just yesterday my car started ticking very badly. it is a 5.0 tbi. how loud can a valve tap be? it ticks very fast at idle and as i rev it up, it speeds up but stops as the rpms get high(3000ish) i dont know what it could be. yesterday my car overheated but was fine afterwards, until later in the day. it has gotten progressively worse after i drove to a movietheatre and back. and help would be appreciated, thanks.

loose spark plug? head gasket? valve tap? exhaust leak?

How badly did it overheat? You could have thinned the oil, sludged the oil, cracked a head or exhaust manifold, blown a head gasket - lots of possibilities.

I'd check the oil level and condition ASAP. Smell the oil while you're at it, and look for signs of moisture (milky appearance).

yeah, I would check my oil if I was you. I know all the cars I have ever owned would tick just like you say when the oil level got low.

it overheated pretty bad, but it worked fine afterwards. it was only until that night that it happened. i checked the oil, it was a little above the add mark. its a very loud tick, is it actually possible it thinned the oil? can iot still be a head gasket if im not seeing any smoke? it just seems odd because it worked fine after, but it was only later in the day i had a problem. thanks for your help

After it cools down and everything returns to normal dimensions, you'll find the problems.

Try to isolate the noise to one side of the engine or the other. I'd start pulling a rocker cover if you find it's on a specific side. Even if it on both sides, pull a cover and check for oil flow. How's the oil pressure, by the way?

it sounds like it is coming from the back of the engine. cant say right or left side. i just changed the oil and it still does it. the oil pressure is at 30. im confused it ran fine yesterday until we went to the movies. i did get gas before....is that possible at all?

rocker cover = valve cover?

my vote is, blown header gasket....i had a serious ticking comming from the back left side oof my engine, ....took the valve covers off, all was fine, then noticed half the gasket sticking out......try running the car at night, look under the hood near the ticking, tell me if ya see a small spark/fire comming from where your headers/exhaust manifold meets the heads

well, i talked to my grandfather. after hearing it and so forth he said i eaither spun a bearing(i believe i do have higher than normal oil pressure) or it is a rod knock. he called it a rapping noise, not a ticking. so its either swap the engine, or buy a gta. whats your vote?

why not just ...stick a new rod in there???i mean if thats the case and you didnt bend a valve......or if you spun a bearing, replace it?? its a bitch to do but would you rather shell out 800 bucks for another engine? i still say check the manifold gaskets

My 91 camaro 305 tbi makes a ticking noise as well. It makes it when the car has been shut off for a while and then ran again. The only thing is that it makes the noise when you give it gas and not when it idles and after about 5 minutes of driving it goes away. Another question i have is when the car gets near 3500 rpm and the peddle is to the floor the car begins to bog down and doest pull anymore. I have to let up on the gas for it to start to accelerate more rapidly, its really weird. Any help would be great. Thanks

could be the oil pump or fuel pump.....also, check to make sure you havent fried any plug wires, ...the spark could be jumping through the wires and grounding out to the exhaust manifolds. im infamous for frying wires.

You can sometimes isolate a bearing noise by disconnecting a spark plug wire on the suspect cylinder.

Is the sound more prominent at a certain RPM range? Does it make noise on acceleration, deceleration, more or less under load?

It's worth a little more investigation before you throw in the towel. Engines are cheap, cars are not. You may be able to save it yet. I've had bearing noises develop from caked deposits and sludged oil. I've also had some success "recovering" a noisy bearing from a good engine flush and clean oil.

In the interim, I would avoid driving it to minimze any damage that may occur.