DropTopFireChKn

i jus got my car back on monday bucz it was gettin a new clutch and one of my header bolts was backin out. and i could hear what i thought was an exhaust leak... so i went and bought some fel-pro's and stage 8 locking bolts and i was going to put them in last night but when my friend heard my car he says he swears its not an exhaust leak... he thinks it's either a lifter or my valve lash needs to be adjusted... the ticking noise honestly isnt all that loud i have to get beside the valve cover to really hear it, i can only hear it at idle, and i'm pretty sure i have an exhaust leak also...when i'm in my car i can't hear the noise, if it were my valve train wouldn it be really loud or wouldn my car be missin? the clutch n flywheel package made me broke so i need ta fix this my self... what do you think? whats the first thing you'd check

TurboZ28

Same exact thing happened to me. Everyone swore up and down it was a rocker. It wasn't. I think a good way to tell is listen to how rapid it ticks. If it seems pretty slow than its an exhaust leak cuz the rocker is gonna move twice everytime the cylinder fires. I'd put $20 on it being a leak.

LT1MAN

iTrader: (6)

fix the exhaust leak first, thats probably what it is

borninatransam

iTrader: (4)

word of advice. when you try to replace the header gaskets its smart to unbolt the y pipe so it doesnt pull the header away when youre trying to tighten it down. i found this out after about three set of felpros. just make sure you get some good gaskets to go between the y pipe and the headers too though.

streetwarrior96

get some percy's gaskets and forget about them after install

DropTopFireChKn

well ya i'ma do the header gasket install today after work but i was losin' sleep thinkin bout that... the ticking is really not all that fast but it is bugging the **** outta me... this is the 3Rd gasket install i've done and on my car bcuz my damn bolts kept backing out, ima try out the stage 8locking bolts i bought yesterday i hope that noise gos away... thnx for the help, i REALLY hope u guys r right..

UnitZ28

yeah it's exaust.. i thought the same thing and took my vavle cover off! to check them i didnt see anything wrong.. then my dad said it was exhaust.. 3 of my exaust bolts broke off by them self!! how does that happen? my noise was like a really high piched kazoo

camar0corey

iTrader: (22)

Don't sweat it, you will def. know when something comes loose rocker wise. It is extremely loud! I'm suprised with the shorties you are going through lots of gaskets, I only had the rear most header bolt on the driver side fall out on my BBk's, and I've had them on for 1 1/2 yrs. I've never used the locking bolts, but I hear they work well, I just wrap my header bolts with teflon tape, seems to work well.

Edit: I know what the loose valvetrain noise is like, one or two of my 1.6 roller rockers came loose on the first night of abuse, you will def. know when something comes loose up there, it'll freak you out!

Hot94Z28

Yes get the percy's they are very nice

94 F-body

iTrader: (1)

I suggest some lock tight 242(removable), blue in color to aid in the headder bolt problem with the new gaskets that should remove your ticking. That and BE SHURE TO RE-TIGHTN THE HEADDER ALL OF THE BOLTS AFTER A COUPLE OF HEAT CYCLES. if the lock tight 242 doesn`t work try lock tight 272- red in color, BUT ONLY IF 242 DOES NOT WORK AAND ONLY IF, 272 IS MENT TO BE PERMANT/ NOT REMOVAL that and a dab will do ya!

DropTopFireChKn

i didn't want to start a new thread since it's about the same thing basically..... the ticking noise i was hearing wasn't an exhaust leak, i found out it's either gonna be a lifter, a broken spring, or rocker arm backed off from what my mechanic tells me... to him he says that it sounds as if it were a lifter and if that's the case he's going to have to pull the intake... i have a few questions tho: 1 . is there any upgrades i can do to the valve train while he's in there; i.e. 1.6rr or ne thing else? 2 . if my intake is coming off what it be worth it to have it port and polished? i wouldd plan to open the intake to a 54mm and do everything i can except port match them to the heads until i finally save enough to do the le2 package....

ToxicTA

I'd pull the rocker cover and start there. It could as simple as the rocker has backed up and is just loose.
This actually happened to me once, maybe I noticed it ticking but wasn't listening but anyway when it became apparent that these was an issue the car was running really bad. It was an intake rocker nut that came loose. I puled a new rocker nut off a old head tightened it down correctly and put another 60,000 miles on it.
Good Luck

dhdenney

iTrader: (53)

Yeah stock rockers just have hex nuts so perhaps one is loose. I would adjust the valves and then go from there. See if that takes care of it before we go replacing lifters. My advice is to have someone who knows how to adjust your valves do it. I in no way claim to know so I get my dad to do it when it needs done. He grew up with the solid (AKA: non hydraulic) valvetrain.