I'm getting a ticking noise from my 90 tll.

I'm in the process of getting the engine to start. It's a project in progress.

It never made this sound before, at least, not that I noticed.

Recently when I'd have the key turned to the "on" position, I would hear humming from the fuel pump area, but after I put gas in it, that stopped, and I got a ticking sound from the other end of the car.

After some inspection, I shrugged my shoulders, crossed my fingers, and turned the key, but my battery was pretty well dead at that point. Not sure if the ticking noise was the cause of that.

I haven't ran the car since before the engine swap.


In the process of this build, I've done as much as drop and reattach the fuel tank, swap the entire engine from a wreck (the engine ran fine after the wreck).

​​I've pulled the a/c system out, the air pump (installed a racing beat turbo-back exhaust). I do have a fuel cut defender, but it's not installed yet.

Stock ECU and wiring harness from the original car the engine came from (N370). I've got a few loose wires from fogs and coolant level sensor, but I doubt that's relevant.


So far I'm guessing at an error reinstalling the fuel tank.

A confused ECU, as my airflow sensor isn't hooked up (needs wiring work).

A glitch in the ignition coils.

I'm still tossing ideas, but I won't get a chance to really test these theories out until next weekend and I'm hoping someone might have some experience with this issue.

Thanks in advance.

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Including video. Sorry for the handling noises.

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Here's what you're probably looking at. With the key on, the N370 ECU does not distinguish between engine running and not running, it just cycles the various solenoids, etc. according to engine rpm which just happens to be 0 in your case. Since you have a stock ecu, you likely still have the factory boost control solenoid. This is on the drivers side, above the oil fill. With the engine on, the ECU cycles this solenoid to bleed boost away from the wastegate actuator to raise the maximum turbo pressure above the wastegate actuator rating. This is a safety feature provided by the ECU. When boost gets too high, the ECU lets the boost solenoid stay shut so that the wastegate actuator opens and reduces boost pressure. When the ECU reads vacuum/low boost, it just cycles that solenoid.

 

This absolutely sounds like my issue, which may not be as much of an issue as I thought.
In the video I was trying to attach, the sound was most prominent by the oil fill.
By the sounds of what I'm understanding is it should be perfectly fine to ignore, and I'll keep this in mind if I ever take on any more upgrades.
Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate the help and knowledge.
Fingers crossed she fires up this week!

 

Not an issue. Let us know how it goes

 

Don’t see a video posted.

The car won’t start with the air flow meter not installed.

Fuel pump is primed when key goes to ignition on, then fuel pump shuts off. Upon air entering the air flow meter, the fuel pump is turned on to keep the engine running.