Fighting the usual "tick tick tick" from my new 69 Chevelle, 454, TH400. Already replaced plug wires, collector and copper header gasket on one side (driver side was easy!), but it's still ticking! The passenger side header gasket is going to be a BEAR to get to, because of the A/C box in the way, I can't even get to the back bolt on that side, is there a trick to doing this, other than maybe going from under the car, with a very long extension? Also, I may have "bottomed" out the exhaust right before this noise started, but still can't pinpoint the tick. Is it possible to break a header somewhere between where the 4 pipes come together? Would an exhaust shop have some way of checking it for leaks? I'm just grasping at straws now, I'm running out of things to do before I have to open up the motor and look seriously at the valvetrain. I have tried adjusting the lifters on both sides, doesn't seem to make any difference, still ticking! HELP!

Had the nasty tick thing a while back in a small block, after many hours of pulling my hair out it turned out to be a weak spring in the fuel pump. easy fix when you find the problem. is the tick there right away when you start it? does it get better or worse as it warms up?

Same constant tick, cold or hot, slow or fast RPM, no rhyme and/or reason......I would think if it were the fuel pump, my homemade "stethescope" would be able to isolate it, but so far, no good....... graemlins/angry.gif

Texas...

The ticking sound is "constant"? Does the "volume" remain constant? Is the sound a "tick-tick-tick" or a thud-thud-thud or knock-knock-knock? Are you sure the sound DOES NOT change intensity/rate in response to engine RPM's? If it stays the same, what's the rate of the sound, how many ticks per second? If it remains constant regardless of RPM's, then that should eliminate...

Valve train
Crankshaft / Rods / Pistons
Exhaust leak
Pulleys / water pump / engine-driven accesories

Are running a mechanical or electric fuel pump? Belt-driven or electric fan(s)?

I feel your pain...was once 24 hours from ordering a short block only to discover my "bottom end knock" was the LOUDEST water pump bearing failure ever heard by human ears graemlins/clonk.gif ...Rob

It's definitely a tick, tick, tick, and it certainly goes up and down correspondingly with the RPM of the engine. It's not REALLY loud, just enough to annoy me, and certainly loud enough to be an issue. I'm convinced it's either an exhaust leak or lifter tick, I just haven't been able to replace the exhaust gaskets on the passenger side of the car yet. I cannot figure out how to get to the two rear header bolts, I have big fat arms, and there's just no way I can reach them. I'm thinking maybe they can be accessed from underneath the car, I'm going to take it to a friends house this weekend, who has a lift, and replace that gasket and the collector gasket on that side, and if that's not it, oh well, I guess it's time to start disassembly...... graemlins/angry.gif

get a 4 foot piece of vac hose & hold one end in your ear & "sniff" around the suspected exhaust leak area with the other end.Do this with the engine(running) cold,& the leak will be more pronounced.
Good luck graemlins/beers.gif

Texas...

Sounds like you're leaning towards an exhaust leak, sounds good in light of the headers/exhaust getting scraped when bottoming out.

I found my passenger side header leak at the #8 (the worst one to get at with A/C, like the boat you're in) cylinder head by doing the following...

BLOCK / CHOCK both front tires to prevent forward movement...had a VERY TRUSTWORTHY friend :confused: start engine (from "cold" as suggested), put the trans into DRIVE and apply full brakes...load engine to 1500 to 2000 RPM's for about 10 seconds...and the ticking header leak was very apparent with my head under the hood...

Option 2 if you don't TRUST your friend to do that...

Have your friend, wearing heavy gloves, place a heavy shop rag over the right side (leaking) tailpipe to block the exhaust while you listen for the leak under the hood. Also do this from a cold start idle...

My header leak was caused by the cylinder head bolts becoming loose 1000 miles after the rebuild on my 78 Blazer's 383 SBC...I was able to use a long, thin SNAP-ON open end-12 point box end wrench to tighten the bolts. It took a hundred turns of moving the bolt 1/50th of a turn, then flipping the wrench over, turning it again, flipping it over, and so on :mad: ...or try getting at them from below the car this weekend...or you can make friends with a guy that has skinny pianist's fingers like me graemlins/waving.gif ...Rob

Good ideas, except I'm not sure the tailpipe thing will work due to my exhaust crossover, but anything is worth a try! Thanks for the ideas, I'll post back this weekend! JS

if you think it is a header flange leak, disconncet one spark plug at a time, if tick goes away, problem area is that cylinder and flange.

Well, now I'm 95% sure it's coming from the passenger side header, I used the ol' hose method this morning from underneath the car, and it sounds like it's coming from the header, right where the 4 pipes come together under the car? Remember, I did bottom out the car in this exact spot, so this all is starting to make sense. If this is the problem, can that area of the header be repaired, welded, etc? These look like the expensive Jet Coated headers, I'd hate to buy a new set for just one side, but even at that, I'm way ahead of taking the motor apart! Anybody every experience a header leak from this area? Solutions? Thanks guys! JS

All the above are good ideas. As i set here reading all the post info. I thought, if the leak is in the 4 pipes leading into the collector. You could try this. Take off your fan belt. Have good clearance under the header area. Roll a piece of newspaper up. Set it on fire. Put it out and hold the smoke under the header and see if the leak will disperse the smoke. Do this inside a garage to reduce wind under the car. Just another moment in my head.
Ron

Mix up your favorite car wash soap with some water,make it very soapy so it bubbles up good.Put it in an old spray bottle and SOAK down the suspected area when its cold.Start it up and look for bubbles.

Well, after a few weeks of trying this and that, I finally gave up and took the car to a "real" mechanic, he fixed it in about an hour, it turned out to be a bent PUSH ROD! Don't know how it got bent, don't care, but it's fixed now, and it was cheap! Thought you guys might want to know, thanks for all the suggestions!