My car makes a ticking noise that sounds like it is either coming from the engine, or from where my LT headers connect to the cylinder heads. What's weird is that my car doesn't make the ticking noise all the time though. If I accelerate fairly slow, and shift at 2000 RPM, my car never makes the ticking noise. However, as soon as I start crising at 1900-2100 RPM on the freeway, or when I start driving my car a little harder and shift at 2500 RPM, my car starts making the ticking noise. The ticking is also quite loud too. I can hear it over my music, and my loud exhaust. The ticking noise gets louder when I accelerate. At first I thought it was an exhaust leak somewhere, but I had my exhaust shop tighten all the header bolts, aswell as tighten the clamps around my cats, and y-pipe, and my car still made the ticking noise after that.

The shop that installed my LT headers may have not installed the restricter plates and gaskets that I asked them to install for me with my headers. Therefore, could the ticking noise be the sound of my exhaust valves burning up, do to the lack of restricter plates and gaskets. The reason I think that is a possiblitly is because the shop that installed my headers, had never installed headers on a car like mine before, and they did forget to put the insalation around the wires that rest up against my headers, so it certainly wouldn't surprise me if this shop forgot to, or couldn't figure out how to install the restricter plates and gaskets.

Or could the ticking noise be the sound of a bad lifter. I did have a TR 220 114 LSA cam installed recently, and I left the stock lifters in. Whould my car loose a lot of power if one of my lifters was broken, or somehow damaged?

If anyone can offer any suggestions, or help to figure out what this ticking noise is, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Joey

 

I would suspect the AIR valves on your headers ticking. You should be able to see if the restrictor plates are in place.

Also, valvetrain is noticeably louder with headers, that is normal.

doubt its a lifter, those tend to tick all the time.

-Tony