I can't tell whether I have an exhaust leak, or a converter that is coming apart internally. I listened at the valve covers, and it sounds the same at all the cylinders. I have this ticking at all engine speeds. It speeds up as rpms are increased, and gets louder with load. It sounds the loudest around the converters. I think the noise is getting magnified there. I have listened with a stethoscope on the exhaust manifolds, can't find anything there either. I have put my hands around the exhaust pipes from the manifolds to the convertors, nothing found. I changed the passenger donut gasket, didn't help. The exhaust system is original and not rusted out. This noise is pretty loud, and embarassing. It makes the same noise a frozen heat riser would make, but my car didn't come with one. Could this noise be smog pump related? Your help would be greatly appreciated!


Jeff

 

Is it possible that it's a rod bearing?

 

No, it's not that loud. Trust me I know what that sounds like, from experience!

 

Does the sound seem to be around your feet when driving? Check the y-pipe area for leaks.

 

Mark....read the first post.....he already checked the y-pipe and even replaced a gasket on it

 

all things being equal the simplest answer may be true....
Injectors?

 

i know you've already checked and you have exhaust manifolds, but i had the same problem and my headers were loose a quick tighten and problem fixed
just tryin to help

 

PCV valve on the valve cover ticks pretty loud sometimes. Check it with the scope.

 

it ticks? ever think of a colapsed lifter or lifter that is stuck? i dunno im just throwin sh*t out there... give someone an idea or jump start someones brain... its 5:00am and im going to bed... im out!

 

I just had ticking problem to mine was one of the little air tubes on my headers was cracked it could happen to the stock stuff too.

 

Thanks for throwing ideas out there! The noise is the same if the car is hot or cold. I am thinking it is smog related. I am going to double check the AIR system, AIR injection tubes etc... I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks for the responses!
Jeff

 

What kind of headers do you have? Mine have the same problem. The air tube on the number 7 cyl has a crack.

 

I have SLP's

 

Even after a Crank kit rebuild..My mechanic told me that I should have rebuilt the complete engine. But the previous owner paid for the crank kit as it had a slight bad main bearing. I did not get to drive the car enough before I had it rebuilt, So I never heard much of the noise. it was upon start up you heard the bearing noise. I donno the car had a crack in the pipe after the cat so it was hard for me to tell..he got me all worried not to drive the car, keep it parked till I could get the money for a crank kit. Well, the previous owner paid almost all of the crank kit rebuild. And when I got the car back it ran good, a week later I took it back. It had the same kinda ticking noise you may be talking about. it's not loud but only you can hear it and when it gets louder you can hear it ticking away from the car while idle, it more less ticked in drive rather than Neutral. So we put it on the rack.. he let me listen to the Crank.. It was nice and smooth no noise what's so ever.. as we went too the middle of the engine we heard the noise as we moved further to the lifters that's where we heard it for sure. So he said it could be possible the lifters worn stuck, etc., etc. So over a year now the car been running with the tick. It has never caused any type of performance problem but the noise is for sure there. I thought maybe the mechanic was wrong about the lifter statement b/c as a lot of people say roller lifters don't rarely go bad. The car had 120k upon the rebuild and I believe the owner before took the car on a vacation to Laughlin while I told him I was getting the money to buy the car I was for sure interested. he drove it all the way there and he lost oil pressure. He had a sending unit replaced and it fixed the problem he seen on the dash, but who knows what was really happened. Right now the engine is not running do to unknown problems. Put the darn Super Ram on and probably blew it up I have no HP at all, and hard starting problems. or the valves got out of whack or something. So Im not jumping to fix it any time soon b/c I rather wait and think. how am I going to go about this. I have parts I want to put on the car but I don't want to fix my running problem and still have that tick knocking noise. So the problem is a toss up. Convertor or Lifters, The Transmission was just rebuilt by Amco before I bought the car but was slightly missed the warranty if it was a trans issue. Now I work at a Transmission Specialist and after the engine is fixed I will look into rebuilding the 700R4 and get a nice convertor. Good Luck with your car. Sorry so long just passing Time here.

 

check you rocker arms. I chased my ticking noise all around for weeks. Finally pulled off valve covers and notice three rocker arms loose on the driver side. After adjusting them no more ticking noise. Good luck I hate those stupid noises too.

 

I went out and listened to the noise again. It is definately a ticking noise. I guess it won't hurt to pull the valve covers. I can adjust the valves the same way, as a flat tappet cam right? I usually adjust the valves with either a remote starter switch, or a breaker bar on the crank. Adjust intake when exhaust is opening. Adjust exhaust when intake is closing. I don't feel like spraying hot oil all over the place with it running. The noise is loud enough to be heard bouncing off of passing cars, or curbs. Thanks for the responses.


Jeff

 

Adjust them as follows:

Crank engine over untill the number one piston is at top dead center. adjust intake valves 1,2,5, and 7. adjust exhaust valves 1,3,4, and 8

Then rotate engine 360 deg. and adjust intake valves 3,4,6 and 8. adjust exhaust valves 2,5,6, and 7.

It is much easier and faster to adjust valves when engine in running. You can get retaining clips from locall auto parts store to keep oil from shooting everywhere.

Have fun. oh I almost forgot while your pulling off valve covers might as well put on new chrome ones.

 

Is the car a stick shift?
My 84Z once did this and it turned out to be the
throw out bearing in the tranny.
I couldn't tell untill a mechanic put it on a lift and
engaged it while I was standing under the car.

 

UPDATE: I finally had a chance to pull the valve covers. Everything looked normal. I started it up with the valve covers off, observed the rockers, none loose. I listened to each valve. Turns out 5 and 7 exhaust valves are making noise. I adjusted all the valves with it running, no improvement. The question I have could these two valves be burnt? I have no exhaust leaks. The car idles smooth, has plenty of power, knocks down 260 miles to a tank, City/ Highway. Would buying a quality Gas additive do the trick? I could pull the heads and get a valve job, but then I would be tempted to go all out. I would end up dropping 2500 in a performance long block. The engine only has 59, 680 miles on it.

Thanks
Jeff

 

Have you checked for a loose sparkplug or sparkplug wires? or if everythings tight, and you're getting good gas milage and good power, will it hurt anything to just keep driving it for a while and don't abuse it until the ticking gets a little more obvious? I had a tickinig sound too that took quite a while to figure out, on the center exhaust pipe, from cc to muff, the seam was split along the top where you couldn't see it. All's quiet now and no more 'tick'.

 

Was the ticking coming from the rockers themselves? If so, they may be worn on the tip; very common and typical for stock stamped sheet metal BS rockers. They make a noise that would sound like a squeek if you could slow it down, but it sounds like a tick at engine running speeds.

Try a set of Comp cast steel roller-tip ones. You'd be astounded at the improvement they can make over stock. Stock ones not only wear heavily, but also flex and give away valve lift that way; and their ratio varies widely, but never even comes close to the 1.5 they are "theoretically" supposed to be. It's usually in the 1.42-1.45 range, I've seen them measure sometimes as low as 1.38. If your engine runs smooth now, just think what it might be like if all the valves opened the same amount. Since you still have the stock cam I'd recommend the 1.6 "self-aligning" ones, part # 1418 IIRC.

Gas additive will not help.

 

I used a stethoscope, and placed it right at the top of each rocker stud, to determine where the sound was coming from. It is definitely coming from inside the cylinder. The funny thing is, the motor loaded up on each and every valve I adjusted. Wouldn't that indicate no dead cylinders?

Thanks for your inputs

Jeff

 

Top of the rocker stud = wasted rocker ball making the squeek noise

 

Can a bad rocker ball be heard throughout the exhaust system, especially in the converter area? I was just wondering because this noise is coming from the valvetrain, but it is really magnified around the converters. Thanks for your help.

Jeff

 

I would think not... probably 2 different things, both at cam speed

 

The noise sound exactly the same, at the converters, and at the L/H cylinder head. The best way to describe it, is at idle it sounds like I have long tube headers on the car. When I drive it or rev it above idle it gets louder. Could it be a bad smog pump check valve on the drivers side?

Thanks
Jeff

 

Anybody??

 

I had something similar to what you describe, everyone thought it was a rod bearing, turned out that i had shattered the flywheel, but it remained intact. It just made this awful noise, but had 20 or so cracks on it. It was weird, very loud ticking noise, but perfect oil pressure. Went to start pulling the motor, disconnected the torque converter, started it up, and no more noise.