just got my car last week and i think she has a pretty good size exhaust leak. The previous owner says its a exhaust leak also but i want to see what you guys think. The tick is really not noticable at idle but as soon as you put a load on the motor it gets louder. It does it right away, car can be cold or warm and never goes away after driving it for awhile. It is much louder inside the car. When im driving it just ticks away but once my foot comes off the gas the tick stops. I think its a exhaust leak but I just want some other opinions. Does not seem to effect performance but sometimes I can smell the fumes in the car and it does not get the best MPG, but she runs hard and sounds great aside from the tick. So whatcha think?

 

Classic symptoms of an exhaust leak. Replace the header/manifold gasket. Should be pretty easy to find out which side it's on.

 

Thats the problem....cant pinpoint the location, any tips?

 

The best way IMO to find it is to get under the car at idle. Parking brake please!

I have found that the manifold/header gasket is a very frequent cause of exhaust leaks.

Additionally, the factory Y pipe is prone to cracking/rusting right where the two pipes join. Check that.

Use an ungloved hand and feel around all surfaces (without touching [like an inch away]) of the pipe where any two pieces of pipe join, same thing with the headers.

Start at the motor and work your way back and start with a cold motor otherwise it will be very uncomfortable.

You'll know you have found your leak when you feel little puffs of air coming out that seem to be in sync with the revs of the motor.

Hope this helps.

 

Smoke the system and the leak will appear...

 

Wait until engine is cold, start up, hover hand all around each exhaust port to see if you can feel any exhaust pulse. Either that or just go around both sides and retorque header/manifold bolts or just replace both gaskets.
I am assuming you have headers?