What's this tic-toc from behind the dash?

I have an '02 Passat wagon, 1.8T and AT.

A few weeks ago I noticed a muted "tic-toc" sound coming from behind the
dash, repeating at an interval of about 5 seconds or so.

I noticed it first on driving down the alley and navigating the local
streets. After a few minutes and on the freeway, I'd only hear the sound
when the engine was under load, not when coasting or idling at a stop.
After about 20 minutes or so, it would stop altogether, although on
longer drives it will start up again for a few minutes and stop again.

There are no starting or driveability issues and gas mileage is as
expected for the temperature.

Any idea what I'm hearing?

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

"Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
...
>I have an '02 Passat wagon, 1.8T and AT.
>
> A few weeks ago I noticed a muted "tic-toc" sound coming from behind the
> dash, repeating at an interval of about 5 seconds or so.
>
> I noticed it first on driving down the alley and navigating the local
> streets. After a few minutes and on the freeway, I'd only hear the sound
> when the engine was under load, not when coasting or idling at a stop.
> After about 20 minutes or so, it would stop altogether, although on
> longer drives it will start up again for a few minutes and stop again.
>
> There are no starting or driveability issues and gas mileage is as
> expected for the temperature.
>
> Any idea what I'm hearing?
>
> --
> Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN



Not sure what you're hearing as it is most difficult to describe a sounds,
but I get a "tick tock" sound in my 09 Jetta when the wipers are on in delay
mode. I swear it winds up a timer of some sort ... lol... strange thing,
but consistently there when I'm using the wipers. And no correlation
between the frequency of wiper delay and the tick/tock sound, but always
present when they're on.

Wes

Do you lose the clock settings?
How good is your battery and charging system?

"Willy" > wrote in message
...
> "Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
> ...
>>I have an '02 Passat wagon, 1.8T and AT.
>>
>> A few weeks ago I noticed a muted "tic-toc" sound coming from behind the
>> dash, repeating at an interval of about 5 seconds or so.
>>
>> I noticed it first on driving down the alley and navigating the local
>> streets. After a few minutes and on the freeway, I'd only hear the sound
>> when the engine was under load, not when coasting or idling at a stop.
>> After about 20 minutes or so, it would stop altogether, although on
>> longer drives it will start up again for a few minutes and stop again.
>>
>> There are no starting or driveability issues and gas mileage is as
>> expected for the temperature.
>>
>> Any idea what I'm hearing?
>>
>> --
>> Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN
>
>
>
> Not sure what you're hearing as it is most difficult to describe a sounds,
> but I get a "tick tock" sound in my 09 Jetta when the wipers are on in
> delay mode. I swear it winds up a timer of some sort ... lol... strange
> thing, but consistently there when I'm using the wipers. And no
> correlation between the frequency of wiper delay and the tick/tock sound,
> but always present when they're on.
>
> Wes
>
>

In "dave AKA vwdoc1"
> wrote:

> Do you lose the clock settings?
> How good is your battery and charging system?

Are you asking me or "Willy"?

My battery's fine, as is the clock.

> "Willy" > wrote in message
> ...
>> "Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>I have an '02 Passat wagon, 1.8T and AT.
>>>
>>> A few weeks ago I noticed a muted "tic-toc" sound coming from behind
>>> the dash, repeating at an interval of about 5 seconds or so.
>>>
>>> I noticed it first on driving down the alley and navigating the
>>> local streets. After a few minutes and on the freeway, I'd only hear
>>> the sound when the engine was under load, not when coasting or
>>> idling at a stop. After about 20 minutes or so, it would stop
>>> altogether, although on longer drives it will start up again for a
>>> few minutes and stop again.
>>>
>>> There are no starting or driveability issues and gas mileage is as
>>> expected for the temperature.
>>>
>>> Any idea what I'm hearing?
>>>
>>
>>
>> Not sure what you're hearing as it is most difficult to describe a
>> sounds, but I get a "tick tock" sound in my 09 Jetta when the wipers
>> are on in delay mode. I swear it winds up a timer of some sort ...
>> lol... strange thing, but consistently there when I'm using the
>> wipers. And no correlation between the frequency of wiper delay and
>> the tick/tock sound, but always present when they're on.
>>
>> Wes


--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

Whoever the OP is! ;-)

Trying to see if the cluster loses power or ground which might reset the
clock and might cause the tic-toc sound. I have heard ticking before from
some Passats if a fuse has blown affecting the instrument cluster.
Or maybe even if the battery is old or charging system is not normal.


"Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
...
> In "dave AKA vwdoc1"
> > wrote:
>
>> Do you lose the clock settings?
>> How good is your battery and charging system?
>
> Are you asking me or "Willy"?
>
> My battery's fine, as is the clock.
>
>> "Willy" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> "Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>>I have an '02 Passat wagon, 1.8T and AT.
>>>>
>>>> A few weeks ago I noticed a muted "tic-toc" sound coming from behind
>>>> the dash, repeating at an interval of about 5 seconds or so.
>>>>
>>>> I noticed it first on driving down the alley and navigating the
>>>> local streets. After a few minutes and on the freeway, I'd only hear
>>>> the sound when the engine was under load, not when coasting or
>>>> idling at a stop. After about 20 minutes or so, it would stop
>>>> altogether, although on longer drives it will start up again for a
>>>> few minutes and stop again.
>>>>
>>>> There are no starting or driveability issues and gas mileage is as
>>>> expected for the temperature.
>>>>
>>>> Any idea what I'm hearing?
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Not sure what you're hearing as it is most difficult to describe a
>>> sounds, but I get a "tick tock" sound in my 09 Jetta when the wipers
>>> are on in delay mode. I swear it winds up a timer of some sort ...
>>> lol... strange thing, but consistently there when I'm using the
>>> wipers. And no correlation between the frequency of wiper delay and
>>> the tick/tock sound, but always present when they're on.
>>>
>>> Wes
>
>
> --
> Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

On Mar 17, 7:24*pm, "dave AKA vwdoc1" >
wrote:

> Trying to see if the cluster loses power or ground which might reset the
> clock and might cause the tic-toc sound. *I have heard ticking before from
> some Passats if a fuse has blown affecting the instrument cluster.
> Or maybe even if the battery is old or charging system is not normal.

One random thought - my wife who is a very good driver but almost
oblivious to what her car (2001 Saab 9-5 wagon) is telling her at that
moment once complained about such a tic-toc to me. A REMARKABLE event
that she should notice at all.

Turned out to be her rear-wiper delay as Willy suggested. But the
center-nut on her wipers had come loose so there was no corresponding
movement of the wiper to alert her.

Non-latching relays will also tic or toc if the voltage they see is
intermittent or too low - as dave suggests. And if your car is
equipped with DRL and auto-dimmers on the headlights, that will do it
during the day if the lights are accidentally left ON and on HIGH BEAM
- which will give no overt evidence to the driver other than the blue
indicator on the dash - easily overlooked by day.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

In
" > wrote:

> ...
> Non-latching relays will also tic or toc if the voltage they see is
> intermittent or too low - as dave suggests. And if your car is
> equipped with DRL and auto-dimmers on the headlights, that will do it
> during the day if the lights are accidentally left ON and on HIGH BEAM
> - which will give no overt evidence to the driver other than the blue
> indicator on the dash - easily overlooked by day.

Based on the perceived behavior, constant during initial warmup, then
only under load, then stopping altogether, makes me think it's some
emissions-related device doing something.

It didn't do it at all today. Maybe the few days of 50+F temperatures
has the car feeling better.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, wrote:

>One random thought

Another random thought: the headlight circuit has a short, and
that's the circuit breaker breaking and resetting. I know it seems
that somebody would notice an additional symptom in that case.

Also, weren't the voltage regulators in the dash some mechanical
device at some point? What frequency did they operate at?

"dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote in message
news
> Whoever the OP is! ;-)
>
> Trying to see if the cluster loses power or ground which might reset the
> clock and might cause the tic-toc sound. I have heard ticking before from
> some Passats if a fuse has blown affecting the instrument cluster.
> Or maybe even if the battery is old or charging system is not normal.
>
>
> "Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> In "dave AKA vwdoc1"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Do you lose the clock settings?
>>> How good is your battery and charging system?
>>
>> Are you asking me or "Willy"?
>>
>> My battery's fine, as is the clock.
>>
>>> "Willy" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> "Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>>I have an '02 Passat wagon, 1.8T and AT.
>>>>>
>>>>> A few weeks ago I noticed a muted "tic-toc" sound coming from behind
>>>>> the dash, repeating at an interval of about 5 seconds or so.
>>>>>
>>>>> I noticed it first on driving down the alley and navigating the
>>>>> local streets. After a few minutes and on the freeway, I'd only hear
>>>>> the sound when the engine was under load, not when coasting or
>>>>> idling at a stop. After about 20 minutes or so, it would stop
>>>>> altogether, although on longer drives it will start up again for a
>>>>> few minutes and stop again.
>>>>>
>>>>> There are no starting or driveability issues and gas mileage is as
>>>>> expected for the temperature.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any idea what I'm hearing?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Not sure what you're hearing as it is most difficult to describe a
>>>> sounds, but I get a "tick tock" sound in my 09 Jetta when the wipers
>>>> are on in delay mode. I swear it winds up a timer of some sort ...
>>>> lol... strange thing, but consistently there when I'm using the
>>>> wipers. And no correlation between the frequency of wiper delay and
>>>> the tick/tock sound, but always present when they're on.
>>>>
>>>> Wes
>>
>>
>> --
>> Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN
>
>



Nope, everything is great with mine - 09 Jetta TDI... but do get the
ticking "winding" sound from somewhere in the dash when the wipers are on
"delay" setting.

Wes

"Tom's VR6" > wrote in message
news
> In rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled, wrote:
>
>>One random thought
>
> Another random thought: the headlight circuit has a short, and
> that's the circuit breaker breaking and resetting. I know it seems
> that somebody would notice an additional symptom in that case.
>
> Also, weren't the voltage regulators in the dash some mechanical
> device at some point? What frequency did they operate at?


Well, in the case of my 09 TDI, let me try to better describe what I hear.
This is a consistent occurrence, and everything seems to be working
normally.

When the wipers are on, in delayed mode, I hear a sound that goes something
like this... "tick, followed by what I would best describe as a very hard
to hear but what sounds like electric sparking for about 5 seconds, then a
tock"... You know the sounds you hear if you touch to wires together...
that arcing sound. Or another way to describe it would be, if you were able
to continuously wind up a clock until it's fully wound, it sounds like that.
So it's tick, then winding / sparking, then tock. I actually timed it one
day, and don't remember the exact intervals, but they were consistent, and
there seems to be no correlation with whether the wipers are on a long or
short delay.

And then there's the ticking that occurs in cold weather when you're idling
and what I believe to be the electric accessory heater kicking on and off...
but doesn't do that often once you're moving. Must be because of the lower
RPM'S.... that's another sound all together.

Maybe my ears are just too good! LOL

Wes