2024 RT Ltd ticking noise - dealer can't hear it! Any ideas?

[Sundown]

Hello,

First post here and wanted to share my enthusiasm for my new Spyder. Bought it in July and now have 5,000 miles with several day rides of 600+ miles. Unfortunately work gets in the way of enjoying it more.

I also wanted to pick the brains of the experts here regarding a mildly annoying ticking noise that becomes downright frustrating on longer rides. I have taken the bike in twice regarding this issue - the first time was during the 3000-mile checkup, and then again at about the 4000 mark. I'll try to explain as best I can - perhaps someone else here had the same issue and can share the fix:

The ticking noise is not loud, but noticeable to me anyways, and my wife will attest to the fact that I don't listen well. When driving at a constant speed on flat terrain, the ticking noise is present, but only noticeable when I drop my head below the windshield and out of the wind. The noise gets louder when going up hills or accelerating. The cadence is dependent on road speed i.e. the faster I go the faster it ticks, and it does not change if I downshift. If I let off the gas or am going down a grade, it disappears completely.

To me, this points to something with the final drive belt. I did jack up the rear end and lay underneath while rotating the wheel by hand and could not see or hear anything. I did notice the belt rides against the flange on the rear pulley, should there be a space? The frustrating part is the closest dealer claims they had several people ride it and none could hear it, which boggles my mind because it is not that hard to hear! I am going to visit another dealer tomorrow and hopefully schedule them to look at it. Each time I bring it in, I need to arrange a ride, so I hope they are more successful at identifying and repairing it.

Please let me know if you have any ideas, or maybe have firsthand experience with this noise. Thanks for having me aboard and happy riding!

 

[BajaRon]

Sounds like a rock lodged in the belt teeth. It would be a low repetition unless there were more than 1. Lifting the wheel and running with no load is probably why you don't hear it. You say it gets worse under load.

The belt should not be riding against the pulley flange. Sounds like you need adjustment there.

 

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Welcome 59 Ford owner. Yes, there should be a gap between the belt and the inside flange of the rear sprocket. However, check for that only after driving forward, in a straight line, under engine power for 40 to 50 feet. Alignment changes when in reverse, and when spinning the wheel by hand with the wheel jacked up.

Also, there is a HUGE disconnect between the information about built alignment between the Operator's Guide and the Shop Manuals. The Ops Guide focuses on the front sprocket. The Shop Manuals specifies a gap between the belt and the REAR sprocket of 1 - 5 mm. It never addresses the front sprocket at all. I've been doing this for 14 years and found that you can never get both sprockets perfect at the same time. In the entire history of Spyders, the rear pocket is most critical. So, bottom line, you need to check, and if necessary, adjust your belt alignment based on the rear sprocket gap in the shop manual. Or, pester the shop to do it.

While doing that - if you are doing the work yourself - reduce your belt tension. Otherwise, have it checked if it wasn't at your 3000 mile service. Do a forum search for information on that. That all depends on just how much of the work you are doing yourself. You can get a Kricket Gauge and kill both birds at the same time.

It's good that you have determined that the noise is a variable of road speed and not engine speed. Could also be the belt idler that rides on the top side of the belt, and as Ron said, something lodged in the belt. Crawl under there to check that. And maybe something in the front wheels, unless you're very sure that it is coming from the rear or the belt.

Also, could it be a squeak, squeak, squeak - and not a tick, tick, tick. Gets worse under increased load? Get some nice, soapy water and wash your belt, leave it wet and slippery, and take it out for a ride. If the noise is gone, try this fix...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lo4Rhuev6h5Nzarx6LrT31DWktWwMByq/view?usp=share_link

Bottom line, looks like your belt alignment is number 1 on your list.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Sounds like a rock lodged in the belt teeth. It would be a low repetition unless there were more than 1. Lifting the wheel and running with no load is probably why you don't hear it. You say it gets worse under load.

The belt should not be riding against the pulley flange. Sounds like you need adjustment there.

Gotta agree with the first para ^ there - :agree:

But I only partly agree with the second para - too many people get overly worried about getting their belts aligned to the absolute poofteenth of a millifluff, when the reality is that it's just not that critical if your belt is just touching the flange but otherwise aligned reasonably well & tensioned OK - but it is critical if it's riding up the flange &/or pressing hard enough onto it to actually start showing 'brown over-heat witness marks' on the edge of the belt!! Trying to fix any misalignment of less than a few millimetres is most likely an exercise in futility, because you can't really tell if your rear Drive Sprocket has been seated exactly square into the hub, so it might be 'wobbling' a small amount as it rotates; and then these belts aren't made to the strictest of specs & aren't necessarily absolutely 'straight' themselves, so due to both of those things the belts generally will appear to 'walk' on the pulley at least a little during use, and even the best of alignments will probably vary in the first few 10's of metres of riding anyway! :banghead: So unless you can see the burn marks &/or the belt is riding up on that flange as you spin the wheel, you're probably best off to leave well enough alone - at least until everything else has been resolved/removed from the realms of possibility, anyway! :lecturef_smilie:

But I would recommend that you DO very carefully check the tread of all your tires for anything like an embedded nail or rock with the exposed bit slowly being driven in further &/or worn down; only given that you don't hear it on coast/deceleration, check the leading/trailing edges of your tread blocks & deep in the sipes or grooves in the tread pretty well too, cos if it is something like a nail or a stone stuck deep in a tread sioe/groove, it'll more likely be buried a fair way in already, and will probably only be exposed when the tread is flexing a fair bit under acceleration load.

Then once you've checked the tires (the easiest things to check! ) if you haven't found it, start looking at the belt &/or the pulley teeth - if it's a rapid click, it might even be a stone &/or chip in the front pulley, but if it's not all that rapid and more like a 'once a belt or wheel rotation' thing, it'll be more likely to be in the rear pulley. And it could be something stuck/damaged in the actual pulley teeth too; a chip in the teeth that hasn't quite fully broken out yet; or maybe it's a partially embedded stone in the belt - so you really need to closely eyeball every tooth and valley on both pulleys, as well as inspecting every tooth and valley on the inside of the belt - AND check the edges of the belt while you're at it!! If your belt is running close to the flange on the rear pulley, you could easily have picked up a stone chip or a sliver of metal/other debris off the road and embedded it into the inner side of the belt in such a way that it 'clicks' every time it contacts the flange again...

Oh, and even tho it's a new Spyder & shouldn't have this issue, it still might pay to check both pulleys for rotational looseness too - some of the front pulleys that failed on earlier model Spyders would 'click' as they rotated & the worn splines would allow them to move a little on the shaft before they eventually gave up completely & just spun; and while I don't think the '20+ Spyders even have them anymore, I've heard an earlier model rear pulley with a single dud 'cush' in its cush drive pulley seat click like a ratchet as the pulley rotated, but onky under drive loads?! So maybe... :dontknow: Just a final thoughty or two!?

Good Luck! :cheers:

 

[Mikey]

X4 On checking that belt and sprocket for road debris, then get it off the sprocket flange!!! See if those changes anything, then get back to us! Good luck!

 

[Sundown]

Thank you all for taking the time to read and respond. I am floored to find another Spyder owner (Snowbelt Spyder) with a '59 ford, though I do envy you slightly for having a retractable. So in to summarize the responses:
1. Sounds like a rock lodged in the belt teeth: I very carefully checked all the belt surfaces for rocks or other damage and there is none- the belt looks new.
2. The belt should not be riding against the pulley flange: I noticed it was against the flange while laying on my back underneath and spinning the rear tire by hand but I will confirm where the belt rides under normal operation.
3. Could also be the belt idler that rides on the top side of the belt: I did push it up and spin the idler wheel by hand as well as looking for damage/flat spots/etc. Idler does not bind when moved so I don't think it is the issue, however my method of testing was not the most scientific or representative of real use.
4. Reduce your belt tension: Belt tension was supposedly checked at the 3000 mi service but I don't have the most confidence anymore in the first dealer. I don't have a gauge but I will ask the second dealer to double check
5. Maybe something in the front wheels: Initially I thought it sounded like it came from the left front wheel and when I jacked the wheel up and spun it there was a slight sound of a wheel sensor making contact. The dealer did correct it and that sound went away but I still have the ticking. Plus I was doubtful it was in the tires based on the fact that it comes and goes based on engine load.
6. Could it be a squeak, squeak, squeak: It is definitely not a squeaking noise.
7. DO very carefully check the tread of all your tires: I laid on the garage floor with a bright light and a screwdriver poking at any little piece of debris to see if something was embedded. I found a couple small pebbles lodged in the tread that came out easily so I don't think they were the issue.
8. If it's a rapid click, it might even be a stone &/or chip in the front pulley: Not a rapid click, I am confident it is a once-per-revolution sound
9. It could be something stuck/damaged in the actual pulley teeth too. Checked each tooth carefully, no damage whatsoever
10. Check the edges of the belt while you're at it: Great Idea! I ran the belt through my hand all the way around and did not feel anything on the edges
11. It still might pay to check both pulleys for rotational looseness:

On that last point on rotational looseness, I noticed the rear pulley has approx 3/8 inch of play at the outside edge when rotated back and forth. Additionally, when I attempt to move the bike back and forth by rotating the rear pulley, I can hear a hear a little "thunk" at the front pully as the slack is taken up. Does this seem normal?

I really appreciate everyone's input!

 

[Mikey]

After you do all of this poking and prodding you are doing a road test to see if it's gone right? :dontknow:

 

[Sundown]

It's been a while since I initially posted this, but the bike has been at the shop for the last several weeks and they finally got the issue corrected. Kudos to Ken's Motorsports in Green Bay WI - it took some time but that was mainly due to waiting on parts to ship from Canada. Initially, the shop thought the problem stemmed from a front pulley that had some runout to it, which was replaced under warranty. The noise DID decrease but did not go away entirely. The shop then tried a new belt, and I am happy to report the noise is gone completely. Thanks again for all your suggestions and hopefully this helps another rider if they experience similar problems.

 

[BajaRon]

It's been a while since I initially posted this, but the bike has been at the shop for the last several weeks and they finally got the issue corrected. Kudos to Ken's Motorsports in Green Bay WI - it took some time but that was mainly due to waiting on parts to ship from Canada. Initially, the shop thought the problem stemmed from a front pulley that had some runout to it, which was replaced under warranty. The noise DID decrease but did not go away entirely. The shop then tried a new belt, and I am happy to report the noise is gone completely. Thanks again for all your suggestions and hopefully this helps another rider if they experience similar problems.

Odd. The only way a new belt would fix the issue is if there was a rock or other hard bit embedded into the belt, as suggested. Simply removing the offending item should have resolved the problem. Did they pay for the belt, or did you?

 

[Peteoz]

“Poofteenth of a millifluff”, Peter? :roflblack::roflblack:. Reminds me of the old joke about George W Bush…..

“Mr President, 15 Brazilian soldiers have been killed in a peacekeeping mission”…….George W - “ wow, that’s a huge number….. exactly how many soldiers in a brazilian?” :roflblack:

 

[Sundown]

Fortunately, all costs were covered under warranty