Ticking noise coming from right behind my left shoulder
 

It is pretty annoying. Do you guys have this problem?

when does it happen all the time??? certain rpm? speed? I had one at 2500rpm and above just a loose heat sheild!

give a little more info and im sure someone on here can help you out :cheers:

I will take a picture of the area where the noise comes from tonight.
The noise doesn't have anything to do with the RPM, though.

thanks~

If it's the same thing I had, it's an easy fix. Mine could be heard top up or down. Turns out the piece of plastic tape wore thru and the soft top cable would rattle against the frame. Put you top into service position and locate the torx screw shown below. About 1/2" above it, there should be some plastic clear tape to keep it from tapping/rattling. If it's missing, just use some packing tape (about 1" x 1") and reapply to the frame (underneath the guide wire). Might as well do both sides at once. Solved my problem and I hope yours too. Good luck!

http://i10.tinypic.com/61k2pvs.jpg

I had that, It was more of a rubber on rubber sound. I took it to Porsche and they discovered it was coming from the door. The took the whole think apart and "fixed" it. They said that they did not find anything loose, but made sure everything was tight. Thanks warranty! It has not happened since. Also check your windstops, make sure the mesh part has enough padding between the clips and the rollhoops, it might be that. Hope this helps.

Burg, if what you wrote and photograph works for the totally annoying random tick I hear over my left shoulder with the top up, I will name my next child after you.

OMG I hate that stupid ticking sound and I've been searching for the source of it for nearly two years!!!!!!!!!

Also if your seat has the seat belt guide straps, make sure they are clipped down tight, mine buzz/rattle in the wind if not.

Careful what you promise b/c my real name is Kermit Sanjaya Twodogfornicating :D

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.... open your top about 90% or so and check it out. It drove me absolutely crazy until I found it. Hard to imagine something so small so was so annoying - but it was.

Good luck!

It does sound like thick tape being "flicked" by something.

I had to drive to New Orleans yesterday (and back) so I was 11 hours on the road in my Lexus and unable to try this fix. However, when I get home from work tonight, it will be the very first thing I do.

I will report back to what I discover.

Your noise............
 

Seat belt guide may have unsnapped. When I hear that noise, I always find it unsnapped.................

I'm with Randall on this although I'm through having kids. With the top and and weather below 50 I get the same kind of noise. If this tape fixes I will be forever grateful! Name your poison!

Thank you very very much, sir!
Mine could be heard top up or down, also! Hopefully it is the same problem.
I can't wait to check it out once I am home.
So I open the top about 90%, remove the black plastic cover to check, right?
Thanks again.

P.S. LOL@ "Careful what you promise b/c my real name is Kermit Sanjaya Twodogfornicating"

burg, I looked in the same spot you mentioned and I see a black clip type of thing there, but no broken tape. It does not look like there was ever tape there.

When you have a chance, can you take a closer shot of the taped area and post it to this thread?

Spy, is the seatbelt guide is the black plastic covered bit that is attached to a pivoting point on the rollbar where it flips the belt to come into the cabin?

I checked mine out. the driver side has no clear tape, just some black tape. I looked at the passenager side, there are clear and black tapes. I applied some clear tape to the driver side but the noise is still there :(
Thanks again for the tips, though.

I think I will learn to live with it... Maybe I should even feel lucky about having only 1 area making noise. :ah:

I'm on vacation (sadly w/out the Boxster until Sunday night). I'll take a picture of it Monday night and will post. In the mean time, here's a more detailed description of where the tape should be:

Open the top so that there is about 12" between the edge of the top and body of the car. Look into the cavity where the top goes, about 6 inches from the end of the door. You will see a red cap on part of the top mechanism. Now look a few inches further to the rear and you will see a cable that terminates on a connector with a washer and torx screw (as shown in photo above). Note that the cable is bare for about an inch and then is covered with a black insulator. Where the cable ends you will see a 1" wide thin metal plate covered with plastic tape that acts as a guide/clamp for the cable. Check to see if the piece of clear plastic tape is worn through to the metal. If it is, cover with a new piece of packing tape. Check the other side and you should see the same thing.

For those that replaced the tape and it didn't solve, you might want to check these two things as well - door latch (wrap a piece of electrical tape around the part on the body to see if it stops. If it does, your latch is out of alignment.

Or, when was the last time your top was lubed - especially the center cross bar? While driving, push up on the canvas just behind the crossbar to see if it stops.

I post a detailed photo of the "taped" area on Monday.

Okay it is my door latch. The ticking is gone. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

thanks~

Follow Up
 

Here is the entire series of photos

http://i10.tinypic.com/61k2pvs.jpg

zoomed in - red arrows mark the plastic tape. There is a metal guide on the inward side sticking up there.
http://i10.tinypic.com/4tjzs7l.jpg

closer still - red arrows again mark the start/end of plastic packing tape I used. As you can see, the tape is starting to wear thru again - I last did the fix about 18 months ago.

http://i17.tinypic.com/6asuo08.jpg

Good luck and hope this helps!

Does the tape simply go over the guide itself? I dont' see how that could make a tape clicking sound in my car. It does not appear that there has ever been any tape over that guide.

Now, I'd also like to know what part of the door latch to inspect. Could someone describe what they found, if it was loose, or what they did to fix it? How about a pic?

yes - the tape wraps over the guide. You'll need to pull the guide wire out a bit to slide it underneath. IIRC, the guide wire you see runs the entire side of the soft top up to where it meets the A pillar. The ticking/rattle sound happens most when the top is up as the wire isn't as tight thus it taps against the guide.

For the door latch, you're checking for the alignment of the catch (in the door) vs the latching loop on the frame in the car. Problem might be alignment or your loop or it is just plain worn/wearing out. You can replace it, or try and adjust. (I've heard some people have had luck w/ just flipping it upside down but I have no knowledge of it first hand). To do either, you'll need a triple square bit (looks somewhat like torx but has 12 points - I think it's size M8 ???).

I recommend you wrap it with electrical tape to see if it's the issue and rattle goes away. If so, then unwrap electrical tape and rewrap w/ masking tape to see where the tape wears and adjust the latch accordingly (usually towards the wear markings / towards the interior). There are hash marks in the jamb and latch to help you align/adjust minimally. You'll need to loosen both to move. Make sure you mark your starting point for adjustment or replacement so you have a good reference point (outline it w/ a grease pen or the like). Here are some pictures to help:

http://i19.tinypic.com/4v6udj6.jpg

I marked where the alignment hash marks are in the body with white arrows for reference:
http://i17.tinypic.com/4xzxrmx.jpg

Good luck but definitely wrap w/ electrical tape first to see if it solves the problem.

Burg, you've been very helpful here. Thanks for the pix and the time you took to take them and post a response.

I really do love the fact that I'm piddling with tiny little crap now on my car and not asking questions about where to get the subframe straightened or where I might find a good price on a salvaged transmission!

My car problems today are really miniscule compared to when I first bought the car. What a mess it was back then!