So I have an engine tick. It is only present when accellerating gradually or under some load. If I'm idling, decellerating or flooring it I cannot hear the tick. I've done a lot of reading on cam phasers and feel that they are not the problem. The tick is only on the passenger side. I looked above and below the exhaust manifold and only saw one area that looked like it may be a leak. It is between the rear two exhaust ports. I've attached a bad picture that shows the area I think the leak is coming from. If you look between the two lobes where the manifold studs are you can see it is very dark. Up close it looks dark brown with some black. I just wanted to make sure that this is a leak before I order a new manifold and gaskets. Any help on confirming the leak would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rick.

 

So no one here can confirm or disprove that as an exhaust leak?

 

On my 03 5.4, I had a broken stud and you could see the black exhaust soot blowing by like yours. It had a pretty good tick. Finally got the studs replaced and new gaskets on a couple-three weeks back. I had a mech remove the broken studs on the pax side and I did the drivers side....pretty easy.

If 07 exhaust manifold studs are like the 03 and other years (???), I'd recommend replacing them if you already have an exhaust leak. I think the Felpro exhaust gasket kit was like 11 or 12 bucks. I went with the stainless steel bolts. There is a guy in CT who sells the stainless 5.4 bolt and stud kits on Ebay pretty cheap.

 

Hard to see in a pic.

 

I saw the stud and bolt kits on eBay. Was thinking of getting them, but wasn't too sure about their quality. If they work good for you I think I'll drop the cash for them. I also plan on buying a new manifold off eBay, but I just wanted a second opinion before I spend that money.

 

How many miles on your truck? The exhaust manifold/studs should be covered under the 8/80,000 emissions waranty right?