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engine tick resolved, but now I'm smoking

carpeonnel

carpeonnel

1/2 ton status
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Sylvester, Georgia
I recently got my 89 rolling again and there's been this highly annoying that I can't figure out. It's coming from the pass side header/valve cover area. A little back story I replace the rockers with some 1.6 self-aligning roller rockers and put on some hedman headers (long tube). Well I thought maybe I had a rocker a little too loose as it sounded kinda of like it. Redid them and that wasn't the problem. I started thinking about it and it does kind of sound like an exhaust leak so I replaced the header gasket and still no luck, sound hasn't changed a bit. Checked the collector gasket and it's not coming from there so I got my buddy to come over and he swears it's the header making the tick. He said that some headers just will do that on some trucks. So a week or so goes by and I keep driving it cuz I figure there's nothing too it and I notice it's getting slowly louder. And that's where I stand now. I'm gonna try and get a vid up with sound after christmas so you guys can here it, but anybody got any ideas? The sound does echo down thru the header but it's loud as hell now. So loud I could barely hear my rockers clacking when I was resetting them. I gotta work tomorrow, but friday i'm off and I'm gonna swap that header back out for the stock manifold and see if the sound disappears, but I figured I'd ask some of you guys with more knowledge and see if you think it might be something else. thanks
 
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I'll bet it is a header gasket leak. I have found that almost every header made will seal the best with the Fel-Pro #1444 gaskets.
 
carpeonnel said:
I recently got my 89 rolling again and there's been this highly annoying that I can't figure out. It's coming from the pass side header/valve cover area. A little back story I replace the rockers with some 1.6 self-aligning roller rockers and put on some hedman headers (long tube). Well I thought maybe I had a rocker a little too loose as it sounded kinda of like it. Redid them and that wasn't the problem. I started thinking about it and it does kind of sound like an exhaust leak so I replaced the header gasket and still no luck, sound hasn't changed a bit. Checked the collector gasket and it's not coming from there so I got my buddy to come over and he swears it's the header making the tick. He said that some headers just will do that on some trucks. So a week or so goes by and I keep driving it cuz I figure there's nothing too it and I notice it's getting slowly louder. And that's where I stand now. I'm gonna try and get a vid up with sound after christmas so you guys can here it, but anybody got any ideas? The sound does echo down thru the header but it's loud as hell now. So loud I could barely hear my rockers clacking when I was resetting them. I gotta work tomorrow, but friday i'm off and I'm gonna swap that header back out for the stock manifold and see if the sound disappears, but I figured I'd ask some of you guys with more knowledge and see if you think it might be something else. thanks
Click to expand...

I have this exact same tick!! I just installed my headman headers and have had the tick ever since. I just assumed it was exhaust so I replaced the header gaskets with copper ones, and no difference in sound. But since one morning on a cold start the ticking was really loud then quieted down as oil pressure built up, so then I figured it had to be valve ticking. Then the other week while wheelin' I was doing some hill climbs that require balls to the walls near redlining for about 30 secs or so in order to make it up. However while doing that the ticking got really loud and stayed loud even with the engine idling for about 5 mins after and slowly quieted down to normal levels. So after that I pulled the valve covers and the entire valve train was solid, no bent pushrods or anything else weird. So I reset the valve lash and the ticking sound changed slightly, but didn't go away. I used the classic mechanics method of hose in your ear and use the other end to find out exactly where the sound is coming from and determined that the sound is on the passengerside about middle of the block, so I think I may have diagnosed the tick is possible bad lifters, but I can't be sure. Well I know my engine has A LOT of miles on it so I wouldn't be surprised if it was lifters. But why would they suddenly make noise when I installed headers? I think there are too many variables to determine without actually pulling the engine apart.

What hedman part number did you get?
 
4X4HIGH said:
I'll bet it is a header gasket leak. I have found that almost every header made will seal the best with the Fel-Pro #1444 gaskets.
Click to expand...

I replaced the header gasket already and that didn't get it. Don't know what gaskets i'm using but I know they fairly pricey at like 50 bucks. The only reason I think this sound may be the header is because I installed the rocker arms before the headers and ran it for a while with no sounds. Put the headers on and lots of noise.

truthfully I don't know. I did some trading and got the headers and rocker arms together. All I know is that they're the base model Hedmans that fit a 87.
 
not that i can tell. it seems to be the same loudness no matter what. but it does correspond with engine RPM (i.e.- it'll get faster, the higher the RPM). I couldn't really tell it had gotten louder until I thought about it. When I first noticed it, it was just a a very light tick that sounded like an exhaust hanger rattling somewhere. Also the tick wasn't present until it had been running for a minute. When i would first crank the tick would appear for 30 secs - 1 min. But now as soon as I crank it, it's there.
 
But does it go away with normal engine temp and say 2000 RPM? For instance, say the engine is warm and you are sitting at a stop light and hear "tick tick tick tick tick" as the engine idles. The light turns green and then you give it the gas and it goes faster as the RPMs climb. Does it cut out at a certain RPM or is all the way through the band?

The reason I ask is I have a similar tick in my K5 but it seems to be temp and speed dependent. It is quiet "as normal" at say 30 mph but noisy while at idle. The tick goes up from idle until it shifts to 2nd and then gets quiet until I slow again. Either way I am subscribed to this to learn or hopefully help you locate the leak.

;-)

Merry Xmas btw.
 
mine is constant. it's there all the time. it seems to be less noticeable at higher RPMS but i think that is mainly due to the exhaust being louder. But its constant and VERY annoying
 
You all need to go to the stealership and get a pint of GM est, esp or something like that. Really. It works wonders to un-stick, un-varnish top end bugaboos. Really.
Subgen1 knows what it is.
 
mines kinda quieter-ish at idle then louder as the engine is put under load, which is typical of an exhaust leak, but the other instances I described above make me unsure.
 
well tomorrow i'm off work and i'll take a video of it and post up. i'm gonna swap that header out as well and i'll let you guys know the outcome
 
carpeonnel said:
I replaced the header gasket already and that didn't get it. Don't know what gaskets i'm using but I know they fairly pricey at like 50 bucks. The only reason I think this sound may be the header is because I installed the rocker arms before the headers and ran it for a while with no sounds. Put the headers on and lots of noise.

truthfully I don't know. I did some trading and got the headers and rocker arms together. All I know is that they're the base model Hedmans that fit a 87.
Click to expand...

I'm about 99% sure what you're describing is an exhaust leak. I don't care if you just put new gaskets on or not unless they were Fel-Pro #1444's. I have found over the years with my experience that you don't always want to match the exhaust port shape when it comes to header gaskets. The round port gaskets rarely seal in certain areas of the header tube and will give you the exact exhaust leak as you're hearing. The 1444 gaskets are a square port gasket that is slightly smaller in size but actually seal all the way around the header port. Since you said this sound did not show up until after you installed the headers it is obvious that it's an exhaust leak. Do what you may but at some point trust me on the 1444 gaskets and your leak will be gone.
 
i'll check it out. I'll stop by the autoparts in the morning and pick up a set of those gaskets. it'll be alot easier to change that gasket than changing the header, so Ill try that first. It just doesn't seem like a header exhaust leak to me. I ran headers on my 89 before and had header leaks and they never sounded like this. I'm not 100% though that it's the headers cuz my truck basically sat for 8 months so I'm just hoping it is the header gasket. I hope you're right, cuz that would be awesome and I'll give you some mad props :)
 
hallelujah!!! the mysery tick is gone!! It turned out to be a rocker arm too loose all along. Evidently the very back rocker arm on my pass side is very tight and had to go another 1.5 turns to stop the noise. Went back and re-re-rechecked my other rocker arms again just to make sure they're top notch. I guess when i set my rocker arms before I don't think I was giving the truck enough time to warm up and pump up the rockers before I set them. But here's a couple videos I took with my little stealth cam. (sorry for the darkness, it's about to rain here in GA)

http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/carpeonnel/?action=view&current=PICT0010.flv
http://s388.photobucket.com/albums/oo321/carpeonnel/?action=view&current=PICT0008.flv

oh yeah and you were right about the header gaskets. they were too big. now the other side is leaking i'll post up a couple pics later. my local NAPA didn't have 1445 in stock but I got 1404 which has the oval holes and are smaller, so I foresee that working out better. thanks for the heads up
 
well like it says I resolved the engine tick but now my k5 is smoking. Mainly out of the pass side exhaust (where the loose rocker was), some out of the drivers side. My truck used to have the classic smoke when I would crank it up in the mornings, but this is different and new. It's smoking constantly. It's not fogging up the street, but if I let it sit and run the thing starts putting out a good amount of smoke
 
The 1444 gaskets have a 1.380" port size and the 1404 gaskets have a 1.500" port size. Trust me when i say you want the 1444 gaskets.

Your smoking sounds like you have a valve cover leaking oil onto the header somewhere in the back. Pull the covers and make sure the gasket didn't slip out of place.
 
The one place I never had a header leak was at the header flange. I always used the exhaust manifold gaskets...

Collector leaks I always had issues with, but that was before they came up with that new style ball connector for collectors.

Rene
 
no, it's not smoking from under the hood. it's smoking out the tailpipes. I'm assuming that it's something I did when I set the rocker arms, but can't think of what I would have done to make it smoke. It runs awesome right now. Just smoking. I feel like my K5 is the offspring of a one night stand between Chevrolet and Dennis Leary
 
Make sure the PCV system is functioning correctly, too much crankcase pressure and it will blow smoke.
 
It'll do that if you overfill the oil too...ask me how i know. :crazy:

Rene
 
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