Do you notice a ticking noise during acceleration?

[K_Squared]

So I am loving the Emira and at this point I'm just looking into a few small quirks that are somewhat annoying to see if they are normal or exceptions. One such thing is that whenever I accelerate (doesn't matter if it's light or hard acceleration), I notice a subtle ticking noise that I THINK is coming from behind me somewhere. It's difficult to determine the source and I'm going to have to let someone else drive while I try to locate it. The noise doesn't happen when I'm not accelerating so I'm thinking it's either something within the engine or just something in the car that vibrates only during acceleration.

At any rate, I've heard at least 2-3 others report this on Facebook or in this forum so I wanted to put it out there...do you notice this noise and if so, have you been able to identify or address it? It somewhat detracts from the otherwise glorious supercharger and exhaust notes from the engine under normal acceleration.

Thanks in advance!

 

[FInWin]

Has anyone found a definitive solution to this problem? My Emira also started to make the same noise.

 

[Rupes]

Dealership said this sound is an intentional feature to remind you that owning a Lotus is a lot like owning a ticking time bomb.

I think that checks out.

 

[allenyao09]

Has anyone found a definitive solution to this problem? My Emira also started to make the same noise.

I fitted a GRP short shifter on my car and the ticking noise went away. Not a definitive solution but it's accidentally a fix.

My dealer couldn't provide me with a solution as the claim they submitted to Lotus was never heard back.

 

[Tomwa]

For anyone who has done the shifter boot delete, you can literally stick your hand in and touch/feel/adjust the way the shifter cable is sitting to make the rattling stop.

It's the end links for the cables hitting the bracket they attach at. The cable just "rotates" slightly and they touch. A soft "spacer" of some kind would stop the noise

 

[FInWin]

Did anyone with this issue get a definitive solution? Ideally something that was fixed at the dealer.

 

[allenyao09]

I fitted a GRP short shifter on my car and the ticking noise went away. Not a definitive solution but it's accidentally a fix.

My dealer couldn't provide me with a solution as the claim they submitted to Lotus was never heard back.

Status update: I thought the rattling noise was fixed by the short shifter but it's not. The noise is still there but behaves slightly different from before.

 

[SteveT]

Do we think it could be the PCV valve rattling while working behind our heads?

 

[kitkat]

The ticking noise is vibration traveling from the transmission, through the cable, and into the shifter assembly. There's nothing you can do about it, that's just how this transmission is.

 

[seriously]

It comes and goes. It’s gone right now.

 

[allenyao09]

I checked with my dealer again, no fix from Lotus yet. But they think Lotus may provide some fixes to the complains from the customer regarding issues like this later this year.

 

[RoryBellows]

Ok so I have this issue as well... For me it happens in 5th and 6th and pressuring the shifter to the left does make it go away. I do have the boot and cage delete so Ill try touching the cable end next time i drive it to see if i can confirm that. I also noted it for my service scheduled for thursday drop off. Has anyone brought their car in to Galpin for this yet?

 

[NoFear99]

Ok so I have this issue as well... For me it happens in 5th and 6th and pressuring the shifter to the left does make it go away. I do have the boot and cage delete so Ill try touching the cable end next time i drive it to see if i can confirm that. I also noted it for my service scheduled for thursday drop off. Has anyone brought their car in to Galpin for this yet?

5th - 6th gear me too.

 

[BlueFE2]

Used to happen in 3 and 4 for me. But as soon as it got above 60 degrees here it went away completely! Hopefully it doesn’t return. Has to be someone out there that has identified a fix.

 

[RoryBellows]

I drove around some more and confirmed a few things. The tick is 100% coming from the shifter, not behind. I cant get it to stop by manipulating the cables. While you can make them click by rotating them hard to either side they dont seem to do that during driving. I think what happens is that as you manipulate the shifter from left to right tolerances stack and so by 5th and 6th the member on the right side of the shifter is pretty loose. If you apply more upward pressure on it you can actually make the ticking worse. If you press down on it the ticking goes away. Pressure on the the stick to the left holds this member down which is why that works. I have been trying to locate the part actually making contact but haven't figured it out yet. I have ruled out the lowest ball joint on it. While that seems a little loose no sort of pressure makes the tick go away. It must be either where the spring pins are or up by the cable attachment. The cable attachment makes sense but damned if I can manipulate that to make it go away. I don't feel the tick touching the spring. I want to do more but I think Ive run out of time before I drop it off for service. Ill let them have a go at it and maybe they can jerry rig something in there. Otherwise Ill be back at it after I get it back.

@Tomwa did you ever put a spacer at the end link. Did it work?

@GRP Any chance for a nice aftermarket shifter assembly like the Elises get?

 

[GRP]

I drove around some more and confirmed a few things. The tick is 100% coming from the shifter, not behind. I cant get it to stop by manipulating the cables. While you can make them click by rotating them hard to either side they dont seem to do that during driving. I think what happens is that as you manipulate the shifter from left to right tolerances stack and so by 5th and 6th the member on the right side of the shifter is pretty loose. If you apply more upward pressure on it you can actually make the ticking worse. If you press down on it the ticking goes away. Pressure on the the stick to the left holds this member down which is why that works. I have been trying to locate the part actually making contact but haven't figured it out yet. I have ruled out the lowest ball joint on it. While that seems a little loose no sort of pressure makes the tick go away. It must be either where the spring pins are or up by the cable attachment. The cable attachment makes sense but damned if I can manipulate that to make it go away. I don't feel the tick touching the spring. I want to do more but I think Ive run out of time before I drop it off for service. Ill let them have a go at it and maybe they can jerry rig something in there. Otherwise Ill be back at it after I get it back.

@Tomwa did you ever put a spacer at the end link. Did it work?

@GRP Any chance for a nice aftermarket shifter assembly like the Elises get?

With a base plate adapter I bet the HPE shifter will fit. I will check into it when I get some extra time!