So, i thought i had an exhaust leak due to the constant tick my truck has. Went through the whole effort of putting in headers, and now that its done, the tick is still there. All the header bolts are tight, and tight were the y pipe connects to headers. Spark plugs are all good. Im beginning to think its not an exhaust leak though, it really sounds like pinging from bad gas, but that only happens at a certain rpm. this is all the time. Also, it doesnt tick in Park or Neutral, just Reverse or Drive. I can rev it up in the driveway and not hear a thing, but as soon as i start driving i hear it instantly. Not as bad when cold, but much more noticable when the engine warms up. And if i shift into 1, it becomes much more pronounced. Sounds like it is coming from directly under my feet as i drive... any ideas? Just did some reading on here for about 45 minutes, but cant find anything that sounds exactly like my problem, or if i do, they didnt respond back after seeing if their fix worked

Thanks!

 

Could it be U-joint? Bad front hub?

Rock in the tire?

 

Haha, no rock in tire. Might find out if it is u joints in a few weeks.. i have all the parts required to do ball joints/u joints, just have to find the time. I dont really dont think its coming from up there, it sounds like it is directly under me, but who knows. So hard to diagnose something like this

I should also probably add, it is only under load. If i am just cruising, i dont hear it. If i barely step on the pedal though, it comes right back. So cruising 70 @ 2000rpm on the highway, i dont hear it until i give it a little gas if i need to merge or something.

 

sounds like an exhaust leak to me...if you are cruising at say 55 in OD and speed up to 60 in OD it will tick...but if you get on it a little and downshift to 3rd...no tick

 

I had one of my friends go under the truck, and he couldnt exactly pinpoint it, but he sounds like it is coming from somewhere between the engine and trans. at least in that area

 

check your flexplate bolts.
if your your flexplate has a loose bolt, it will click or tap at seemingly random intervals only under certain loads.

i had a car once that drove me crazy with this... ended up being the flexplate bolts and i fixed it in 5 minutes... after going through the exhaust manifolds, exhaust, mufflers, u-joints, rear end, front wheel bearings, ect.

 

How do i go about doing that? I am mechanically inclined, but lack knowledge of the actual engines and transmissions.. so i am not sure what i would be looking for

And this is any time i accelerate, not random

 

crawl under the truck and locate the transmission. at the very front should be the bellhousing. inside the bellhousing should be the flexplate. the flexplate is analogous to the flywheel in a car with a standard shift transmission and is what the starter motor engages with. it will be at the back of the engine.

There will usually be a cover over the flexplate held on by 4-6 bolts.
remove the cover. underneath, there will be (usually) 6 bolts holding the flexplate to the crank.

jam a crow bar in the teeth of the flex plate to prevent the engine from turning over and tighten the bolts as tight as you freaking can. when i say tight, don't strip them, but it better be 1ft-lb from the limit.

in my experience (with other cars) usually, there is one that is backed out by about 2-3 turns and the others are all just about 1/4 turn loose.


edit:
i've had a bit to drink so if this makes not a shred of sense, i apologize.

 

I went under and looked at that inspection cover, there appears to be a mark from a flathead screwdriver directly in the middle of it, where perhaps someone tried to pry it backwards?

 

its your y-pipe bolts that are loose. when i installed the new passenger header i had the same problem. tick sound only in reverse and drive put wouldn't do it in park or Neutral. I there the crap bolts that Gibson gave me and went and bought Grade 8 bolts from the hardware store and i tightened the hell out of them, started the truck and tick has been gone

 

you mean the bolts that connect the y pipe to the headers? not to mention how they had to rotate the flange on their header so the damn 02 sensor perfectly blocks getting a ratchet on there

 

yes the bolts that connect the flange on the header to the y-pipe flange. The bolts they give you are only grade 5 i think and cant take the repeated heat cycles of the truck running and then cooling down. The grade 5 bolts stretch too much and then cool down and they get loose and that dam tick starts. They gave me two new bolts with the passenger header and mine did it, after the Grade 8 bolts went on its be quiet ever since and I'm not easy on the go pedal if you get my drift! I think it cost me like 8 dollars for four bolts, eight washers, four nylon lock nuts from the local mom and pop hardware store

 

Ill have to try that today then... do you recall how long the bolts are?

 

and yea that dam welded flange sucks where Gibson put it, its not easy to get a extension, swivel and then a deep socket on there and trying to get it all tight.

 

no i don't, i removed the one bolt and walked the 1/4 mile up the road to the hardware store. I do know they were 5/8 bolts i believe