Recently (this is driving me crazy) my truck has think ticking sound that corrulates w/ speed and it is coming from the dash or maybe engine area. I keep sticking my head out the window and I never here it outside. No other symtoms than the sound... I was assuming it was the speedo cable, but it seems from my searching that most people have a screching sound from the dash w/ the speedo, rather than the ticking that I am hearing. What do you guys think, speedo cable, or something else?

 

Sometimes I think my posts are ignored...

 

Really? It's only been an hour. It seems to get especially slow here Fridays but sometimes people just don't have answers...

My speedometer cable made a squealing noise when it made noise. I think sometimes I hear it tick a little but it's not a steady thing, it just clicks a couple times and is done. It definitely squeaks and squeals but doesn't really tick.

How loud is it? You probably wouldn't hear a quieter sound with your head out the window while you're driving. You can pull the cable from the back of your instrument cluster and spray a little white lithium grease on it and see if that helps. Does your speedometer needle do anthing weird? Have you had anyone else sit shotgun and see where they think it sounds like it's coming from?

 

Thanks for the reply 83, I know I can count on you for a reply! I was worried about being ignored when there were only 2 views (1 being me) in an hour.

I have rode shotgun and it still seems like it is coming from the driver's side. It is a quieter sound... so I guess I would have trouble hearing it out the window... I have had a valve tick in the past... diffinetly not this sound. I had that issue w/ the coil wire popping off the distributer, and at first I thought it was that sound, but not so, got new wires, cap + rotor.

Do you have any other suggestions for ticking sounds?

 

Is there a clock in your truck?

Uhm....let's see. I would lube the end of the speedo cable just to rule it out. Really, and think with me here, there's nothing else in the cab that moves with the speed of the truck, right? So if it isn't your cable, or possibly the mechanics in the actual cluster (although I've torn mine completely apart and I can't picture anything that would make noise, at least not without screwing up the needle and you'd notice that), then it's got to be something in the engine compartment, maybe just on the other side of the firewall.

It's definitely not just a rattle? I mean it's a steady thing that gets faster with speed, reliably? My headlight switch rattles at high speeds, and my dash thingy that goes around the instrument cluster was making some noise until I tightened up the screws, but those aren't steady ticks that speed up with the truck.

Then there's always the old does it happen with engine speed or only vehicle speed trick. Does it happen when you're not moving and you rev the engine? Or only when you're moving? If only when you're moving you can rule out the engine. If it happens when you rev the engine but aren't moving you can rule out the speedo cable. And go from there.

 

Speedo or tach, You have to do the same to get to and check both, so get to it!

 

I have this same exact symptom. It's a very quiet ticking and directly correlates to moving speed. I think it must have something to do with the speedo. As I'm coasting to a stop I can hear it get slower and sloower and sloowweer. It's barely audible as is, and with the windows down and radio on I don't notice it. Doesn't really bother me, but I was curious when I first heard it.

Red, did you ever get to the bottom of this?

 

Yeah I'd like to know if she ever figured it out, too.

Ticking can be valves out of adjustment, timing chain and other stuff, but if it's getting really slow at slow speeds I don't know about timing chain. How about a nail in your tire?

 

Unfortunately, I also have the same exact symptoms as Jeff D and red1983. After spending yesterday afternoon reading the archives in Yotatech, I narrowed my problem down to the speedometer cable. Thanks to YotaJunky, I had a easy time figuring out how to replace my speedometer cable. I just finished. And to my surprise, my speedometer still does not work.

Problem: 1) Speedometer does not work until just recently.

2) Ticking sound for the past several months only when the truck is moving faster than 5MPH up to around 50MPH or so. It generally goes away after about 20 minutes.

* Replaced speedometer cable today with new Toyota cable.

Truck: 1991 Toyota 4X4 Pickup Dlx 4cl.

I had read my problem could also be a bad pinion gear inside transmission. My neighbor mentioned the other day the ticking could be the Heater Core, but when the speedometer went dead, I dismissed that suggestion. My heater works perfectly. Any thoughts?

Thank you very much for any assistance. I'm not a mechanic kind of guy.

 

You are in the "pre-84" section...

So what's the issue? Ticking or a speedometer that doesn't work? Locating the exact source (location) of the ticking is the first step, although if it only happens when you're moving, that makes it a little harder.

 

Sorry. I didn't mean to post in the wrong category.

For some reason, "I think" the ticking went away around the time the speedometer stopped working.

I don't know if this means anything, but the housing where I attach the speedometer cable down below on the transmission may be a little tiny bit loose. I just shoved some grease in the housing and tested: no luck.

 

Could be that the speedo cable isn't plugged into the back of the cluster all the way? It really needs to be jammed in there. Or the actual needle in the cluster somehow broke. Not sure.

 

I can get back behind the cluster again. I just put the speedometer cable in until it clicked. In fact, I did it twice because I didn't want to over bend the new cable in the engine area just to be safe.

 

Is it possible that the ticking is coming from the odometer mechanism? It's a very light mechanical ticking, similar to the sound of a watch (i.e., it sounds precise) only it gets very fast around 15-20 miles per hour and sounds more like a "brrrrr" above 20 miles per hour. I can't make it out over truck noise above 20-25. Completely stops when not moving, is very slow when inching forward. To me it sounds like it's coming from directly behind the dash.

My speedo jumps around slightly under 20-25 miles per hour, but I'm not sure it's related to this noise. I can't imagine it's anything bad. I'll probably just chalk it up as a personality quirk of a truck that's 26 years old.

 

Jeff D,

What you're describing is very similar or pretty close to exactly what I was experiencing. Except, the ticking and whining seems to be gone and now the speedometer is flat dead.

I practically re-installed the speedometer again checking for any mistakes I may have caused. Everything seems to be in order. I thought maybe I may have pulled the cable out of the cluster a little as I was tightening up the slack at the fire wall to run down the tranny end, but the cable was nice and snug against the cluster. Tested. Failed.

It almost has to be a problem at the tranny end or a problem in the cluster. I have no idea at the moment. I've been at it all day now.

 

9 times out of 10 .. it's a u-joint .. that is "telescoping" the noise threw the tranny and speedo cable .. into the dash "area"

I say check your u-joints .


.

 

Thanks Slacker. Now I'll have to figure out how to do that.

 

Old thread... but I am having the same issue... just started last night after i hit a bump in the road?? it is a tick (kinda loud) that happens with speed and happens every 5 seconds or so... when I hear the tick the speedo needle jumps/moves slightly to the tick.... Idunno??

 

I'm having the same issue, except that when I get to about 25mph, the speedo pegs to max speed, and the brrr sound gets super loud. Have tried lubing the cable which did nothing. No I just run with it disconnected. Any advice? Thanks!

 

Disconect the cable from the transmission or cluster and pull the cabe a little bit, sorry I can't remember which one but I remember I had to pull my cable out a little for it to ''clip'' in, hope that's your problem.