Engine ticking noise
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: South Carolina
Engine ticking noise
Sorry to post a random noise question, but here goes.
I have this sound coming from my engine (i believe). It basically sounds like the noise you get when you put a baseball card in the spokes of a bicycle. It gets louder when going up hill or as RPMs increase, but seems to always stay at the same frequency. A friend of mine told me it could be with my valves, something about the pistons slapping around inside or something like that. If anyone has some suggestions about this i'd appreciate it. Also if you think it would be a somewhat easy fix or if I need to try and find a mechanic.
Thanks!
I have this sound coming from my engine (i believe). It basically sounds like the noise you get when you put a baseball card in the spokes of a bicycle. It gets louder when going up hill or as RPMs increase, but seems to always stay at the same frequency. A friend of mine told me it could be with my valves, something about the pistons slapping around inside or something like that. If anyone has some suggestions about this i'd appreciate it. Also if you think it would be a somewhat easy fix or if I need to try and find a mechanic.
Thanks!
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 460
Likes: 1
From: Edmonton, Alberta
Or a bad gasket... Look for soot and carbon blowout onto the head and block. I had to retourque the manifold bolts on the 89 a while ago because I had an exhaust leak. It was the front passenger side bolt that had loosened right off.
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 184
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From: eastern iowa
still dwelling on the exhaust noise...my '95 only had one exhast manifold, to cylinder head bolt that was slightly loose...the very rear one, on the drivers side...torqued it up, and the noise was gone...i checked the rest of them, of course... 
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Gateway to the West
302's are notorious for cracking the passenger side OEM manifold between cylinders 2 & 3 as well. (I used it as an excuse to buy equal-length shorty headers).
Something else to check AND SOON. is the Thermactor check valve BEHIND the intake manifold. They have been known to snap in half when they fail which, in and of itself itsn't a terrible thing, EXCEPT that when this happens you lose Thermactor air to the cylinder heads AND since the Thermactor air is supplied into the exhaust ports, the break in the Thermactor plumbing at that point allows hot exhaust to backflow up through the broken check valve which is immediately below the main wiring harness for the engine that runs along the top of the firewall at the cowl. Gettin' the picture...hot exhaust...wiring harness, check into it just in case. The noise you are hearing may actually be the sound of the air from the smog pump escaping out the end of the broken check valve OR the exhaust backing up through the Thermactor plumbing.
Something else to check AND SOON. is the Thermactor check valve BEHIND the intake manifold. They have been known to snap in half when they fail which, in and of itself itsn't a terrible thing, EXCEPT that when this happens you lose Thermactor air to the cylinder heads AND since the Thermactor air is supplied into the exhaust ports, the break in the Thermactor plumbing at that point allows hot exhaust to backflow up through the broken check valve which is immediately below the main wiring harness for the engine that runs along the top of the firewall at the cowl. Gettin' the picture...hot exhaust...wiring harness, check into it just in case. The noise you are hearing may actually be the sound of the air from the smog pump escaping out the end of the broken check valve OR the exhaust backing up through the Thermactor plumbing.
Last edited by greystreak92; Mar 25, 2006 at 03:57 PM.
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 543
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From: LA
The fact that it gets LOUDER under load is a giveaway for an exhaust leak. I'd bet money on it. As others have said, it could be anything froma cracked manifold to a bad gasket ...
Check it soon, as mating surfaces can wear from being blasted with hot exhaust.
George
Check it soon, as mating surfaces can wear from being blasted with hot exhaust.
George
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2005
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From: South Carolina
Well I was getting one of my tips replaced cause its rotted through, and I had the muffler place see if they could find a leak somewhere. Sure enough the metal pipe, which i believe he said connected to the EGR valve, was cracked almost all the way around. Hopefully thats all that was leaking. Thanks for the help!
By the way, speaking of PCV valve, can anyone tell me where that dang thing is?
By the way, speaking of PCV valve, can anyone tell me where that dang thing is?
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,182
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From: Gateway to the West
Its in the passenger side valve cover UNDER the upper intake plenum. the vacuum line from it runs up the back of and into the upper plenum. It can't be readily seen. You have to go looking for the silly thing.
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