Questions and Answers

A Clicking Dodge Spirit Q. I came across your web site on About.com and have a question regarding my vehicle. 1992 Dodge Spirit 3.0 liter V-6 Automatic transmission: 139,000 miles P/S, A/C, Cruise control

The problem I'm having is a clicking or ticking sound coming from my driver side front tire. It sounds like a mountain bike clicking, and increases in speed as I accelerate. In November of 2002 I had a spun bearing and had it replaced on that same tire. The clicking started a few months ago, and has not increased or decreased.

Brakes are at 50% life, new rotors when brakes were last serviced. I do a lot of long distance driving, over 5 hours, as I am a college student and routinely drive home during breaks. I've brought the car into Goodyear for this, and they said that they couldn't find anything wrong, nothing was loose or broken. What could this be? Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,
Ryan

A. Diagnosing a noise is very difficult in this venue. A large part of the process is in driving and hearing the noise. First thing to do is confirm if it is an engine noise or wheel noise. If it makes the noise when you rev the engine in PARK, it's an engine noise. If it makes the noise while moving regardless of engine speed, then it is in the wheel.

The most common cause of the type of noise you describe are bad valve lifters. This noise will increase and decrease with engine speed regardless of vehicle speed.

If the wheel has hub caps, they have been known to make clicking sounds, as well as rocks stuck in the tread of the tires. These are easy enough to check for, just remove the hub caps and check the tires. If the noise goes away then it was one or the other.

If everything else looks good, then I would have to say it is the wheel bearings. Cleaning and repacking may help but it is more likely they will have to be replaced.