Hi all, I have noticed that on occasion when I start my car I have a weird ticking/electrical noise coming from somewhere in the center upper dash area. I can't tell if it coming from something behind the dash or maybe its the center speaker on the dash. It makes this noise for maybe 10-20 seconds when you first start the car and then it goes away. It made this noise about 4-5 months ago when i first got the car, and then it went away. I began to hear it again yesterday. I haven't taken it in to get looked at since it is not consistent and they might not be able to diagnose it. Does anyone have any idea what it could be? I know this description is kind of vague... I'll try to record it next time it happens.

 

Does it sound like your HVAC fan perhaps? Maybe it's got something restricting it's blades and it is making a noise until it gets enough inertia to run. Just a guess, but I had some squirrels get into my truck and they left some gifts in my fan and vents and it made a ticking noise until the fan could spin up to speed.

 

Thanks for the reply! That might be it... only weird thing is that it does not do it consistently. I live in southern california and usually do not have the fans/heat on in the car. It makes this noise on occasion with all of the fan/heat controls set to off, but only when the car is first started up. I'll try to get it on video next time it happens and keep you all updated once I take it to the dealer

 

If everything is off (AC, Audio) but the seat cooler is on, you'll hear an electronic noise/fan noise from the seat. Could be that unless its actually coming from the center dash.

I found that out today, it was driving me crazy.

 

There are a bunch of relays behind the dash, underneath it, in the middle, left, right, everywhere LOL. Maybe when you first bought the car the battery wasn't fully charged and now it has lost some juice again. So, some relay may have a hard time opening. Take a look (with a multi-meter) how many volts are on that battery. If low, drive a bit longer one day to fully charge it. But, do check that battery.

Just a thought!

 

Oh, you might be right! I haven't been driving the car much over the last few weeks. Some days it just sits in the garage without being driven at all. I will make sure to take a look at the battery voltage

 

Just a quick update on this.... still haven't gotten around to taking the car in to get checked out... planning do to that soon when I go in for an oil change.

I noticed that this ticking noise appears to be coming from the center of the dash. Today when I started my car, it was making the ticking noise, and when I used the volume knob to turn the volume down it went away, and when I turned the volume knob up, it came back. The audio setting was on "Bluetooth" and the car had not connected to my phone yet. The volume was originally set to "30" before I turned it down. This noise seems to be coming from the center channel speaker that is in the middle of the dash... but only when the car is first started up and the volume is set in the higher range. It goes away within in 15 seconds or so