Why Might a Furnace Make Clicking Sound but Never Turn On

Question:

Hi when I turn on my furnace it makes a click then about 10 to 20 seconds later it clicks again and doesnt come on just wondering what that could be thanks

asked by: Josh B

Expert Reply:

It's probably something with the pilot light. I had a similar problem in my house and it was the flame sensor. This actually happened on my water heater as well. The sensor was so corroded that it couldn't detect that a flame was present so it shut down the gas distribution as a safety mechanism so that the house didn't fill with gas.

In both cases I was able to pull the sensor out and sand the corrosion off and it worked again.

expert reply by: Jameson C