My 2005 X Type only 110000 km. Not an electrical issue with the instruments but a tick tick ticking cricket sound varying in speed and intensity as I drive along and worse from 10-60 km/hr. Sounds like it could be a mechanical sound maybe emanating from the speedo as the mech spins behind the needle????? So it wouldn't have a speedo cable like in the old days but the speedo obviously spins at varying revolutions depending on your vehicle speed on the road. Any thoughts on the cause??? Could it be fixed or is stripping the cluster not worth the trouble? Car doesn't have an alarm/demobilizer so wondering if I can swap the whole cluster with a second hand one as the cluster itself is relatively easy to remove.

 

Modern instrument clusters do not use speedo drive cables and magnetically coupled needle movements for speed or RPM gauges, they generally use pulse driven stepper motors that advance or retreat the needle in very small increments when a visual change is required.
It is unlikely that the sound is coming from that source as if the speed is held constant, the stepper motors are not actually being driven - therefore no mechanical noise should be present from them.

A common source of noise in the general area is the cabin air temperature sensor, hidden behind those small slots in the dash beside the steering column. That sensor has a very small fan incorporated that can become annoyingly noisy.
That might be a quick thing to disconnect to see if your noise goes away.

Depending on the build of your car, yes some did not have alarm systems, but I suspect that the cluster is still verifying the correct key is being presented to the ignition barrel via the usual RFID systems. Therefore any replacement cluster would usually have to be paired to the car and keys using factory software, or you get a matched cluster, keys and ECU from a donor car at a wrecker to avoid any identity issues between those modules. The key shell contains a "grain of rice" RFID transponder, which you can move over to your physical key so you don't have lock barrel issues, or you can transfer your Tibbe key shaft into the donor key shell.

 

Thanks Mark, I was hoping it was the fan you mentioned but I can hear that whirring quietly away with the ignition on and the climate control switched off, much like a computer fan.

The noise I have occurs whilst driving and that's why I think its coming from the instrument cluster.

Its a chirp..chit....chit...chirp sound a little like morse code. So could that be the stepper motor?

Originally I thought the sound was coming from the light switch cluster which has both headlight angle adjustment and brightness knobs plus the fogs front and rear.

Could it be a relay contact clicking on and off maybe??? However if it was I would have thought I would notice something turning on and off. Those switches all seem to be working correctly.

I might unscrew the instrument cluster and pull it out withoutt disconnecting the two cable plugs and drive it to see if I can hone in on where the sound is coming from.

 

Sounds like a plan....pull the cluster forward to see if you can pinpoint the noise.....it might not be the cluster at all but something in the climate control or on the other side of the firewall transferring through.
Most of the relays inside the cabin are integrated into the passenger junction fuse box which is quite physically separated from the instrument cluster.

Is your car LHD?
The sound could be something totally bizarre such as the Evap system, as you have some Evap solenoid driven valves alongside the brake booster that attach to the firewall, although they are generally mounted with rubber isolators.

 

No RHD original made for Jap market and then import to New Zealand. I’ll double check if there is the sound whilst driving with the climate control off as well to eliminate that as a potential source

 

Didn't realize you were in NZ.
What part of the country are you in?

OK, you are RHD, so that eliminates Evap as those solenoids are on the passenger of the firewall.
Does open up the remote possibility that the noise might be one of the climate control servo motors that operates a blending door. Located on the RHS of the heater assembly, although I can't think why it would be speed related.

Handy tip: set up a signature that includes your model, year, engine and transmission type. It helps anyone that is trying to respond to your posts to see what you have at a glance.