I'm trying to pinpoint a strange sound and I am assuming (without much investigation) that it is being caused by the Numeric shifter cables, but it could be something else too. When I installed the cables originally, the only noises I noticed were high-pitched whining sounds (coming from the transmission and telegraphing through the cables) which were heard loudest under compression braking.

But lately I'm hearing some rapid ticking sounds that seem like they are coming from the dash area. Almost sounds like what you'd hear if a tiny little wire was just barely touching a fan blade. It's very quiet and kind of fades in and fades out (and I can't find any action that is linked to it being louder or quieter or completely gone), and the tick pulses at about 5 per second. I'm wondering if some transmission vibrations are telegraphing through those cables and making that sound, or if I should be looking elsewhere, like maybe the HVAC blower motor. Or maybe this isn't an uncommon sound and someone knows what it is just by my description.

Thanks in advance!

 

That sound in a Cayenne is the HVAC blower motor bearing so think you're on the right track with that thinking. That's easy to test though. If you increase the fan speed, does the sound change or go away, or does it stay the same?

 

I have the exact same noise. Drivers side to center-ish. Removing the dying PCM and replacing with a nice Sony touchscreen HU seemed to kill it. I heard it constantly before that, kind of a teletype machine from the 40s sound, rapid clicking, kind of soft. At low speed fan settings (bars1-4/5) I do hear bearing noise from the blower fan. One more click above these lowest settings makes it go away. On a related note, I had a bathroom fan that upon start up would make the same groaning noise which I attributed to the bearing, I cleaned out the fan cage very thoroughly with a vacuum cleaner to get all the old 20 years worth of dust and gunk. That made that sound go away for the most part. This could be an accumulation of debris and dust inside the car on the fan cage blades. Adding to that an aging motor bearing.

I recently heard clicking again for the first time in a long time. When testing with Durametric, I would get warnings about stepper motors in the climate control system, so I believe it has something to do with that. As I said I thought I had it licked when removing the PCM and throwing it away. If it is indeed a blower motor/stepper motor, taking the dash apart is not that hard to get to the climate control system as long as you’re comfortable removing the center stack, it’s carrier, and lower L&R dash panels and glove box.

Let us know what you find. I’m trying to eradicate this. Again, removing the dying PCM helped 90%. I also have the Numeric shifter/cables.

 

Thank you both very much for the replies! SUPER helpful. I honestly thought I'd get no responses because this is such a strange and not extremely noticeable sound. Figured it would be just one of those random things only my car is inflicted with and that I can never resolve.

RE the fan comments, toward the end of my drive home the other day, I turned the climate control system off completely and listened. I think that should rule out both fan noise, as well as stepper motor noise (I didn't know stepper motors were used in the climate control system so never would have thought/suspected that - thank you!), and I didn't really hear any more noise after that but also the noise does kind of come and go and fade in and fade out. Sometimes it's loud enough that I can hear it over a podcast, and sometimes just road noise alone will drown it out completely. In order to really test it, I'll need to go on a much longer drive. But now I know that I should keep focused on that.

ALEV8, that is an interesting observation about the sound going away for a while after your replaced the PCM...... I think maybe that might be giving some credibility to my theory that the Numeric cables are telegraphing vibrations into the dash and center console that rattle some plastic pieces or something else which causes this sound. Maybe in the process of replacing the stereo, wires, connectors, plastic parts, etc were moved around and different forces were placed on things after re-installation and that prevented the rattling. Just a theory. But how you describe the sound, and the perceived location sound exactly like what I am hearing. I almost wonder what would happen if you pulled your Sony system out, then shoved a couple rags or some open-cell foam behind it, before pushing the stereo back in (in order to provide some additional pressure to the plastic parts and wires), just as a temporary check to see if helps.

I do have a Durametric so I will scan the climate control system and see if I have the same warnings.

I will for-sure post back with results on everything I check. Thanks again for the help!!

 

Durametric first and I bet you have stepper motor issues / warnings. Second thing I did was get a new battery because my Optima was 3 years old. However, I know EXACTLY that sound and you could search for my threads here about it, but it’s the same one I have - the climate control is centered behind the “carrier” which holds the PCM/DSC etc buttons/AC unit. It’s all back there behind PCM. This sound drove me nuts for two solid years. New HU seemed to have eradicated it, but I heard it last week.

 

Bummer - I went for a long drive this morning to an appointment, had the stereo off and the climate control system completely off. Noise is still there. Another way to describe it is like if you taped a playing card to the forks of a bicycle so a corner of it would just barely touch the wire spokes of the wheel, and you spun the wheel, then put earplugs in so it was very faint. I'm pretty convinced it is the numeric racing shifter cables that are transmitting vibrations into something. The issue with that is that it will be a BEAR to swap the cables out. Took me a long time to do the install in the first place. Would hate to swap back to OEM only to have the same sound present. Trying to think of how I could maybe try to pinpoint the sound to the cables first without swapping them, but am running short on ideas. About all I can think of would be to loosen the cable hold down clamp just behind the shifter just as a quick test, in hopes that this causes less vibration to be transmit into the dash. It's most audible around 30-45mph when road noise is lowest.

I have another rattle that is driving me mad. It's coming from the lower dash area beneath the ignition switch. It sounds like a small glass marble sitting in a plastic channel that is oriented front-to-rear of the car and the channel is about 1/4" longer than the marble. So any time you step on the gas, the marble rolls 1/4" back and clunks on the back-end of the channel and any time you let off the gas, it rolls forward and clunks at the front-end of the channel. It's loud and is present and reproducible 100% of the time. I think that one is going to be a lot easier to find.

I wish I were one of those people who don't even notice these kinds of things.

 

If the sound is related to the road surface, it could be the PCM shifting in its mounts.
I had a rattle noise from the same area in my 2011 997 GTS that drove me crazy on rough roads.
Took it into a dealer service department for a separate issue (while still under CPO warranty).
The tech removed the PCM and ran adhesive backed sponge-like foam tape on the sides of the unit and along the inside of the console where the PCM contacted it. Clicking noise vanished. Still quiet today (knock on wood), 10K miles/2 years later. (Free CPO repair.)

 

Thanks for the reply - that's a great suggestion about the foam tape. However, in my case, the sound is not changing based on road surface roughness. It's most obvious on smooth roads simply because the reduced road noise allows me to better hear the ticking. But I think that is good advice about the foam tape and it could potentially still help me - maybe adding that would stop any vibrations being transmit through my shifter cables. It's worth a shot.....

 

hello I am experiencing a similar noise ,is this the noise everyone is talking about ? Does anyone know how to fix this it’s driving me nuts

 

Came here because obviously I have the weird clicking noise. Just got it today so haven’t done much troubleshooting. Seems to happen when keyed power is on, before the engine starts and when shutting the car down. Once it’s running and the AC kicks in it stops, but it does seem to be related to the climate system. If I did this right a short video should be below (pardon the dust in my dash, never noticed it in my dark interior until I captured the sound. Will get that cleaned up.)

 

I never updated this thread. The original issue I posted about ended up being due to my installing Numeric Racing shifter and cables. The cables can transmit some vibrations into the cabin and the way the vibrations move through the car, they can cause sounds that seem to come from very strange places. Gently pushing on the shift **** further toward whatever gear the car is in instantly silenced the ticking sound.

The other sound I mentioned in post #6 ended up, embarrassingly, being an object in one of the consoles rolling back and forth. I thought I had cleaned everything out of the arm rest and center consoles but that was not the case.