I have a 2002 Jazz (or Fit as some call it) fitted with the L12A1 engine and the 5 speed manual, with 85000 km on the clock (yes you read it right, under 100k). I absolutely love this car, it's great and dependable and I got it for a damn good price. Note that I live in France (the car is french too).

Now, the engine started making a ticking/clicking noise only under load and I'm trying to investigate where it comes from. I've been to a generic mechanic which did a few things on it in the last years, sadly he wasn't sure what to think about it. It makes him think about a loose timing chain but we both think its unlikely for a car with such a low mileage, and the fix is expensive so I'm trying to explore all options.

The noise is in sync with engine speed, gets louder when on higher load (more acceleration / driving uphill) and stops as soon as I stop accelerating or hit the clutch pedal. Absolutely no noise when engine braking / coasting, even at high RPM. The engaged transmission speed does not seem to influence the noise.
I can't manage to record the noise since it only happens under load, though it does seem to be getting a bit louder everyday so if I manage to record it from the inside while driving I'll update this post.

There's a few notable details about the car:
- the passenger side engine mount is definitely dead
- the spark plugs maintenance is way overdue, I ordered some and will change them in the next few days
- a part from the yearly oil, oil filter and intake filter changes, pretty much nothing has been done on the engine since I bought it 7 years ago (it had 32k km at the time), no valve adjustment, not anything
- I don't believe this could be linked but my AC compressor is definitely dead
- the current oil was changed in september, its 5w40, the level is correct and it's still brownish
- I used to drive it pretty hard. This is my first car, I've had it during my university years, there'd be no point in denying I've done stupid things to this engine.

Are there any common issues on this engine that look like this one ? I've read a few threads in this forum, nothing seems to correspond but I'm not a forum searches specialist.
Thanks in advance for your answers.

 

I'm not familiar with the particulars of the L12A1 engine, but I am assuming it is a close relative of the 1.5L Fit engine we have in the pre-2015 Fit in the US.

If so, my first thought is that you need a valve adjustment.

 

If you're driving it hard and haven't done your plugs in a while, I would also say it's valve noise. They are both pretty easy to do.

 

Thank you for the answers

It should be, at least they are from the same engine family. Mine is the i-DSi weird one with 2 spark plugs per cylinder, no idea if you have it in the US or only the i-VTEC.

I'll explore valve adjustment but it would seem weird to me, I'd expect valve tick to happen even at idle and I definitely do not have any... Yet I'm approaching the 100k at which it should normally needed to be checked, so there's that. At least it's less expensive than getting the engine out of the bay to change the timing chain.

I may have found a spot in the engine bay where I can put my phone to record the noise. I couldn't get a good recording tonight, I'll try again tomorrow and upload it to give more insight.

 

Managed to isolate the sound a little. It does it mainly for a second at timestamp 00:03. Again, will try to make a better recording tomorrow

 

It could be a pulley bearing that is starting to go. Try and have someone give it gas while you listen around the serpentine belt.

 

From the description, I wonder if it could be injector noise. Mine can be very ticky under certain conditions. With the engine idling, try listening to each injector using a mechanic's stethoscope (or simply use a screwdriver with the handle contacting your ear) and check for any inconsistencies. Is it louder when the engine is cold?

 

Having listened to the sound clip, assuming I'm listening to the right part of the sound, it doesn't particularly seem to track engine RPM, and it gets louder just after closing the throttle. I wonder if another possibility would be evap purge valve - these seem to flap open and closed multiple times per second and can also be fairly noisy.

 

Mine ticks at part throttle, but neither at idle nor under heavy load. I wonder if one or more of the coil packs is bad.