Hi my 08 Kia Optima is making a strange ticking noise whi...

Hi! Welcome to JustAnswer. Thank you for contacting us for assistance with your vehicle. I'm Ron. I will be happy to assist you with your question. May I ask to whom I have the pleasure of speaking with today?

Logan

Hi Logan. Nice to see you today! I'm sorry to hear you are having this problem. I know this can be frustrating. Logan, does your vehicle have the 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder engine?

4 cylinder.

Great, Thanks, \*\*\*\*\* \*\*\*\*\* would you say the ticking noise is coming from the top of the engine? Passenger's side? Lower section?

It is the engine on the passenger side

Ok, great, thanks Logan. Please give me one moment to type out some information for you. Sit tight one minute... I'll be right back!

Thankyou.

Thanks for holding, Logan. If the noise is on the passenger's side, there are a few things this can be. This can be a problem with one of the bearings in one of the pulleys, like the idler, tensioner or AC Compressor pulley. This can be a problem more internal, like a loose timing chain. First course of action here is to remove the serpentine belt and run the engine for a very short period- no more than 10 seconds. If the noise is still present with the belt removed, the problem is internal, like a timing chain issue. If the noise is gone with the belt removed, the pulleys will need to be inspected by hand. In the meantime... if the check engine light is on, I would recommend you have the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (aka "P-Codes") scanned from the on-board computer. Many times these p-codes can give much more insight as to where the problem lies. You can have these p-codes read **<u>FREE</u>** (except in California) at any local "big chain" part store (ie. AutoZone, O'Reilly's, Advanced, etc).

Thank you again for choosing Just Answer for your questions. I hope I was able to answer your question to your satisfaction. If you have any follow up questions please feel free to hit the "Reply" button below. Please feel free to request me in the future for any additional questions you may have. I hope this all works out well for you! Have a great day, Logan!