Doesn’t sound right
 

Hey everybody, I’m new here and I just bought a BRZ for the first time. It’s a 2014 with only 36,000 miles on it. 6 speed manual. Got it from a dealership.

Anyway the engine or tranny just isn’t sounding right for a car? While the engine is idling there’s a small ticking noise coming from under the hood. Also whenever I’m running through the gears there’s a whining noise mainly through 1-3rd gear. I took it back to the dealership (still under warranty so it was free). They ran a diagnostic on it and they said everything checks out. They also said these engines sometimes run like that, but that didn’t make a lick of sense to me.

I’m thinking the ticking noise might be coming from my lifters? Or timing chain? I dunno. I also think the whine might be coming from my tranny obviously. Maybe low trans fuel or this thing has just been ran through from the previous owner.

I’m just curious to see what you guys think could be what’s up. I’m almost positive it’s not supposed to sound like this lmao. Thanks guys, (girls).

Is the car stock?

This car is noisy. It's likely just the high pressure fuel pump and direct injectors doing their thing. It's really annoying in the drive through line listening to the tick reflect off the wall that is two feet away.

Injectors.
They are noisy.
It is just the way they are.
The noise will change as they switch back and forth from port to direct.
Having come from big block V8s that noise still freaks me out sometimes.


The whine is just the result of the tranny being right beside you and having the equivalent to a piece of paper for sound deadening. If used to FWD cars where the tranny is way up front then the noise seems strange when again it is perfectly normal.


Boxer engines usually sound like old Russian farm tractors but you get used to it.

Yep most likely the High Pressure DI injectors. This is a lightweight sportscar. Most newer cars with DI have a big cover over the engine with padding to insulate the noises

Okay! I appreciate all the responses. I just wanted a second opinion on what’s going on. If it’s normal then I’m good with it.

Injectors are loud, DI fuel pump makes cricket sounds, transmission sounds like a race car, sound tube also pumps more of this into the cabin than is necessary.

These are all normal things. @Tcoat 's assessment of farm tractor is fair.

Just wait until you think you slowly rev the engine out above 6k RPM- it sounds like an orchestra being conducted by someone with cerebral palsy

LOL You are new here. Expect several dozen more responses saying the same thing. Also expect some dude(s) without a clue to tell you your engine is about to blow up, you need to use different oil, get a louder exhaust, turn up your radio, oh I could go on all day. Then, two years from now somebody will reopen the thread and say "I have this problem as well did you ever find a fix?".

On top of necro'ing 6 other threads on the same subject :D

Stop it, Hakone-san. You'll summon them with new Google search results on this thread

You can always go out and test drive another MT twin and see if it sounds similar to yours. The "crickets" seem to vary in intensity from car to car, but the 3rd gear transmission whine would be something I would want to compare to at least one other vehicle, particularly since you paid good enough money to get an extensive warranty.

Regarding the DI cricket noise, I (and I believe many others) notice that it is worse with heat. So, in the summer time with the high Arizona temps (115+ degrees) and summer fuel blends, I can really hear mine. Aside from that, I don't hear anything else the remainder of the year.

The crickets are not from the DI but from the duel pump.

Oh god saying that feels like 2015 again!

@Kubie715 The injectors should make a nice steady ticking sound, you'll get used to them. At this point I count that if I can hear them and they sound alright then that's a good thing. One side tends to sound different / louder than the other, maybe just by having different resonance on that side. No use in trying to quiet the injectors, with 8 injectors in a 4 cylinder it's just going to sound the way it does. Sometimes will make a chirp or a chooching sound during the summer.

A used up clutch throwout bearing can create plenty of resonating tapping from the transmission. They just go bad after ~30-50k miles. The new revised clutch throwout bearing is much improved. I'm on my 3rd one at 120k mile.

Gear whine can be because of the transmission or differential possibly needing a fluid change. Before I changed out the stock differential fluid when I was still ~30k my car made sounds like the millennium falcon on deceleration. Otherwise, yes this car will sometimes make gear whine. If you add in a whiteline transmission mount you'll get even more gear whine and cabin NVH! Fun!