What the hell. I replaced both manifold gasket sets and I still the most obnoxious tick ever. The old gaskets on both sides looked fried so you would assume that replacing them would fix the problem. Nope, still have that damn tick.

What else? Holes in cats? Maybe not even exhaust related, maybe valvetrain? It varies with RPM's. . .

 

I doubt it could be this, but could it maybe be a sparkplug? Do you have a 5.4?

 

nope. wee 4six

 

did you examine them for cracks?
other possibilites: examine your whole exhaust system. have a mirror handy to check the top of piping that you can't see. are the manifolds bolted tightly to the exhaust flanges? did any studs break on the driver side?

 

all studs are fine on driver side. Both manifolds are on the flanges good and tight. I guess I'll go under there with a light and mirror while its running, see what I can come up with

 

also, having an assistant handy to apply pressure on the gas pedal makes it easier to trace where the leak is coming from by sound.

 

HLA tick?

 

I will have video up soon

 

is that Lash Adjuster?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn3Ij_exp8g

 

yeah thats what a HLA is, unfortunately i couldnt hear the tick very well. it could be either. i noticed my hla tick would be louder on cold days. also would be intermittent.

 

and are they accessible under valve cover?? I dont know these OHC engines. . . What exactly are they? And I have more videos with better sound


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtInSxPYWQk

 

I'm tempting just to throw 6 qaurts of Rotella T 15W40 in it, just to see if it is internal, if it quiets it. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZLvROc9uxM

 

They are where you would find a push rod lifting the rocker arm, but they are just 3" long, and hydraulic. They can be serviced by removing the valve cover.

 

Well I got deep into the passenger side, got a mirror under the manifold on cylinder #1 and the ticking got deflected and the sound deadend, I kept pulling the mirror out and the sound kept on changing sounds, so the leak is on the bottom of the manifold on #1. I brought that manifold to the machine shop and had it surfaced, but it still leaks so I am JB Welding it. Its not worth taking off the manifold, risking more broken bolts and more headaches of jacking the engine up. Waiting for the engine to cool so I can slobber the JB on. . .