Test drove a 1986 Camaro z28 with a 350tpi, it is a potential buy for me. While driving it, i noticed a rapid clicking noise, which seemed to be coming from right underneath me, when i was accelerating. He said it was from the headers, which are Flowmasters.

never heard this in a car before, is it possible it is from the headers? I'm not sure what else it would be..

 

i test drove a z28 in houston from a guy named venomcamaro and he said the same ticking noise your describing was coming from a crack in he headers. since you from dallas, maybe we drove the same car? needless to say, it died on the test drive, and got towed home, so i walked away

 

if its a fast tap and not very loud itcould be a rocker nut that backed off. or worse.

 

hmmm.... thats wierd. does it make that sound when u rev it in park? cuz if it only does it when u drive, then its probably something with the transmission, especially if it sounds like its right under you. i would drive it by a mechanics shop and have them check it. or if u know a mechanic buddy, have him go with uoy to test drive it.

 

What about checking the left front tire? Did it go faster as you went faster? Any clicking from the headers would be near the manifolds, not beneath you. Probably a bad gasket, headers, mufflers, cats have no moving parts to make that noise. the advice to have someone very knowledgable about this is wise. However, you could make it part of the deal for the guy to find out what it was and fix it prior to the sale. If that is the only problem and it's a sweet deal, you may consider doing that. Definitely address it or you can use it to negotiate the price.

 

Check the gaskets at the manifold and at the collector. If they are burned out badly enough, you can get a loud ticking. When I bought my IROC the gasket was burned out on the back two passenger side cylinders, and the damn thing sounded like a jackhammer.

 

Honestly i have never heard about clicking from headers.... either its a bad lifter or rocker something in the head... or my only other guess would be there is a hole in the weld at the flange end of the headers... i had a small hole in one of my headers and it hissed a lil like aclicking but i spot wleded it and it hasnt ever done it again

 

Sounds like an exhaust leak of some sort. Feel around under the hood for air moving and try to isolate the sound. Also do you smell exhaust under the hood?

 

I wouldnt be too quick to believe what someone told me, if they also said the car has flowmaster headers on it.

I would call the guy and ask him for Flowmaster's P/N# on the headers. See how that goes.

 

They are probably actually FlowTech's. People confuse those all the time, which was probably what they meant when they came up with that name.

If they are, that might explain the ticking. My Flowtechs have a nasty split right above the collector. Damn welds just came apart. So much for Schucks quality exhaust parts.