Quick question for all your mechanical savvies out there.

swmbo's Ford Ka radio now makes a rather loud ticking sound. It's directly related to engine speed so I thought it was some electrical interference causing it.

I've checked all the HT leads to the spark plugs but they're all securely in place. Any other places known to generate that kind of intereference? :(

What's the background. Was anything done to the car before this started happening?

Ferrite ring aorund the leads to the HU normally is enough to stop suppression....

If it was ok before though! Before what!

It's definitely ignition interference. One of your HT leads may be dying.

It's the 1958 pushrod engine trying to talk to you and tell you its low on oil

It's the 1958 pushrod engine trying to talk to you and tell you its low on oil

Has anything been changed recently? Seems strange that is started happening all of a sudden. :confused:

It's definitely ignition interference. One of your HT leads may be dying.

That sounds more like it!

Earthing point worked loose / corroded?

Wiring disturbed so loose connection?

Alternator fault? Fuel pump fault?

Poor ariel connection / ariel connection in contact with car body?

HT lead as mentioned above?

Did it start suddenly on its own for no apparant reason? Or was the car touched by a garage?

Probably an HT lead on its way out...the damp air from the current bout of lovely weather we are having is probably helping tracking through the insulation..

Not sure if the Ka has a suppressor fitted to its alternator but worth a look to see if the connection is clean/tight

Thanks for the suggestions.

I rarely drive her car. I didn't notice it the last time I drove it (a few weeks ago because of a F#$^ car park prang which nearly took the car out but pranger left no name ). Drove it the other day and it's really noticeable.

Hasn't been to any garage. She just uses it as a daily commute to work. Will check your suggestions though. Is there any easy way to find out which HT lead it could be? I guess you don't want to try and run the engine on 3 cylinders to find out :eek:

TBH, swmbo hasn't even noticed as I asked her last night and she didn't seem that bothered about it. Drives me mad though

Is there any easy way to find out which HT lead it could be?

With the engine running Get SWMBO to wet her hand and grab each HT lead in turn. When her hair stands up you know which lead is suspect.

...seriously though. If one HT lead is on its way out you may as well get a full set of new ones as the rest won't be far behind.

its a ford FFS, you should be ashamed to even have it near your house

With the engine running Get SWMBO to wet her hand and grab each HT lead in turn. When her hair stands up you know which lead is suspect.

.

She may even like the resulting hair style and keep it

Could this in Theory happen to a Octavia VRS ?

Its recently started happening on my VRS. Particuarly effecting Radio 2..

Radio 2 problem - make sure AF is switched on and the radio will find a stronger transmission if you current signal is weak. cheers - Stuart

:oI think I may have entered an alternative universe. A 5 year time gap between posts....about a Ford Ka in a classic RWD Skoda forum!

What's the relationship between a Ford Ka, a Skoda Rapid, and an Octavia vRS? [scratches head]

For the guy with the Octy, I'd suspect water ingress in the aerial (good excuse for the Honda S2000 aerial mod) or a loose but not failing coilpack.

Ha,

The reason why the link ?

Google is my friend! Not being able to find anything else on a ticking noise relating to engine speed.

My dad suggested in "T'olden days" that it was to do with Supressor caps on the Spark plugs that used to effect TV's, radios etc.

I'll have a look at the coil packs

Many Thanks

Your Dad would have been spot-on back in the days of Kettering arc systems.

My dad used to have a really nasty Fiat Panda that had an odd stereo noise. You turned it on but kept the volume on the bottom stop, and it made the car sound like it had a turbo charger. It had a strange power feed on the dials on dash. I suppose the previous owner just chomped through the red one poking out that was obvious under dash?

Why isn't you chum on the Ford Forum - this is Skodas and RWD ones at that - I have even just blasfamously uttered Fiat here to because of you...! Damm you! lol

Edited 24 September, 201015 yr by Czech Bra Size