Hi!
I have a Lancer Sportback 2011, 4b10 1.8 Mivec CX3A 143HP, 173000km total course.
Got these strange ticking noises coming from the front part of the car.

you can hear it in the sound file attached (around 01:00)

What can it be?
It only appears when:
1. The engine achieves working temperature.
2. On every gear change (except the first one) for a short moment when adding speed
3. When riding uphill between 1500 to 2500rpm. When going uphill over 2500rpm I cant hear it, but im not sure its not there.
4. It can be heard also when riding for long distances around 2500rpm, 5th gear on flat roads and the pedal half-pressed (like usual riding out of town on express roads). IMPORTANT - When I press the pedal to add more speed it dissappears immediately :|

It cant be heard when car is idle, even putting high rpm.


The car has normal power, no suspicious behaviour. The timig gear chain was replaced around 130000km.
Used Liqui Moly 5W40 Full Synthetic oil, now on Eneos Hyper S 5W30, changed every year around 10000 to 12000km.
My mechanic thinks its knocking combustion (but he havent heard it riding my car untill I showed him the recording his skills are average so i would not take this info to serious - he didnt knew what could be the cause).
It havent showed suddenly, I'm riding like that for over 40000km and still nothing got broken.

I cant stand that noise Im pulling my hair off and no one knows how to help

Some people outside the car pointed me that noise. Its not loud but its just there and is hearable in the cabin when the windows are opened.

 

Hi, just wondering if you resolved the issue. I am having the same issue with my 2012 sportsback from last couple of days and want to understand whats is it, please share your experience or any help. Thanks

 

I have a 4B12 outlander making the exact same noise, a design flaw, i have been driving it like this for over 3 years, please advise if you ever figured out what it was, much appreciated.

 

My 2010 Galant Fortis with the 4B10 engine sounds exactly like this. I tried adding STP oil treatment, it reduced the sound for a while then it came back. Help!!!

 

So I guess I figured out the cause of the issue.

Firstly, my thoughts were that the sound was coming from the CVT clutch not engaging properly at low load. But then I came across this forum and found out that cars with manual transmissions also have the same issue, so obviously it's not a CVT problem.

My father thought that the sound was an engine knock (pinging?) from overly advanced timing. Since I can't retard the timing in any easy way to test his theory, I decided to experiment a bit with the gasoline octane number. In my country, we use RON95 gasoline as "regular", and RON98 as "premium". I filled my tank with RON98 gasoline (the tank was almost bone dry), but somehow I decided that 3 units higher was not enough, so I used an octane booster to really make a difference. Since then, for about 400 kilometers, there has been no sound. I tried to reproduce that noise by feathering the throttle, but if it appears, it only lasts for a brief moment, and I have to listen very carefully because it is just barely audible.

Now I know that the sound is a knock from too advanced timing, but how can this be fixed? Any thoughts?