a 'ticking' noise. unfortunately thats summit you gotta live with.

Guys, i've a similar problem, and it's definitely not from the tappets!

The sound does come from the drivers side of the engine bay, so I took the wheel off and did more listening. I pinpointed the noise coming from the crankshaft pulley. See if you guys can work out whether the sound is coming from there. Because if it is, it is uncommon on the 3rd gens! Of all the 3rd gens i've seen at the cruises, only mine makes this stupid noise! This only occurs after the carhas warmed up too.

Currently my suspicion is to get the crackshaft bolt replaced, as it seems that is an option done at 100k service.

I'll link up the post with my sound clip of it. But I've got a better sound clip now which I'll post in the neear future.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14816&highlight=noise

I recently had my timing belt replaced on my 1999 3lt auto Magna (routine service), when I got it back I noticed a 'ticking/tapping' noise when I put it in gear for about 30 seconds after I started it in the mornings (no noise if it was warm or if I didnt start it till the afternoon). :confused: I initially thought it was a leaf in the interior fan.

After a 'thorough' going over by the mechanic, he said that he had just missed a clip on the air filter and the problem was fixed - until I started it up again the next morning.

It is back at the mechanic now and he is telling me that a bearing in the aircon compressor is on the way out, and the new timing belt is puting more pressure on the a/c compressor than the old stretched out one(?). So he is claiming that I need to replace the a/c compressor at an approximate cost of $800 - $1000. :doubt:

Does anybody know if this sounds right? Is replacing the bearing in the compressor an option and is it an easy job to do myself?

Failing that...Im not keen to spend $1000 right now on airconditioning when winter is around the corner - can you bypass the aircon compressor with a shorter belt?

For now, I have had the belt slightly loosened to take some of the pressure off the compressor.

try go opposite....tighten they belt as they get a resononance up along the longest span of the belt. they need to be real tight....you feel the deflection in it and it feels tight enough but try go more. this problem is usually encountered cold due to slightly higher engine rpm at idle. you should be able to reproduce it warn by having your foot on the brake and slightly increasing engine rpm. prob should hear it about 1100-1200 rpm id say.
a/c compressor bearings dont fix themselves when they get warm :D