very sudden loud clicking and fan noise... is my rover near death?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

RoverThinker

Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2019
Posts
12
Reaction score
6
Location
IA
drove my '14 lr4 (~80K) to gym last night, gym this morning and no problems. on my way to work this morning out of nowhere it starts making a noise that went from semi noticeable with window down to extremely noticeable. upon start up - extremely loud clicking paired with a noise that reminds me of putting a playing card in your bike spoke - amplified. No lights on, not overheating. it seems to drive okay (i drove it 2 miles down the road to the local rover shop) but the noise is absolutely atrocious (not to mention embarrassing). i turned off the air conditioning completely and it seemed to lessen.

But i'm terrified. is it about to die? is it a fan? exhaust? engine? I'm posting here because to top it all off, when i called owner of shop to let him know i dropped it - they're closed for the week. Clearly, i have no mechanical skills and waiting til next week i might die from anxiety.

(last year i had the coolant issue where it suddenly over heated. it was leaking and i had that repaired - shortly after a hose came loose but again, quick repair and no further issue)
 
Last edited:

ryanjl

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2015
Posts
3,019
Reaction score
1,793
Location
KCMO
No the answer you are wanting right now, but nobody here will have a clue what it is.

But probably just something stuck somewhere, if you have no codes and no problems otherwise.
 

roverman

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Posts
1,667
Reaction score
108
Did you check for playing cards in your spokes?

I kid, I kid. But yeah a lot more info would be needed. Internet diagnosing is pretty tough.
 

jlglr4

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2019
Posts
933
Reaction score
477
Location
Northern California
Post up a video or sound file. Does the speed of the sound increase/decrease with the engine RPM? If not - fan clutch. If it does change, possibly supercharger coupler (not a bad fix). Could also be fuel pump. Hard to say without hearing it.
 

equalizer

Active Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2019
Posts
34
Reaction score
5
Location
Arizona
Does the speed of the sound increase/decrease with the engine RPM? If not - fan clutch

I am ignorant on the matter apparently. I would have thought that the fan clutch either engages or disengages with the utility belt. Thus higher RPMs --> Faster fan speed.
How can the fan keep constant speed?

Or am I misinterpreting what you wrote above?
 

f1racer328

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2017
Posts
816
Reaction score
434
Location
AZ
I am ignorant on the matter apparently. I would have thought that the fan clutch either engages or disengages with the utility belt. Thus higher RPMs --> Faster fan speed.
How can the fan keep constant speed?
So the fan is a viscous fan.

It's connected through the engine through a viscous clutch that can vary engagement levels, dependent on a variety of factors. The fan speed will vary with engine RPM. One of the big items that varies the speed is if the air conditioning is on or not, which is why that may have been changing your noise.

Hopefully it's something simple like that. I had the cooling fan get stuck fully on, and had it replaced a while back (Probably 60k miles or so)
 

jlglr4

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2019
Posts
933
Reaction score
477
Location
Northern California
When the viscous clutch goes bad, it often causes a clicking noise. That clicking noise tends to be like a clock - it doesn‘t really change much with the engine RPM - at least when I’ve heard it. I believe the noise is actually the clutch solenoid turning on and off repeatedly, so its not dependent on the engine speed.

So - yes, the fan speed can change with RPM, but the typical “clicking” associated with what seems to be most common failure mode on these fans tends not to change with engine RPM.
 

jlach993

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2013
Posts
493
Reaction score
192
Location
Fresh Meadows Queens NY
drove my '14 lr4 (~80K) to gym last night, gym this morning and no problems. on my way to work this morning out of nowhere it starts making a noise that went from semi noticeable with window down to extremely noticeable. upon start up - extremely loud clicking paired with a noise that reminds me of putting a playing card in your bike spoke - amplified. No lights on, not overheating. it seems to drive okay (i drove it 2 miles down the road to the local rover shop) but the noise is absolutely atrocious (not to mention embarrassing). i turned off the air conditioning completely and it seemed to lessen.

But i'm terrified. is it about to die? is it a fan? exhaust? engine? I'm posting here because to top it all off, when i called owner of shop to let him know i dropped it - they're closed for the week. Clearly, i have no mechanical skills and waiting til next week i might die from anxiety.

(last year i had the coolant issue where it suddenly over heated. it was leaking and i had that repaired - shortly after a hose came loose but again, quick repair and no further issue)
Hey dude lol we need more info to go on! Open up the hood. Start it up briefly. Take a vid and try and figure out what it is…if its the fan area or coming from the actual engine block.
 

PaulLR3

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2006
Posts
1,401
Reaction score
530
Location
Boston
As others above noted, probably the fan clutch is seizing. I think mine went bad around 80K miles as well.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
36,223
Posts
217,601
Members
30,474
Latest member
sawcut
Top