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!

 

[kitkat]

Check if it’s the exposed gear linkage area.

 

[K_Squared]

Check if it’s the exposed gear linkage area.

Definitely doesn't sound like it's coming from that area. Sounds like it's a ticking noise somewhere behind the seats.

 

[Subw00er]

Are you just hearing the valves doing their thing? Does it get quicker with revs?

 

[K_Squared]

Are you just hearing the valves doing their thing? Does it get quicker with revs?

I do not believe it's the valves. It doesn't change with revs. It sounds more like a vibration-caused ticking noise than an engine-caused sound. I'm shocked nobody else has jumped in here. I'll see if I can get some sound clips of it.

 

[virtualmacho]

zip ties on driveshaft prank

 

[K_Squared]

Just took this on my iPhone but you can clearly hear the ticking noise whenever I press the throttle.

 

[silent cilantro]

Does it make the noise when you rev it in neutral? If it does, does the noise stop when you apply pressure to the shifter (left or right)?

Get your head down by the shifter and listen for it. I know you said it’s coming from behind but sound bounces inside the cabin and it makes it hard to pin point. I thought my noise was coming from the passenger footwell.

If your problem is the same as mine then according to Lotus the gear shifter mechanism needs adjustment.

 

[K_Squared]

Does it make the noise when you rev it in neutral? If it does, does the noise stop when you apply pressure to the shifter (left or right)?

Get your head down by the shifter and listen for it. I know you said it’s coming from behind but sound bounces inside the cabin and it makes it hard to pin point. I thought my noise was coming from the passenger footwell.

If your problem is the same as mine then according to Lotus the gear shifter mechanism needs adjustment.

I did more testing today and found it does not happen in neutral. In fact, it also doesn’t happen in 1st or 2nd gear. It happens with any acceleration from 3rd-6th gears.

EDIT: After getting home I watched your videos. Mine sounds exactly like yours. I'll talk to my dealer about the shifter adjustment if I can't isolate it to anything else in the car. Thanks!

 

[Chobfreak]

I have the same noise as K_Squared. The Lotus Luxembourg engineer thinks it's an engine noise that gets transmitted to the cabin via the cables of the gearbox.

He told me not to worry, unless it gets worse, as trying to find the source might prove to be nearly impossible.

I'll see if it worsens during my planned trip to Italy next week, if it starts to get loud enough to identify, they intend to hunt it down.

 

[Nick Sticks]

It's not something like the loose passenger seat belt just knocking something, someone else traced a ticking noise to that.

 

[scc.131.fe]

First drive home today from the dealer and I noticed the ticking. Will drive it again asap to see if it's only 3-6th gear, but it's definitely only when the engine has a load on it.

 

[DerTheDer]

Does it make the noise when you rev it in neutral? If it does, does the noise stop when you apply pressure to the shifter (left or right)?

Get your head down by the shifter and listen for it. I know you said it’s coming from behind but sound bounces inside the cabin and it makes it hard to pin point. I thought my noise was coming from the passenger footwell.

If your problem is the same as mine then according to Lotus the gear shifter mechanism needs adjustment.

YES MINE DOES THAT...SO ANNOYING.

 

[hellasf1]

Just picked mine up today and mine does the same thing when I drove it couple hours back home. Did anyone find where or what is causing it? @K_Squared we are both local to the same dealer or couple hours away lol. Did you reach out to them?

1st 2nd & 3rd I didn’t hear it. 4th-6th yea for sure with 5th being the worst.

 

[DerTheDer]

Just picked mine up today and mine does the same thing when I drove it couple hours back home. Did anyone find where or what is causing it? @K_Squared we are both local to the same dealer or couple hours away lol. Did you reach out to them?

1st 2nd & 3rd I didn’t hear it. 4th-6th yea for sure with 5th being the worst.

Lotus USA says its shifter cables. Would require interior taken out to replace, I told dealer not to worry about it.

 

[K_Squared]

Just picked mine up today and mine does the same thing when I drove it couple hours back home. Did anyone find where or what is causing it? @K_Squared we are both local to the same dealer or couple hours away lol. Did you reach out to them?

1st 2nd & 3rd I didn’t hear it. 4th-6th yea for sure with 5th being the worst.

Mine is very noticeable in anything 3rd and above. It's pretty annoying and takes away from the otherwise glorious sound of the engine and supercharger. I'll probably ask Lotus Cape Fear to adjust it whenever it goes that way for servicing. I asked the GM about it maybe a month or so ago and he said he hadn't heard of it at the time. Seems to be fairly common though and IMO worth fixing at some point.

 

[hellasf1]

Yea I agree. I would like it fixed as well.

Lotus USA says its shifter cables. Would require interior taken out to replace, I told dealer not to worry about it.

How much of the interior did they say?

 

[hellasf1]

Mine is very noticeable in anything 3rd and above. It's pretty annoying and takes away from the otherwise glorious sound of the engine and supercharger. I'll probably ask Lotus Cape Fear to adjust it whenever it goes that way for servicing. I asked the GM about it maybe a month or so ago and he said he hadn't heard of it at the time. Seems to be fairly common though and IMO worth fixing at some point.

Yea I agree. Sucks that we have it on ours. Unless more people do but they think it’s the raw lotus gear linkage or say it’s a race car lol

 

[Rafy]

Yea I agree. Sucks that we have it on ours. Unless more people do but they think it’s the raw lotus gear linkage or say it’s a race car lol

I picked my new Emira yesterday and noticed this problem within the first hour. It is really frustrating me to a point that I might sell it if Lotus does not come up with a recall about this issue. I have attached a video I made this morning.

 

[DerTheDer]

Yea I agree. I would like it fixed as well.

How much of the interior did they say?

Drivers seat and shifter console, and some other stuff. Enough for me to not take the risk there being some squeeks after it was put back together.