Hey, I just bought my 91 Camaro RS today. It has a 305 TBI in it, and it runs pretty good. I know it needs a tune up, which I will hopefully be doing tomorrow morning, but it also has this ticking noise. Its coming from the right side of the engine. It is loud when I start the car and it's cold. After it warms up a bit, it gets quiet. After a while I can barely hear it. Any ideas on what it is. I have a few, but I would like others opinions before I do anything on it.

 

exhaust leak which is probably unlikely if you have stock exhaust manifolds, or a ticking/loose rocker arm.

 

Exhaust manifolds are stock. How hard would the repair be if its the rocker arm? Thats kinda what I thought it was, but Ive never done one, so I dont know how hard it is.

 

remove the valve covers and reset the valve lash (might as well do all 16), you shouldnt have to change anything. I just went from 1.5 to 1.6 rocker arms last week (first time) and it wasnt too bad. Do a search on how to set the valve lash or just look it up in your haynes manual if you have one, and if you dont, go get one.

 

Thanks, Ill go do that. If I dont have to replace anything, that is excellent! Cause I am broke!

 

my car does the exact same thing...it's a 92,305, auto...

 

Could be the injectors. Mine have always been noisy and for the longest time I thought it was a stuck lifter. Anyways, it's more than likely that seeing as how its louder when cold, as the injectors are spraying more fuel to warm the engine.

 

when the engine is idling, does the ticking seem to come from the center under the air cleaner?


the injectors in some TBIs are rather loud.... lol..

 

any cure for "loud" injectors? as i have this problem to. i just changed my waterpump so the only noise in the engine bay is a ticking sound. my tick doesnt seem to get quieter as the engine warms up tho.

 

I dont think it's the injectors, cause its mostly coming from the right side of the engine. Sounds like valves.

 

I have a 91 305 tbi and mine ticks loud when reving the engine and accelerating. It does not do it when ideling. Also it used to quit when the engine got warm but it does it all the time now and its pretty loud. Even driving down the highway in 5th gear and hitting the gas it ticks pretty good. What could this be?? Anything too serious? The car burns oil at startup too. Would that have anything to do with it? Oh yeah, if i let it idle for about 5-10 minutes when i first start it the ticking is not nearly as loud and sometimes its not there. Its kinda weird. Any ideas would be great, thanks guys.

 

My last camaro was a TBI 305, and it had the same tick. It was an exaust leak (still had the stock manifolds).

As for burning oil, GM exaust valve seals wear quickly and, untill they get warm, let oil into the head and chamber, so you'll notice that most small block chevys do that (up till the new Gen. III's).
It can be fixed by gettin Ford exaust seals, or just ignore it.

 

If you are going to follow the Haynes manual on resetting the valve lash, do not tighten them one full turn after you eliminate all rod play like it says. (Rod play is only an up and down motion of the pushrod, not if you can rotate it....i found this out the hard way) 1 full turn is way too much for the rocker arms. 1/2 a turn is much better. There are several ways you can do this. If you have the engine on TDC for #1 valve, you tighten both the intake and exhaust bolts. Haynes manual says to tighten 3 other intake and exhaust bolts as well when you are at TDC for #1. Then rotate it (the balancer with the notch on it) 360* and you'll be at TDC for #6. Tighten the intake and exhaust for the #6 and several other intakes and exhaust bolts as well.

OR

you can start at TDC for #1 and tighten just the #1 intake and exhaust bolts on the rockers. Rotate it 90* and you'll be at TDC for the #8 valve. Tighten those. Keep rotating it 90* and tighten the bolts in order of your firing order. The firing order will be cast on your intake. I believe it is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. This way is kindof easier so you don't screw up on which ones your supposed to tighten.

 

Well, the ticking has gotten worse. It does it all the time now when idling and when I let off the gas or come to a stop. Its pretty loud and its more of a knocking now. I didnt think it was a rod knock and some stuff I added to the oil didnt help, so I dont think it is a rod knock. A guy I know who is a mechanic thought it might be, either that or the air pump. Im not sure though. Any insight?

 

adding oil won't help your pushrods if your rockers are loose. It's still gonna rattle in there every time your cam comes around to hit it. just drain the oil, and remove the valve covers. just play with the rods and if there's play there, than that's your culprit. make sure you don't mess up your valve cover gaskets though. they're rubber so they usually don't get too messed up.

 

Like pat said, adding oil will not solve loose rocker arms. It definetely sounds like your rocker arms from the way you explain it, though it could be your lifters. Rockers are easy enough to adjust though so do that first. If you are uncomfortable doing it, it shouldn't cost all that much to have a mechanic do it. Some people like to do it while the engine is running, but that can get a little messy. I like to do it the TDC method. Like pat said, just make sure you don't over tighten-it can lead to bent pushrods and loss hp.