I have a '91 Vr-4 and when i have my car on there is a ticking noise coming from the motor area. It's kind of a clicking sound. if you click the mouse on your computer almost as fast as you can that is what it sounds like but not quite as loud. I no thats kind of a weird description but thats all i cud think of. Anyways, i opened up my hood and traced the sound to the throttle body area. Any ideas? I have none.

It can be a list of things , depending on the petrol life being used . Could be fuel injectors. It would be odd to thing the Idle speed Control valve woule be making that much constant noise. Could be the hydrolic lifters. Hope yu find the issue.

A ticking noise is very common on theses cars. Its called lifter tick. The oil hole on the top of the lifters is very small. They revised the part in 1999. You can fork out $12 or so each. Check 3sx.com or your mitsu dealer. You can also use some oil additive that helps quiet them down for a time. I use a product called rislone at each oil change. Its keeps them quiet for about 1,000 miles or so. The use of a thinner oil or a synthetic may also help quiet those lifters.

Of course the other tick is a rod bearing going bad. This tick will never get quieter only louder with time. If you think this is the case then you can pull the oil pan and inspect it for brass. You can then pull the rod caps and inspect. You will want to catch this problem early. If you let it go and it starts to hit the crank you are in for a $700 new crankshaft from the dealer. The turbo crankshafts can not be turned. They have a nitrite coating on them.

does this happen when you turn on the ign before you start the engine? if it doe do this its the idle stepper motor on the throttle body, also is the idle speed constant when hot? or does it change?

welcome to the infamous 6G72 Lifter Tick :)

oil change should fix that for a while but unless you replace the lifters it will never be 100% gone :)

^^Yup Yep. Theres all kinds of methods to try and make them quieter, but in the end the tick comes back.

The only solution get the '99 style lifters.