fastls199

iTrader: (4)

Hey, everyone. I bought my 05 V about 4 months ago. It just turned 70K on the clock. Anyway, a few weeks ago I noticed a strange noise coming from the car while I was driving in between buildings. It sounds more like an "exhaust leak" kind of puffing sound than a ticking sound to me. The car does have Kooks long tubes on it so I know that I can expect a little header noise but this noise seems a bit excessive to me. I figured it might be a header leak at the head so I ordered some new OEM manifold gaskets and installed them. It still makes the sound. It can't really be heard from the top of the engine bay, but it's pretty noticeable from under the car. If I'm cruising next to a curb or through a downtown area with buildings, I can hear it from the driver's seat. It gets faster with RPM's and it makes the sound whether it's under a load or not. The sound never gets louder, only faster. I didn't know if it could possibly be something in the valvetrain causing the noise or if a bad spark plug/wires could cause a noise like that. The car runs strong and doesnt have a miss as far as I can tell. The noise is just annoyig. Any input would be appreciated. I have a powertrain warranty, so I want to make sure to get it to the dealer if it is possible that it has something to do with the valvetrain. Anyway here is a video.Sorry if the quality isn't very good. Thanks.

DarkCharisma

All LS engines sound a bit like a sewing machine. It adds character?

fastls199

iTrader: (4)

I am completely aware of that, but I've had numerous LS motors and none of them made a sound similar to this and it just started making the sound about 100 miles ago. Those are the main reasons I don't think it's just the typical "sewing machine" noise. I've been all over this motor with a stethescope to no avail

MichaelSuch

What about the gaskets from the headers to the rest of the exhaust? Check the connection pipes.

fastls199

iTrader: (4)

Well I was messing around and checking around the engine and headers with a mirror (trying to get a better look at the underside of them mainly). Anyway, this is what I found; I found what looked like rust or something around the bottom of a few primaries on the driver's side headers and there looked to be a little bit of black soot on the flange around them also. Do you think this could be the source of my exhaust leak? has anyone ever had problems with Kooks headers leaking around the primaries? I tried to take a few descent pictures to show you what I'm talking about. Thanks in advance for any input.

ryridesmotox

Are you sure those are kooks? Those welds don't look like the ones on my buddy's Z06 headers anyways. They seem to be rather rough. I can see in the second picture where it looks like the weld doesn't cover the hole in the exhaust manifold. I thought their quality control was better than that. It almost looks like there is just gaps in the weld or something. If I recall on my Stainless works headers the weld goes all the way around and seals perfect. That said, It doesn't seem like there is very much soot there. It would probably coat a good portion of the primary if there was a substantial leak. I think what you are seeing is that the heat has discolored the primary a bit.

I had my volume all the way up and I can barely hear what you are talking about I am fairly deaf from shooting guns and loud cars though. I wouldn't worry too much about it. I know I could definitely hear my valvetrain sewing away after my header install. If it was any major exhaust leak it would probably set off O2 sensor codes if they aren't turned off. But either way, the front O2s would still be on and you would probably be getting a lean mix code since some atmospheric are would get sucked in.

I dunno just my .02 and food for thought.

fastls199

iTrader: (4)

Yea, I'm sure they are Kooks. It has the plate on the front primary that says Kooks on it. They were on the car when I bought it, but I was surprised when I saw the quality of the welds myself. I have had kooks in the past and thought the welds looked much cleaner than these do. Anyway, thanks for the input and I guess I'll just drive around with the annoyance for now until I can get it figured out.

punishmentcycle

iTrader: (6)

if those are kooks headers then id pull em off and send em back to them asap!!! thats your noise for sure..header leaks that are closer to the head create that tick noise and those are just poor quality welds.. and stainless doesnt rust unless they use reg wire or filler.

you can always just pull em and have some one weld em up but id personally send these pics to kooks... might get a fresh set of headers

ramairetransam

iTrader: (18)

i just had a tick on my ls1 and thought it was gaskets to i bought new larger headers and did new gm gaskets , still there, thought maybe a lifter, ended up being a bent push-rod .

Just keep that in mind, and it sounded just like an exhaust leak tick .

rand49er

I installed my own Kooks (that's your first clue, right there), and they developed a leak that sounded precisely like the puffing you're hearing.

I bought a new set of gaskets and had a mechanic put 'em in. Voila! No puffing, now.

KOOKS Headers

Theses are Kooks headers and they are about 5-7 years old. It also looks like someone repaired them for some reason before you got them, those are not our welds . You will need to loosen them up look at the inside of the ports and make sure they are welded 100% and if so change the gaskets, I would go with Cometic. If they are leaking and need to be repaired we will have to get them back and fix them.

Good luck and let me know if I can be of anymore help.