My daughter has a 94 Rodeo with the 3.2L V6 engine. It has a fairly loud ticking noise that goes away at or above 2200 RPMs . The vehicle seems to run well and has good power. Ive heard that these symptoms point to a failed Timing belt hydraulic tensioner. Has anyone had these symptoms and actually confirmed that it was the tensioner?

 

Hydraulic lifter. As the pressure builds at around the 2k rpm it's enough to stop it clicking.

Our 97 does it sometimes. Start - tick - wait - it stops. Start next time and no ticking. An oil change helps, but the best results are after a good flush with mystery oil. We do that about every 50k or so. It won't tick for a long time after that.

 

Ok we got the timing belt tensioner replaced and the loud ticking noise at under 2200 rpms went away. we still hear a much softer ticking from the lifters but that is fairly normal for this engine. The repair for the tensioner replacement is much less expensive that lifter replacement. When the ticking noise is quite loud and stops at around 2200rpms it is most likely the tensioner that needs replacement.

 

Find a better one for your car and get upgraded with that for a better performance. You can find the models on websites and also compare them with others.

 

Hey man I just replaced this less than 8 hours ago and it is deff the tensior if it has an almost diesel like sound to it that goes away with higher rpms, when you buy it buy the one for a honda passport because it is about 30 bucks less, should be 76.95 from auto zone. Its not a difficult job but takes some time. Depending on the mileage you may want to go ahead and replace the belt and possibly the water pump. I would suggest to park the car until its fixed because its a zero tolerance motor.

 

Have em replace it with a big crate motor and pay the difference LOL. Dont know what it could be. Sounds too loud to be a lifter problem. Hope its not a piston or rod or something. I know nothing about motors, so dont know if those are even possibilities, but if its a ticking, sounds like it is a rotating part that is hitting somewhere. Hard part is finding out what part and where its hitting.