Hey guys, This one has just popped up in the last week. Not sure here but I thought I would run it by you and see what comes up. Ok, so when I start my car in the morning it starts fine idle looks around normal, however it seems to suck a ton of air (305 with open air element) then there will be a 'click' and the air sucking will calm down a bit. Idle may drop 100 rpm or so. then about 10 seconds later 'click' and it will suck more air, up a hundred rpm, then about 15 seconds, 'click'...lol and so on. It seems to tone down after the engine is warmed up but it still happens however much more subtly. I can notice when I'm in a drive thru or at the light. the one thing that brought it to my attention was the amount of air that seemed to be sucking through the element and then the 'click'...back to normal...sounds like a bloddy tornado...Thoughts? It's starting to freak me out...
Jay

 

Not sure about the clicking but it sounds like you have a vacuum leak. My car made a bad clikcing sound when my timing was really off. I would check your timing. Soudns like your car is trying to correct it which will cause a rpm surge here and there. you may also have a vacuum leak. Vacuum leak's will cause your idle to increase and you will hear more air being sucked in. what mods do you have. An open element will make a definate sucking sounds whenever RPM is increased.

 

Has it been getting cold where you live? The click is odd, last I checked IAC operation is generally silent.. other than that it sounds like a normal warm-up proceedure, which becomes much more noticable as the days get colder. In the summer my car generally starts at about 1250 and calms down fairly quick, but in the winter she can sit for some time at 1500 while warming up before the IAC starts stepping down to normal..

 

It has been getting cold yes. I've never noticed the 'click' (it sounds like a switch) before though so it does sound irregular. I did notice today under the hood that my radiator intake gasket into the air intake manifold (on top) is leaking a bit now. Perhaps that is the problem? A vacuum leak could be it but I see no noticable loss of power. Just the noticeable difference in air intake. RPM difference is really quite negligable. Maybe 50 to 100 but the one thing is the the change is consistent. I can basically count to 15 and 'click'...start over count to 15 and 'click'...see what I mean? Would the leaky gasket at the intake manifold cause a vacuum problem?
Thanks for your input so far.

 

You mean your filler neck is leaking. The thermostat houseing area. if that is leaking than that won't a vacuum leak. Vacuum leaks will hiss and you will be able to hear it with a tube placed against your ear. Or use a spray bottle and spray some soapy water on the area and watch for it to be sucked in or for bubbles to be formed.

 

no no, the gasket that is on the air intake manifold. I see there is some radiator fluid gather on there. The big tube that connects to the top

 

just a thought, when u hear that click and your rpms raise or drop, is your defrost on? i just found out that the a/c pump cycles on and off even when your on the defrost setting. 15 seconds sounds about right for that to. mine does it. as far as i know, its supposed to. if its as consistent as u say, every 15 seconds, sounds like the a/c pump. see what happens while your heat/defrost is off.

 

Do you mean here?

 

Yes, exactly where. It looks too like someone before me has drilled a couple of holes there for an add on or something. Bigger than the original screw holes..wierd.

 

Hey, I never thought of that. I do have it on the defrost setting. I will try it with it off and see if that makes a difference. I can't remember if it did that on just plain heat...hmm.

 

You are leaking coolant there and that will not cause a vacuum leak. So you are set there, well excpet for fixing the leak.

 

I have to say that is a super clean engine bay. Geesh..lol. Hopefully it will be like Nick said where it was just the defrost/ac pump kicking it up. hoping anyways.

 

Um...lol. It was the AC/defrost. thanks for the headsup. After I thought about it seemed to coincide quite nicely with the time the engine started doing the funny idle thing. lol. thanks for the 'extra set of eyes'.

 

Uhh.. yeah.. uhm.. AC compressor CLICKS on in defrost to dehumidify the air so you don't get a foggier windshield than you started with. Gotta love those "it's doing exactly what you told it to, except you didn't know you were telling it to" problems

 

lol...no prob glad i could help