Exhaust leak or rocker noise?
05-31-2012, 07:05 PM
#1
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Exhaust leak or rocker noise? Well starting yesterday my car started to make loud noises like this
I think it could be between the rocker arms, maybe they are loose or maybe even broken? What do you guys think =(.
.
I mean the car runs well, but especially in the morning when i turn the car on, it is a little bit louder, once it warms up it comes and goes away. When I am idling at the red light for a while and then i accelerate from a stop, it gets pretty loud, like a ticking noise. I went to a mechanic and he stated that it might be the exhaust manifolds might have a leak or a broken bolt.
How I can i distinguish between an exhaust leak or a loose rocker arm?
It also sounds like this as well
I think it could be between the rocker arms, maybe they are loose or maybe even broken? What do you guys think =(.
. I mean the car runs well, but especially in the morning when i turn the car on, it is a little bit louder, once it warms up it comes and goes away. When I am idling at the red light for a while and then i accelerate from a stop, it gets pretty loud, like a ticking noise. I went to a mechanic and he stated that it might be the exhaust manifolds might have a leak or a broken bolt.
How I can i distinguish between an exhaust leak or a loose rocker arm?
It also sounds like this as well
05-31-2012, 07:25 PM
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It is not a exhaust leak. Grab each rocker arm with the motor running glove on of course. When the tapping stops you found the problem rocker. Tighten it up by 1/4 turns until it hopefully goes way. Problem is from your video it looks like all the rockers are moving correctly. Hopefully it's not a lifter.
05-31-2012, 07:34 PM
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It is not a exhaust leak. Grab each rocker arm with the motor running glove on of course. When the tapping stops you found the problem rocker. Tighten it up by 1/4 turns until it hopefully goes way. Problem is from your video it looks like all the rockers are moving correctly. Hopefully it's not a lifter.
Last edited by 323steel36; 05-31-2012 at 07:39 PM.
05-31-2012, 07:37 PM
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even easier leave everything together, runt he car, and old a screwdriver to the rocker covers and listen with your ear. Be carfeull not to get sucked into the alternator belt 
If you cant hear it through the screwdriver it is exhuast. IF you can hear it through screwdriver it's rockers or lifters.
Check the whole length of the rocker cover like this and you can get pretty close to which one it might be without having to take anything apart.
Good luck!
If you cant hear it through the screwdriver it is exhuast. IF you can hear it through screwdriver it's rockers or lifters.
Check the whole length of the rocker cover like this and you can get pretty close to which one it might be without having to take anything apart.
Good luck!
05-31-2012, 08:39 PM
#7
Sounds just like my old Formula did last year. It sounds like an exhaust leak at the header flange at the head. I chased that noise for a long time and it was a simple bad set of Kooks header gaskets. My noise came and went with varying rpm ranges and heat cycles. I swore up and down it was a mechanical squeek. So much so that I completely went thru my entire valve train before I found a similar noise on an LS car we working on in the shop. Grabbed a welding glove and grabbed the #2 primary header tube at the flange and the noise went away. I laughed out loud and knew I had found my problem also. Felpro #1406s and all was well. Mine was leaking at the #7 and #8 cylinders...
--Alan
--Alan
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05-31-2012, 09:00 PM
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even easier leave everything together, runt he car, and old a screwdriver to the rocker covers and listen with your ear. Be carfeull not to get sucked into the alternator belt
If you cant hear it through the screwdriver it is exhuast. IF you can hear it through screwdriver it's rockers or lifters.
Check the whole length of the rocker cover like this and you can get pretty close to which one it might be without having to take anything apart.
Good luck!
If you cant hear it through the screwdriver it is exhuast. IF you can hear it through screwdriver it's rockers or lifters.
Check the whole length of the rocker cover like this and you can get pretty close to which one it might be without having to take anything apart.
Good luck!
05-31-2012, 09:12 PM
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05-31-2012, 09:25 PM
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Ok so I took of the valve cover and saw that everything looks ok. With the engine off I actually decided to see if any of the rocker arms have any play. I tested all of them on up and down motion and they are solid as a rock, but when i moved them from left to right at the nose of the rocker arms, all of them can be moved a little bit. Is this normal?
05-31-2012, 09:45 PM
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06-02-2012, 11:50 AM
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u can hear some taping going on..check the maifolds nolds to see if any are loose..heres my thread if it helps
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...ne-helped.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...ne-helped.html
06-02-2012, 03:01 PM
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u can hear some taping going on..check the maifolds nolds to see if any are loose..heres my thread if it helps
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...ne-helped.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...ne-helped.html
06-09-2012, 12:28 AM
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So I found this, the gasket on the driver side exhaust manifold towards the rear of the engine is split in that area, the rest of the gasket seems to be intact between the surface of the exhaust manifold and the engine block it is in between both exhaust ports where the manifolds cover in which I think that this would not cause the leak right? Or could this cause my exhaust leak?
06-09-2012, 05:59 AM
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When it is valvetrain related the noise is consistent with rpm. An exhaust leak becomes louder when there is load on the engine. You can easily find out the difference by driving the car and hitting the accelerator. If the noise becomes louder than most likely it is an exhaust leak.
06-09-2012, 09:02 AM
#19
When it is valvetrain related the noise is consistent with rpm. An exhaust leak becomes louder when there is load on the engine. You can easily find out the difference by driving the car and hitting the accelerator. If the noise becomes louder than most likely it is an exhaust leak.
--Alan
06-09-2012, 09:54 AM
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This was unfortunately not the case with my "squeak" that I experienced last year. It did not get louder with load or acceleration. It was a tricky little bastard to diagnose and I had several experienced ears and eyes on the damn thing. I agree that most exhaust leaks are diagnosed fairly easy, but there are some that just mess with your mind.
--Alan
--Alan