About a month ago I was driving my camaro 85 with a 350 a Goodwrench crate the one with about 260HP and 3xx Torque and a worn out t-5. And my Tranny was going out which I knew it was, but still kept on driving just drove her easy. Right when I thought my tranny went out there was a really loud ticking noise and also the bearings in my tranny went out. I thought the tranny was making all the noise so about a month later when I had time to work on it I pulled the tranny out took it apart and gears were ground it was a mess. So I bought another car 83 Z28 with 89,000 on it pulled the tranny then got it rebuilt threw it in started it up and it is still making the loud ticking noise. The engine I was told only has around 48,000 on it. Should I just replace the Push Rods and Lifter's? Or pull all the pushrods out and check to see if they are bent then replace them? Also yesterday I found out that my distributor cap was not even tight all four of the holding things where loose Could this have caused the problem. The car was running good except for the tranny being worn out and it still had lot's of power. I just want to get it running.

I once had a loud ticking sound coming from the dizzy. ended up being a bent dizzy shaft. The rotor was hitting the contacts inside the dizzy housing. Where is the ticking coming from. Put a hose to your ear and place the other end on the block to pin point the source of tick.

It is coming from the driver side I know that. I guess I will just have to take it apart and check all the rods to see if any are bent then I guess replace the cam and lifters. It has to be one of the pushrods or lifters on the driver side. It has never done this before and I have never touched them. I haven't over revved the engine as far as I know.

Could the exaust gaskets be bad? ( Exast manifold//header//y-pipe//collector?) Yea...listen to the motor. Listen close to exaust connections too. Just an idea. Hope it's not serious. Good luck!

Ok I need some clarification on this. My engine was making a very loud noise coming from the driver side.
One guy that I know that is a diesel mechanic and use to rebuild engines said if it was a very loud noise it was a rod and a not so loud noise it was a lifter.
I am confused about this now because I was thinking a pushrod this whole time and from what he was say about having to pull the engine out to fix it if it was a rod.
If there is a very loud knocking noise coming from an engine is the Connecting Rod bent? or are we talking about a pushrod?

Since I found out that my header gaskets where possibly leaking so I ordered some copper ones that should be here Wednesday hopefully.

O.K.. Lets cut the .. Just kidding. Plain and simple. To get to the bottom of whether or not the connecting rod is bad, you dont have to pull out the engine. to verify just jack up the front end, put a block behind both wheels (rear), place the front wheels on ramps, NOT jack stands, (my friend died becuase the jack stands gave way. He died instantly...... Closed casket. Need I say more?) drain the oil, drop the pan. Now you can check for shavings, broken shards or pieces of metal in the oil pan. Check for a broken or bad connecting rod. What ever the case may be, you will see it if it is an internal issue. If everything seems find, grab a flywheel (flex Plate) wrench and turn the engine over to see if there is any abnormal play in the rotating system (pistons, connecting rods, ect.). if everything still seems fine then the is is going to be somewhere in the heads (push rods, lifters, rockers, or a damaged valve that is free floating in the cylinder head.

And if there is metal shavings or I find that a connecting rod is bent then it would need rebuilt then most likely.

I found a SBC 400 that runs out of a 75 pickup for $150 would this be worth it if I find out that the engine would need rebuilt?

Hell ya its worth it. But keep in mind that you have to make sure that the intake manifolds bolts line up correctly. I would get the block Magnafluxed to check for any hairline cracks. The oil dipstick would probably be on the driverside. Also make sure that all the important bolt holes line up correctly with alll the other major stuff auch as your mounting brackets for the accesories (altinater, power steering pump). good luck.

Before you start thinking about pulling the engine, do the easiest checks first. Valve train noise is more of a tapping/ticking sound. A rod bearing problem is a knocking sound (rap your knuckles on the kitchen table).

Since you seem not to be sure if the noise is coming from up top or down low, first pull the valve cover and check the valve train. Look for anything out of the ordinary, like a rocker that has jumped off or a broken valve spring, etc.

If the oil pressure is good, with the engine idling check that all 8 rockers are moving up and down in the same amount.

If the problem is down low, a rod bearing is the most probable cause if, what you hear, is a KNOCKING sound that increases in frequency as you slightly rev the engine.

If that's what you're hearing, immediately shut down the engine. You're looking at pulling the engine for a re-build.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

. JakeJr, You pretty much repeated what I told homeboy . Anyway, Sir JakeJr got in detail. Should I repeat myself agian?

Does it seem as bad in park or does it do it more when driving when the engine is under a load.I`ve had and heard some hellashish noises turn out to be exhaust leaks.

Keep us posted on what you find.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

Naw, no need to repeat yourself. At my advanced age (64 years old) leave that to me. Comes with my senior citizen status. LOL

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

Jake, I take back my last comment. I appologize. Can there be a peace? If so, Thanks. Well then, shall we?

No problem. We're good.

Staying on topic is GREAT idea. Now all we need is some feed-back from OP.

Jake

West Point ROCKS!

Quick story. early 2000's, drove to work, noticed a knock (Like a hammer hitting the block, parked it for 3 years, had friend diagnose noise, he floors it completely siezing the motor while in park at about 6,000 RPM's. He agreed to open up motor to fix. 1 month later car is missing from his moms. 1 month later after filing stolen to police, I went to work on a roof at a junkyard. Out of curiosity I walked in the proccessing yard and found my camaro. Missing engine parts (throttle body, Accel Dizzy, Catalytic converter). 6 years later (to date), finally pulled out motor and opened block.........!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of the middle cylinders was completely obliterated. Piston melted to cylinder wall. bent crankshaft. rod broken in half and with the piston head being broken free of the rod, it slamed up agianst the head and cracked that too. In other words, carefull!!! If youve thrown a rod, your block can probably be saved. Mine would of been saved but my stupid friend decided to floor it and POOOOFFFFFF it went. Bottom line is good luck. There is no way to tell why there is a knock. The only solution to a loud knocking sound is to open stuff up and visually checking for any obious wear and tear, or damage. Good Luck bro.